What should I do differently?
I got a Mockmill 200 awhile back and have been enjoying grinding grains to add to my loaves. Yesterday, I thought I'd try an experiment and made two loaves - one that was 100% freshly milled grain and one that was 50% stoneground bread flour from Bakers Field Flour here in Minneapolis and 50% freshly milled grain. The grain that I milled was the same in both loaves, but all freshly milled in one loaf and 50% freshly milled in the other.
I upped the hydration in these loaves to 85% since I was using so much freshly milled flour. Both loaves were mixed and proofed under the same conditions except for the fact that my 100% loaf was autolysed for 1 hour and the 50/50 loaf was autolysed for 30 minutes.
My 100% loaf never felt like it had any strength during the bulk time and as you can hopefully see from the photo, it didn't rise as much during the bake. (It's the left hand loaf.)
Thoughts about what I did wrong, or what I should have done differently? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Mark
So one loaf was 50% Bread flour and 50% WW, and the other was 100% whole wheat? In general, Whole Wheat ferments quicker than BF, and so if you used the same timing for both loaves, that would make the WW loaf tend towards overproofing. As a result of faster fermentation, the window before not ready to go into the oven and past time to go into the oven is much shorter, which is another challenge. Also, while many say that WW needs more hydration, I have found that is not always the case with home milled. My suggestion is if you are happy with the 50 50, try again with 25% BF and 50% WW, and adjust the hydration so that it feels similar in your hands to the 50 50. Once you get that ratio, and the timing right, try again with 100% WW, making similar adjustments.
Thanks for your reply, Barry. I appreciate your knowledge that home milled flour doesn't always need that much more hydration. I'll definitely back off how much water I'm adding. What was strange for me was that the WW loaf felt almost soupy right from the get go. I normally laminate my dough to help develop gluten strength about 30 minutes after I add the salt. The WW loaf didn't want to be stretched out like normal. It was pulling apart rather than stretching, so I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right.
I think this is another case of letting the dough show you what it needs. My dough definitely didn't need that much water. And I like your idea of gradually easing into making a whole-wheat loaf. 50/50 works, I'll gradually work my way to 100% WW. And, as it turns out, my ugly WW loaf still tastes delicious!
Thanks again,
Mark
.... with milling/baking with 100% home milled whole wheat. I started getting much better bulk rise, proofing, and oven spring after I started using 20% bread flour/80% home milled whole wheat.
That said, I have really been enjoying learning how different amounts of hydration, percent of other flours (a little fresh milled spelt made the dough so soft and much more elastic!), and techniques effect the final loaf. Even the "flops" have been tasty additions to our day.
One other thought.... I have found Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread to be an interesting resource. If you don't already have it, you could download a kindle sample for free and get an idea, or try your local library? I like his communication style, it's very helpful. I think there are some you tube videos of him speaking on the topic as well. As always, your mileage may vary, everyone has different preferences.
May all your loaves be tasty and your baking bring good things to your day!
Mark , just wanted to say that i bake almost entirely using 100% home milled whole wheat. I started doing it for the nutrition, but ended up being hooked by the taste. I don't get as concerned with whether I get a great oven spring or a great look, because for me, the taste is the main thing.
Thanks again, Barry. This loaf wasn't pretty, but dang, it sure tasted good! Back in September of 2019, I took a class from Sarah Owens in New York City just before she moved. At the beginning of the class she asked what we all hoped we'd get from the class. I responded that I hoped to learn how to get the beautiful open crumb loaves that I kept seeing on Instagram. She said that those loaves were beautiful, but the most important goal of baking bread is to have loaves that taste good. While I still would like to have nice oven spring, I'm most happy when my loaves taste good. And with freshly ground flour, they pretty much always do!
Thanks @justkeepswimming. I've enjoyed "playing" with different grains and experiencing the different aromas and flavors that can be enjoyed. I've thought seriously about getting Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread book, so thanks for the recommendation. My wife wonders just how many bread books a person needs, but she gets to enjoy the results, so she doesn't complain too loudly!
Well - thanks to some very helpful comments, I tried again with a 100% freshly ground loaf. I reduced the hydration from nearly 90% to about 80% and stopped the bulk fermentation after about 2 hours. I've got an assortment of grains, so I put most of them in: 20% spelt, 20% red fife, 10% each of einkorn, rouge de bordeaux, clark's cream, white sonoran, and durum, and 5% each of rye and buckwheat. It smells amazing and I'm looking forward to cutting into it in another few hours. This is another lesson for me in paying attention to the dough and not just relying on what the recipe says to do.
That looks fantastic! And I bet it does indeed smell as good as it looks. If you get a chance to share a crumb shot, please do.
Do you have a recipe that has been working well for you? I know you were playing with the grains you have on hand for this loaf. Like you, I have been enjoying the flavor of freshly milled whole grains, and I keep adding to my list of "things I want to bake". I'm always open to adding another one.
Thanks for sharing!!
Mark, nice looking loaf. I don't know your teacher, but I agree with the message. In his book, Bread , Hamelman says something like the job of the baker is to extract as much flavor from the flour as possible. I am glad it tasted good. One other tip that I don't follow as much as I should is keep detailed notes of each bake - recipe, process, timing, temperatures, and results. I did that pretty diligently for a few weeks and noticed a pretty clear improvement in the outcome.