Help with whole grain bread

Take a look at this recipe.  It is a 100% whole wheat pan bread, but it is quite soft and moist.  Txfarmer's description of how to make a soft bread is very informative and it worked for me.

-Brad

I have recently started working with 100% whole grain breads (sourdoughs).  Based on my limited experience and information from others on this site (thanks txfarmer!), I have found that hydration and dough development are key to getting a soft, non-crumbly loaf of whole grain bread.  In practice, what this means for me is that 1) I mix the whole grain flour and water and let it hang out on the counter overnight before I mix in my starter and salt the next day, and 2) I have started using my food processor with dough attachment to do the initial "kneading" of the dough and following it up with stretch and folds during the initial rise.  While I still knead non-whole grain bread dough by hand, I have not been able to get a 100% whole grain dough to pass the window pane test using any combination of hand kneading/stretch-and-fold.

Here are some pictures of a recent (slightly underproofed) whole wheat sourdough using the above changes to my usual method:

The loaf had a very tender crumb and held together nicely when sliced for toast or sandwiches.

Hope these tips help.  Good luck and happy baking!