Hi everyone,

I want to add flax meal to my bread recipe and wondered if i need to add more yeast to the recipe when doing so, as about.com says. i tried it yesterday and my bread did not rise as much. i read somewhere i needed to sub 1 tbsp of oil for 3 tbsp of flax meal and did that, but it never got as high as usual. in that flax meal is heavier, do i need to add more water or yeast? if so, how much more? I am using active dry yeast.

Thanks!

Gill

I've been scowering the web comparing recipies that use all purpose flour on the one hand and whole wheat on the other other. I also found a post that seem to explain that when you convert from all purpose you use the same amout of flour but add 5 teaspoons of water for each cup of flour you use.

All these figures and recipies seem to indicate that you should increase the hydration from all purpose to whole wheat at about 8% for baked breads. Does this make sense? If I mill my own wheat does that change the ratio any?

Thanks for any insight

The Flying Baker ;) (Jeffrey)

I had a taste for cinnamon bread, and I had just finished a two-day feeding of my starter. So I just improvised a little from the standard no-knead formula and came up with this handsome fellow. The smell was magnificent as it was baking, and this loaf had an 18 hour fermentation.

Baked in my oblong cloche

11 oz. All purpose flour

5 oz. Stone ground whole wheat flour
1/2 C Cinnamon chips (you can add up to another 1/2C, but no less)
1-1/2 t Kosher salt
1/2 C Sourdough starter (vibrant)
14 oz. Purified water at room temperature

Blend starter with water until all you have is milky colored water, then mix everything together as you normally would. Allow to ferment on the counter for 12-18 hours before shaping.

No-knead directions for beginners avsailable on my website at http://flyfishohio.us/NoKneadBread.htm

It's week 8 in the Inside the Jewish Bakery Challenge - Semester 1. This week is Onion Rolls. Sadly, I'll be sitting out the next few dessert-heavy weeks.

Once my confusion over how to deal with the onion mix was clarified (thanks all) this proved to be an easy, fast bake (in terms of actual prep). My notes follow:

• I used 1 oz of the onion water and 9 oz plain water
• My egg was almost a full ounce heavier than called for
• I used 100% milled wheat, a 50/50 mix of hard red and hard white.
• My cooking time ended up being around 25 minutes.

These are tasty and the outside is crunchy. They aren't overpoweringly onion-y, which I'd been concerned about. I think the flavor would be improved if I make a soaker with the whole wheat next time and let it sit in the fridge overnight prior to adding yeast. I'll make them again for sure.

I have been making a 100% whole wheat recipe that is really GOOD!  But, interestingly enough it calls for wheat gluten and dough enhancer.   My family likes it - I like it.  But, leave it to me to try to ask some probing questions.  With this recipe I get awesome gluten development hands down each and every time - no fail (made it well over 30 times).

I pulled out another recipe.  This time, it doesn't have any of the wheat gluten or dough enhancer.  Just a little bit of sweetener, salt, yeast and flour - oh, and water.  As I worked the dough the gluten did not want to develop - or at least part of it.  I could get some gluten strands developed but I couldn't get a good window pane test, but it appeared I had over kneaded just trying to get the rest to develop.  By the way:I mill my own flour, AND within a matter of hours of making my bread).

Almost all the recipes I ever run across that have 100% ww flour, always call for some white flour.   Can 100% ww bread  be made without adding wheat gluten and/or dough enhancer?

Any suggestions from anyone?

I'm getting a sourdough starter going the cheater's way- I used just a wee pinch of commercial yeast to get things jump-started. I'm awful, I know. Purists may feel free to sniff skeptically and feel superior... they are! I always kill my all natural starters.

The problem isn't to do with that, though. Most pictures I've seen online of people's 100% starters look runny, and they're often described as being "like a thick batter" in consistency. Mine is more like a slack dough. I know whole wheat absorbs more water than white flour, so I'm assuming that's what's causing the difference. What should I do- leave it thick? Add more water, which would give the right consistency but throw off the hydration? switch to white flour? Any advice is much appreciated!

--SomethinkD

Today was the final stretch before heading to the in-laws for Christmas. I spent pretty much the whole day in the kitchen, minus a trip to the grocery store. The takeaway:

First, this was week 3 of the Inside the Jewish Bakery challenge. I haven't actually gotten to taste the results, so my comments are limited. I did a four-high braid, and had a little trouble getting the ends to stick together. I ended up wetting my fingers and kind of blending it, which seemed to work. There are some shots of the initial braiding and the final rise at the bottom. On top of the two challah loaves, I also did a pullman pan full of PR's pannetone recipe. I used dried strawberriers, dried orange-infused cranberries, and dried sour cherries that I soaked for a day in apple brandy (plus the vanilla and orange extract). For the nuts, I used 5 oz of macadamias and 2 oz of almonds. Finally, another pan of Mohn bars from week one of the ITJB.

Hi everyone,

I'm failing to find info on why whole wheat flour is said to contain little gluten, or less than other flours do.  If gluten is a protein found in the wheat endosperm, and if WW flour means WHOLE wheat, endosperm included, how come WW flour isn't the champion in gluten content?

I'd never made challah before test-baking for ITJB, and just loved the beauty and ease of it. I chose this bread for this week because our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is clam chowder with homemade bread (usually Swedish limpa). This year I'm going to substitute this challah for the limpa -- different culture, equally festive. I'm especially looking forward to the variety of braids we come up with -- I tested the six-strand bakery braid in the book and it's a stunner and not as hard as it appears. Looking forward to seeing (and yes, finally, posting) some great pictures this week!

I decided to return to my roots as it were, and reprise an old standard bread
recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book, Whole Wheat Bread. I topped the loaf with
a little egg wash and some sesame seeds before baking.  It's not 100% whole wheat but about 70% whole wheat - (2 1/2 cups ww flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour). I used to make this bread every week for
morning toast. After seeing and smelling it, I remember why - it's just good.