The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Migrating to whole grains - Tartine Whole Wheat

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Migrating to whole grains - Tartine Whole Wheat

My Tartine loaves made with 70% home-milled flour came out excellent.  I have one in the freezer to bring to the in-laws next weekend, and brought one to my parents for dinner last night.  My dad re-heated it in the toaster oven and it was a little difficult to cut -- the bread tore a bit and I don't know if that was the knife's fault (a very sharp "bow" knife) or if the crumb was just too soft.  I don't think it would have worked for a sandwich bread, but maybe once it cools off it will be easier to slice.

The taste was excellent. The crust was of the shattering variety and just so pleasing to bite into.  With or without butter, this bread was a hit.

The levain was "old" because I had made it on Wednesday, used half on Thursday, and then used the remaining half on Saturday.  I believe the levain was made with 100% ground wheat, but I don't recall for certain.

I added 700 grams of wheat berries to the mill, put a large wooden salad bowl underneath, and ground away.  While it was grinding, I added warm water to my levain and dispersed.  Once the flour was done being milled, I poured the water/levain mixture into the bowl and mixed it up. Autolyzed for an hour, added the salt and rather than adding the 50 grams of water as I usually do, I just dipped my fingers in the the 50 grams and kneaded the salt into the dough, and kept dipping my fingers to avoid sticking.

In the end, the dough was less "pasty" then it has been in the past, due to the fact that I used to just dump the 50 grams of water in, and that was too much.

I also used a shallow rectangular piece of Tupperware rather than the taller, smaller piece of snapware I had been using for the bulk rise.  This made it easier to get a good stretch for each of the stretch and folds, and I wonder if that helped the dough develop better than previous attempts.  Being able to slip two hands under the dough and lift it, definitely works more of the dough than putting one hand under and lifting.  Plus with more room to work I can make a longer fold.

I did not take a picture of the crumb. But, as I indicated, it was soft. It was also moist.  It had a wonderful chew. But, I did not get much in the way of holes, at least not that I remember.  I will ask my folks to snap a photo and send. That shouldn't make me sound too crazy.

 

Comments

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Previously, my dough stuck to the basket and a good chunk of it was left behind.  I still baked it. It came out rather flat, and a few days later I sliced into it. It was as delicious as it was ugly.

cerevisiae's picture
cerevisiae

Looks like good progress. :)  Your first effort has pretty nice crumb to it, I can only imagine what the more recent loaf is like on the inside.

Are you following the whole wheat formula from Tartine book 2?

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I forget how the books are numbered, but I am following the whole wheat formula as best I can, that he has listed as a whole wheat variant of the basic country loaf in Tartine Bread. 

cerevisiae's picture
cerevisiae

I believe the progression is as follows:

  1. Tartine Bakery - Mostly (all?) pastry
  2. Tartine Bread - Mostly bread, includes Country loaf, et all.
  3. Tartine 3 - Bread and Pastry, more whole grains, including non-wheat and wheat variants

Sounds like you are working on formulae in 2.

golgi70's picture
golgi70

How warm is your flour after milling?  I always have to mill and then wait a bit for the flour to cool off a bit before mixing.  But maybe you get cooler flour grinding just a couple pounds? 

Loaf looks great.  I bet it's delish taboot

Cheers

Josh

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

The flour is definitely warm, but is there a reason to wait for it to cool before mixing it with the water and leaven? My house was at close to 70 degrees. If I recall, he proofs his bread at 76-78 degrees. This go around, I did not take the temperature of the dough, but I don't think it was at higher than 76 degrees, at least, not for long.  But, can't you just use cooler water if your flour is coming out "too warm" for the desired dough temperature?

Also, to avoid warm flour I know you can chill the wheat berries in the fridge before grinding, and that should yield flour that comes out at room temperature.

The bread was very delicious. It is a real treat.

golgi70's picture
golgi70

settle to a cooler temp myself but I'm sure cooler water would do the same trick.  I'm not sure if there is reason to do it one way or the other.  When i grind the flour is around 100F depending how much we grind.  If its a small amount its a bit cooler.  Once it gets to about 100F I'll stop grinding and let the machine rest.  It usually doesn't take long to cool it down a bit.  I've never chilled the berries as I fear bringing moisture to my mill but yes I have read about this as well.  I suppose this would be a good trick if you had an unavoidable hot kitchen/storage room.   I know some people will have there mill motor slowed down to decrease the amount of heat added.  I think KOMO mills are made to grind slow and cooler.  

Yeah 70% has been my favorite high percentage Wheat without switching to cold bulk fermentation.  

Look forward to seeing more from your mill

Josh

 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Do you cold bulk ferment with >70% whole grain because you get overfermented dough otherwise?  Maybe that is why I had such a sticky mess the first time. Next time I will keep it in the fridge between turns and see how that works. 

golgi70's picture
golgi70

I don't regularly as cold bulk doesn't fit my setup well.  But if I could I'd probably do cold bulk and ambient final proof.  whole grains are just stickier and tackier than white flour in my opinion.  Another good reason for bulk fermenting cold.  It allows you make the dough at proper hydration which is hard to handle but when the dough is cool its much easier to handle.  

Josh

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Here is a blurry crumb shot that was just sent. The bread was cut in quarters, so this is one quarter of it.

You can see how ragged it was after cutting. It was almost too tender to cut. Or my knife action stinks when holding a hot (reheated) loaf.

 

cerevisiae's picture
cerevisiae

Reheating would make the crumb more delicate and harder to cut. If it was still coming out ragged when completely cool, then yes, you have a particularly tender crumb.

Looks like it came out nicely in terms of air holes. Sounds like it was pretty tasty, too.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I don't know how it cut after it cooled off, but it sure was tasty.  I think it was a lot tastier than my 100% whole grain enriched bread recipe from Bread. Not that that bread was bad, but I just don't think it is as good. I will continue to make that a few more times before moving on to another recipe.

So far, Tartine has my heart even though it takes a bit more time to make.

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

David:  These loaves look wonderful. I have never milled my own flour, so I will have to become equipped to try it some time. Thanks for sharing.  Best,  Phyllis

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

For better or for worse, my baking journey took me down some not-so well-traveled roads.  I can't yet say that home-milled tastes better than store-bought whole grain flour.  But I took this step largely because I wanted to make flour when and as needed, rather than buying whole grain flours and then having to worry about them going bad before I was ready to use them. 

Oh, and it might very well taste better. I just can't say because I am not about to buy store-bought milled flour and do a a comparison bake.  Mostly because I don't have the time, but also, because if store bought tastes better I might feel a little foolish. :)

Mebake's picture
Mebake

They look just great, David. Have to tackle that recipe some day.

Khalid

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Khalid, for you it would be less of a tackle and more like taking candy from a baby. Then again, with your baking schedule, anything new may be a hassle to fit in!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Lucy's kind of bread for sure.  This one looks perfect and it has to taste great with the home milled flours.  Love this one inside and out.

Well done and happy baking