Reinhart's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Received the book finally 2 days ago. I had pre-ordered from Amazon and they kept claiming it wouldn't ship to me until October. I complained with customer service as others were receiving it, and when I placed a new order, it said it would ship immediately (I cancelled that one of course). That caused them to send it right away.
Reinhart's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
So, I just had to try something and since I had not built a starter yet, and need basic sandwhich bread for my family's daily needs, went for the 100% WW sandwich bread. I followed the biga based recipe and it worked out beautifully. I needed none of the extra flour, although a little got used during hand kneading.
Result shown in the picture, and taste and crust were great.
Comments
That looks perfect. Lucky family.
Looks like a picture in a magazine!
What I didn't mention anywhere is how I got the white stuff on top. I just dusted the top with some rice flour (through a small strainer) just before slashing. --dolf
Your bread came out really well. I also have made this bread and had good results. I thought you might like to know that the Yogurt Bread in the Laurel's book is also a really good bread, like this. It is all whole wheat too. I also use buttermilk for a portion of the recipe and a little more butter and maple syrup for the sweetener. My family has enjoyed both.
Whether its buttermilk or yoghurt, why would the use of a slightly acid dairy product help whole wheat dough rise? Can't get my head around the "science" of it.
I've used buttermilk as the liquid in other loaf bread recipes using primarily white flour and do observe that the crumb is softer, more open and, well, a bit more crumbly. But I've never noticed that I got a higher rise during baking with buttermilk as opposed to fresh milk or water.
Eagerly awaiting your explanations, oh gurus of TFL...
Subfuscpersona, I don't understand all the technical science of it either. I am using raw milk (not heated up) and 1 tbsp. of raw, unheated, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. So, for mine, there is alot of healthy bacterias working in there. Like I said before, I have made this whole wheat bread and it came out light and tasty. But I even get better results with the Yogurt Bread from the Laurel's book. I use yogurt and the buttermilk in that one and it comes out light, fluffy, and really flavorful! It is by far better than any artisan whole wheat bread that I ever bought at the stores. And I am not using any flour conditioners or improvers. I am just doing the sponges and autolyzes overnight.
I noticed with my low protein flour, adding egg white (protein) or milk (protein) also helped hold the loaf together, maybe helping gluten strands. I know they are not the same kinds of proteins but proteins none the less.
Lactic acid in the milk, buttermilk, or dairy products tightens gluten strands, one way to tighten gluten strands, trapping gases and thus leading to a higher rise. Other acids can do it too.
You also have a lot of experience with dough feel and texture and make your own adjustments too to get the right feel for a good rising loaf weather you use milk or water, kneading longer or shorter, folding, proofing and poking all with a somewhat trained eye, rarely writing down exactly your changes. I'm not answering as a guru, just an intuitive hobby baker. :)
I was reading over some old notes yesterday. Another baker in Austria mentioned that she uses egg white in her breads to extend the keeping quality, using the egg yolk as a wash.
I had it pre ordered as well. When I got mail from Jessica's Biscuit that they had it in stock and were shipping I wondered why Amazon hadn't shipped mine. I cancelled my pre-order and reordered it. It said shipping immediately, but then sat there for a couple of days. I got mine quite a while ago, so I was luckier than you! I pre order things all the time and this just isn't how they normally do it.
Can someone please post the recipe for that Reinhart's ww sandwich bread?