The Fresh Loaf

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whole wheat

LLM777's picture

surface tension w/out overhandling?

March 9, 2009 - 7:13am -- LLM777
Forums: 

I'm trying to bake ezekiel bread which is a mixture of whole grains and some bean flour.  I am trying to get some holes and a little lighter texture like I did when I made another whole grain bread.  The problem is I don't know what I did before to get the holes.  I have read much on surface tension and hydration.  I am wondering how you get good surface tension without overworking the dough and degassing it.

 

Thank you.

hazimtug's picture

A family favorite... Poilane's Miche

March 8, 2009 - 10:20am -- hazimtug

Now that I figured out how to upload photos, here is another one. I have been baking this one a lot, mainly because it's easy to handle and make, my family likes it a lot, and it lasts a long time... Simply following BBA's formula for Poilane's Miche. I have a very feisty starter that helps out a lot I think. Anyone else tried this? How is the crumb in yours? I am curious...

Rosalie's picture
Rosalie

I've been asked (via Messages!!) to post the recipe I used for Pitas.  I made two recipes, but I'll post the one that was designed as a Pita recipe.  Apparently just about any bread recipe will work, although I don't know about high-hydration doughs.

In my experimenting, I've become curious about the role of the yeast.  My conjecture is that the yeast just helps with the development of the gluten and of the formation of a gluten skin (as I think someone called it).  I don't think it has much of any role in the puffing up.

This recipe was taken from Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Whole Grain Breads.  It's on page 277 and is called "Whole Wheat Pita Bread".

  • 1 package active dry yeast (I'm sure I used considerably less)
  • 2 1/2 cups warm water (warm if you go the proofing-of-the-yeast route - I don't - instead, I go for long refrigerator rises, usually overnight)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons salad oil
  • 5 1/2 to 6 cups whole wheat flour

I won't go into the details of making the dough.  Do it however you usually do it.  Develop it into a smooth ball, but it doesn't need to rise.  Ojakangas has you let it rest about 15 minutes after the mixing and before kneading 10 minutes on a board.  Then you cover it and let it rest 20 minutes.  Then you "punch dough down" and divide into four parts, and each part into four more, for a total of sixteen.  So the dough for a single standard loaf of bread will make about eight standard pitas.

Shape each piece of dough into a small ball and roll out to make a 6-inch circle.  I don't know how thick this is, but I suspect it's 3/16 of an inch.  In my subsequent pita trial, I used the special rubber bands for rolling pins and rolled them out to 1/8 inch, and they were quite a bit thinner.  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.

Here's where the Ojakangas narration gets confusing.  I'll adapt.  While the pitas are rising, preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a stone in place (for 30 minutes).  Arrange six pitas at a time on parchment paper.  With the assistance of a cookie sheet - a rimless one or a rimmed one turned upside down - transfer the pitas and the parchment to the stone.  Bake 4-5 minutes "or until rounds are puffed and tops begin to brown."  But don't wander off.  Turn on the oven light and sit on the floor to watch.  Mine started to puff up at about the two minute mark, and they were fully puffed up about a minute later.  Quite a show.

Rosalie

mcs's picture
mcs

OK, I know you're out there.  Maybe those Birks are getting dusty or they're hidden in the closet along with your beaded vest and shrunken tie-dye, but you're really hankerin' for some good ol' fashioned hippie bread.  Just like the kind you used to eat while working on your macrame choker and groovin' to Cat Stevens before he became public enemy number one.  Here you go.
A friend of mine was looking for something all-too-healthy, and I came up with this recipe.  It is primarily whole wheat with buckwheat flour, flax seeds, toasted almonds, and other goodies.  It's not exactly airy like ciabatta, but it sure has a lot of flavor.  Plus, if you need to, you can put some loaves over your wheels in the bed of your truck in the wintertime to get some extra traction.  I've tried a few different shapes, and the boule seems to help the loaf out the most because you can give it some height in the shaping for a boost of confidence in the proofing stage.  Try it out and hope you like it!  This is a link to the recipe in PDF format.

-Mark

http://TheBackHomeBakery.com

PS, I'm about 2 weeks from finishing a couple of instructional DVDs. If you're interested, I can email you when they're ready, or you can stay tuned here since I'll be posting about it on TFL when they're done.

 

Rosalie's picture

I Made Pita!

January 2, 2009 - 5:45pm -- Rosalie

I made Pita!  My first time.  I had thought, maybe, there was some voodoo involved, but there isn't.

I used Beatrice Ojakangas' "Whole Wheat Pita Bread" recipe on page 277 of "Great Whole Grain Breads".  I stuck the dough in the fridge overnight, planning to pick up her instructions after the kneading.  But the recipe got confusing.  If I took her literally, I would "preheat" the oven to 500 after I stuck the rounds in the oven; didn't make sense since I was baking only for 4-5 minutes and in three batches.

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