white wheat | The Fresh Loaf

Submitted by BNLeuck on October 5, 2010 - 9:28pm

Gold 'n White Flour - high extraction?

So I just bought a 25# bag of Gold 'n White flour from our local farmer's market on the advice of the grain gurus there. I wanted a whole wheat flour or flour blend that was good for all-purpose baking. Not so high protein to be horrible in baked goods, but not so low to be useless in bread. They directed me to the Gold 'n White, which apparently has 90% of the bran removed (so presumably good for bread -- very little sharp bran pieces to slice through the gluten), is organic (yay!), and stone ground (double yay!). If I understand properly, this would be considered high extraction flour? The germ and all is still there, perhaps with a little loss, just 90% of the bran is gone. Flour is flour and I'll use it for something, just wanted to know what I had on my hands. :)

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Submitted by summerbaker on October 26, 2009 - 9:12am

Half White Wheat Sourdough Loaves

Fall has finally reached Tallahassee and I have been having a good time experimenting with longer sourdough rising times. Last winter was my first cold season as a sourdough bread baker and I had a lot of ups and downs (literal "ups and downs" when it came to dough rising!). This year I feel a little more in control of my starter now that I know how to manage the feeding schedule so that it suits both my lifestyle and that of the creatures in my starter. Of course, a consistently healthy starter is only part of the equation when it comes to making a great loaf of bread!

In a recent thread I got some inadvertent reassurance from Eric (ehanner) that I could let the bulk fermentation go on overnight at a cooler room temperature. The main goal being that the dough should double in volume. I breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded with my baking.

I followed the BBA Basic Sourdough formula (as usual these days) but used about half white whole wheat flour, resulting in a nice flavor but a dense crumb. I didn't realize until shaping the loaves that I should have increased the hydration to account for the "thirsty" whole wheat flour, and my "feel" is not developed enough yet so that I can easily tell if the hydration is correct when I'm mixing my dough. Overall though, I was happy with my loaves and when I think back to the soupy pancakes that I was producing last year I know that I have come far.