Trouble with Whole Wheat French Bread
I am new to bread baking and am starting out using a Hodgson Mill whole grain cookbook recipe for the whole wheat french bread. I measured all the ingredients accurately but the loaves seem extremely dry when I added all the flour. I proofed the yeast then added all the ingradients and half the flour. I let is rise until it double in size then added the remainder of the flour and kneaded it for 10 minutes. It was extremely dry at this point and was falling apart and not forming a solid ball. The recipe called for another rise and doubleing in size. I let it go then rolled it but it was very stiff. I rolled it out, rolled it up, stuck it in the oven at 110 as the recipe called for. It didn't double in siae, but probably increased by 50%. It is in the oven now and smells great...I just have a feeling it is going to tast horrible.
My question is, do you usually add all the flour that is called for in the recipe or just add until it feels right? Also, once you've added too much flour, can you just add a little water to bring it back?
Thanks