second endeavor after coming back to my electric oven after a month of wood fired brick oven adventures. delicious little rolls for pretty much anything, for me it was a dinner roll.

pretty good rise for a 100% whole wheat, but that seems to be the standard since switching to natural leaven, open crumb, super moist. i was quite pleased. the crust was pretty good too even for the electric oven, although my heart still has a brick oven sized hole...

Hi Everyone,

I'm fairly new here and am still searching my way through all the informative posts. So please forgive me if this is a repeat question and kindly point me to right discussion.

I am trying to find a recipe that would help me make soft sandwich roll (sub like / torpedo) from whole rye + whole wheat. I would like rye to be around 20% but given the whole rye nature, I don't mind going down to 15% or 10% even.

My problem is that any recipe that I have tried with Rye, results in hard caramelized crust with dense structure. (OK AP + 15% mild rye was not dense - it was fluffy but crust was still hard).

Can you please point me to right direction (except for exit !!!) as I said I am fairly new here and relatively novice in bread making. (been experimenting for last year or two in non-continuous fashion.)

Thanks in advance,

NM

I made the Reinhart 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich bread (the first one in the book, I'm pretty sure) and it came out flat like a Ciabatta.  I tried to make a Batard, per the instructions, and it just didn't come out.  The dough lacked the strength to hold its shape for very long so it flattened out while proofing.

I used a Kitchenaid dough hook to do the mixing.  I am thinking that the dough needed to be stretched and folded somewhere in the process, maybe, to build up strength in the dough.  Anyone had any experience with this and know where I might be going wrong?

I'll post a picture of the pancake tonight. :)

I tried to include a picture, but I'm not adept enough with my photo editor and the online host.  Maybe another time.  But, trust me, they look and taste good.

They're the Four-Seed Snack Crackers on page 122 of Brother Juniper's Bread Book by Peter Reinhart.

Grind 1 cup each sunflower and pumpkin seeds into a flour in the blender.  Also grind 1/2 cup flax seeds in the coffee grinder.  He has you grinding all three seeds together, but the flax seeds did not break down properly.  Mix with 3-1/2 cups ww flour (or ap if you must), 1 cup sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon salt, 5 tablespoons honey, and 1/2 cup oil; add 6-8 ounces of water as needed to make a ball of dough. Knead about 10 minutes "until smooth, firm, but elastic, satiny rather than tacky" about 10 minutes.  Then place in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap for at least 10 minutes (I left it overnight).**

Divide into six pieces.  I rolled each piece into a ball and flattened it.  Then I placed five of the flattened balls on a cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours before placing them in a freezer bag.  They'll keep up to three months.  Roll today's dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.  (It was still stiff from the refrigerator, so I nuked it for a few seconds before rolling.)  I found that my Sil-Pat (little brother to the Roul-Pat) was adequate because the dough was oily enough, but he warns that you should re-flour as needed.  Then he has you use a biscuit cutter or a pizza roller knife to cut out round or diamond shapes, but I used a plastic dough scraper - gently - on my Sil-Pat and cut out random shapes.  I just wanted crackers and wasn't trying to impress the bridge club.

Finally, you can mist the top of the crackers with water and sprinkle with more sesame seeds or other toppings, but I didn't.  I just baked in a 340-degree F oven for 20-25 minutes until they're light golden brown.  You're warned to let them cool for at least 20 minutes so that they'll crisp up.

My first batch is now almost gone.  When I'm ready, I'll pull out another piece of dough, defrost it, and repeat.  I can keep the crackers coming with just a little effort.

Rosalie

**EDIT:  PLACE IN REFRIGERATOR - Details! Details!

A few weeks ago I saw a post with a reference to a Honey Lemon Whole Wheat loaf. As I recall a couple posters had commented that this bread was high on the best breads list for them. A fellow I have high regard for (PMcCool), suggested I would like it, so I decided to give it a spin.

The original recipe is from Bernard Clayton. One of the things Clayton does in this and other recipes I have made is to use very warm water for the mix along with a short primary ferment time and then an overnight chilled proof. Since the dough starts off life warm, it does rise fully while in the refrigerator. I suspect this also helps develop a better flavor. Another component of the flavor being the grated lemon rind, I suspect is enhanced by the warm water helping release the oils of the fruit.

The crumb is about what you would expect from a 40% Whole Wheat mix. The dough and later the bread has a very unusual and surprising aroma with the Lemon. This is an aromatic bread of the highest order. Paul said he liked the way the lemon plays off the WW and I think that's a good description of what I sence. So grab a copy of Claytons book and give this a try.

Eric

Well, here was my first attempt at making Reinhart's Whole Grain hearth bread. I just finished it this morning after having both the biga and soaker in my refridgerator for two days. I have made loaves before, real simple ones though, some turn out fine, some are bricks. Always with organic whole grains though especially since I am the grocery buyer at my local co-op and we recieve fresh, organic, locally milled flours...and it cost me a little less than the normal shopper : )

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear comments! One thing I noticed though is the crumb is very tight : /

I have read somewhere here about people ordering whole wheat flour from people, who grow organic wheat and grind it to your specifications right before mailing it to you.  I am about to order a 10lb bag to try, but don't know how they should grind it.  I bake whole wheat bread, including sourdough.  I would appreciate any advice.  Thanks!

Back in the US, and making bread here for the first time. I'm still learning about the flours available to me. For WW flour, I've been initially drawn to Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham flour (it has the large bran/germ that I am used to seeing from traditional stoneground flours). KA Traditional, by comparison, has a somewhat finer consistency and Bronze Chief seems ridiculously finely ground - totally alien to me, although I'm sure it performs well! 

The Hodgson Mill Graham flour seems quite weak (low protein?) when water is added. It claims to be '100% whole wheat' but I'm wondering if it's actually 'whole wheat on steroids' - ie it has additional bran over and above that from the milled grain. Can anyone in the know or with experience with this flour shed any light on this?

Right now I'm using it to initialise a wheat starter, so dough performance is not important but I'd like to know whether a different whole wheat flour might be more appropriate further down the line for making whole grain/high extraction breads. 

Thanks,

FP

I went on a baking frenzy today, thanks to George Greenstein's Secrets of a Jewish Baker.  I followed one of his "Morning Baking" programs at the end of the book and made muffins, milk bread, whole wheat bread, and Italian bread.

Hi,

Having been on the great quest for that perfect daily bread for my family, I think I'm getting closer.

I've been baking Hamelman's Pain au Levain now and again with mixed reviews from the family.  I recently tried the pain au levain with whole wheat and it has been a massive hit!  The flours here are split between 75% bread flour, 20% whole wheat flour and 5% medium rye.     My starter seems to really love the warmer weather of spring and this dough bursts to life.  I wish I had photos to show you!

One day, due to a cat who needed to be rushed to the vet, the dough sat in the fridge over night and was super!  It seems to be a very forgiving recipe.

I would encourage you to try it if you haven't already!

Cheers,

Tania

PS:  Hope to send pics next time!