The Fresh Loaf

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What is considered as whole-grain flour?

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

What is considered as whole-grain flour?

Hi,

JFYI I'm fro India. Here, we can get only two types of flours, namely:

 1) Maida(AP??), a very finely ground wheat after flaking off the bran and,

2) Atta, a finely ground whole-grain, with the bran included.

I normally bake my bread with 70-60℅ Maida & 30-40℅ Atta. This turns out fine with a reasonably good crumb & flavour.

My problem is that whenever I try to make breads with 60-100% Atta, I get a very dense crumb & a very strong grassy flavour. Neither of these are to my liking, especially not together. I believe the problem is that the Atta contains very finely ground bran which contributes to both the denseness(the fine bran particles cut the gluten strands) and the strong grassy flavour.

I've read that bran constitutes 14.5℅ of the whole-wheat flour. To get around my problem of the denseness & strong flavour I'm thinking of using Maida & Bran(large flakes) in the ratio of 85:15. The reasoning being that the large flakes would be interspersed in the dough, rather than all-over as would happen if the bran was finely ground. This would allow the bread to rise more as well as cut the grassy flavour.

Now, I'd like your opinions whether my idea would work & also, would this be considered a "Whole-wheat" bread.

Sorry for being so long-winded.

 

 

lepainSamidien's picture
lepainSamidien

Sounds like you are running into a problem that many of us have also found ourselves in, the quest for a whole wheat loaf that behaves like a white loaf (though, it must be said, many of us also love the particular qualities of 100% whole wheat loaf, the density and gassiness). Have no fear.

Large bran flakes added in the ratio you have suggested will probably not make all that much of a difference from the loaf you are baking at 70/30 or 60/40 Maida/Atta. Whichever method you ultimately settle on, you could try pre-soaking either the whole wheat flour or the bran flakes, both of which would help gluten development and contribute to an airier loaf (less dense). By soaking the whole wheat flour ahead of time (up to 12 hours, say), you give the starches time to begin to form a gluten network so that when it's time to make the final dough, you've already got a solid base to work on. And soaking the bran flakes ahead of time will soften them considerably, which is necessary to prevent them from : A) tearing the gluten strands as the bread rises and B) stealing all of the water from the recipe and leaving you with a dry bread. Soak the bran flakes for 8-12 hours with an equal weight of water.

Hope this helps and good luck !

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

Thank you LepainSar,

I forgot to mention that I autolyse the dough at room temperature for an hour or two then refrigerate it for 8 hours or more depending on my time constraints. Then I add the salt & yeast & do some S&F.Then it goes back to the refrigerator for about 8 hours for the bulk fermentation. The the final shaping is done & rested for the final proof(partly on the counter & partly in the refrigerator before baking. 

I'd like to point out that the to temperatures here vary from 25-33°C (77-92°F)

I would like to know if the "re-constituted" dough can be called "whole-wheat".

I hope to put up some photographs of the re-constituted whole-wheat bread soon. 

Thanking you again.

Paresh

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

quickly and turns rancid because if the natural fats in the germ.  Most millers take out all the germ when milling so their flour is more shelf stable and will last longer on the grocery shelf .  So.... most all whole anything labeled flour is not whole grain flour it is whole wheat or whole rye or whole spelt - missing at least the germ.

Sadly, they also take out all if the bran when milling and don't usually put all of it back into their whole flour either.  So...... some of the bran is usually missing too.  There is nothing like fresh ground whole grain flour and fresh ground whole sprouted flour if you are into whole grains in bread.

Luckily most folks like white breads best and the flour most millers produce is perfect for them

Durk's picture
Durk

Could you provide me with a picture of a 'real' whole grain flour? I would like the health benefits - or perhaps better put - avoid the health detriment of white flour - as much as possible by actually baking with the germ and the bran.

Thanks in advance!

lepainSamidien's picture
lepainSamidien

If you asking for commercial purposes, then I can't be of any help, not being well-versed enough in cottage laws in your neck of the woods. But, as dabrownman points outs, even that which gets to pass as "Whole Wheat" flour on American supermarket shelves is not actually flour milled from the WHOLE grain : it is something like what you are trying to put together, though with bran more finely milled added back into the mix.

However, the term "whole grain" really depends on what you want it to mean : for example, I can pass wheat berries through my mill and have flour come out the other end, and I can use everything and term my bread "whole grain." But I could just as well pass that same flour through a sifter of a given fineness and make bread out of that flour and also call that bread "whole grain," since I would be using all of the parts of the grain and only sifting out that which the milling process could not grind up finely enough. If you think that's cheating, look at the recipes for what gets to pass as "Whole Wheat Bread" in American supermarkets : the first ingredient of the majority will be (gasp!) unbleached enriched bread flour (i.e. high protein white flour).

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

A big thanks to all of you.

You all have given me a better idea of what Whole-wheat flour is all about. As I've understood it,  ethically it should be wheat berries in & the entire flour out. Here in India most people buy their own wheat & get it ground every week at the neighbourhood mill (& get the entire output without sieving). As a kid I remember my mum & granny manually milling wheat at home between two circular stone contraption. Alas, those days are over. 

So, from what I've learned I should go back to using the home Atta. 

However I'm posting the photo of the re-constituted flour bread. The crumb is much better than i can get from our home Atta.

I would appreciate any comments as I live so far away from a bread-eatng culture. I get to taste real bread only when I'm traveling to the West or when I bake .

Thanks again.

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

 

pmccool's picture
pmccool

The atta flour I've seen in Indian markets here in the U.S. is milled from durum wheat.  It is a different species of wheat than "normal" wheat.  The flour typically has a higher protein content but weaker gluten than a high-protein normal wheat. It also has a yellow color.  Durum flour is most commonly used in pasta but is also used as bread flour in some places. 

My very limited experience in using it in baking has been enough to teach me that it needs to be handled differentl.  I haven't yet mastered the techniques.  You might want to use the Search toll on this site to look for posts that mention atta, or durum, or even semolina (a coarser grind of durum).  Those could provide some additional pointers for you. 

Paul

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

Got the image on the site at last!

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Bye the way I did find out from the Maida miller, they remove the germ for the keeping quality. So this is a Endosperm/Bran bread. LOL! The flavour & texture of the bread was really good though.

Paresh.

paresh1955's picture
paresh1955

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

it gives to crust and crumb are unmistakable and one of its best attributes.  I'm guessing the miller didn't get all the bran back into the sans germ flour either:-)