Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread?
Hi folks. I have been on a quest to find a 100% whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread and I've had some troubles, I'm not sure if that is even a possibility. I have made whole wheat bread for a long time but recently began switching to 100% whole-wheat (except for a bread flour starter) for the health benefits, but I get pretty much no oven spring and so always end up with wide, short loaves. I have wanted to convert to a whole-wheat starter as well but given my current troubles, I'm not sure if that will happen.
The recipe I currently use is:
Levain:
18 oz starter
5 oz whole wheat flour
Dough:
23 oz Levain
26 oz whole-wheat flour
16 fl/oz water
1.5 oz dry milk powder
0.75 oz salt
The bread is good and I enjoy it but I'm looking for a taller, lighter loaf but not sure if that's possible with that recipe. Using whole wheat flour I know that it tends to be dense as opposed to light. On my last loaf I tried using autolyze which I think did improve the crumb-it was less crumbly, but didn't help rise at all. I haven't tried vital wheat gluten yet since it's pricey but I think that is going to be my next step. One concern I have is that my starter may be weak. It doesn't bubble a lot when I feed it, but when I bake I get plenty of rise during fermentation and proofing, so I'm not sure about that. Am I going to have to compromise, going back to a 50% whole wheat perhaps, or would vital wheat gluten or other alterations make significant changes?
On a side note, are there any recommendations for softer crust as well? It might just be the nature of it being sourdough since I have to bake at a high temp-I generally bake at 400F for about 35 minutes. I spray the loaves with water during proofing and then right before baking. I tried a milk wash once before but that didn't change anything, but I may give it a try again.
Thanks for all your help!