Help! Cannot get tall loaf with 100% Whole Wheat
I've been baking up a storm this summer. I've had some wonderful results with no knead bread and Brother Juniper's Three Seed bread. However, I've failed miserably with my attempts at a nice tall sandwich loaf using mostly or all whole wheat flour. I've used several recipes from Laurel's Kitchen Bread book. I've followed the directions to a "T", kneading for long periods of time, using whole wheat bread flower, using an overnight starter, etc. I've tried letting the bread rise in room temperature and in warmer temps above my garage. I've allowed for longer rising time, tried increasing the amount of yeast, but to no avail. Sometimes the bread will look like it's rising nicely during the first or sceond rise but then do little or even fall during the final proof. This has been the case with 100% WW and any bread that has more wheat than white.
One thing I've noticed is that the total amount of flour used in Laurel's Bread Book is much smaller than other books (maybe 5 cups for two loaves compared 7 or 8 in other books). It's been a while, but I've used The Bread Bible which has a 100% WW recipe that uses 8+ cups of flour. I believe this did yield a taller loaf.
I'm really aiming for a nice 100% (or mostly WW) that is nice and tall, rises slowly and doesn't use too much yeast. Am I dreaming?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!