Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums, but have been lurking around for a while.  I've been baking exclusively 100% whole grain bread for a couple of years now, and I'm very happy with my sandwich loaf, but I'm always tweaking my rustic boule (which I make with a sourdough starter).  I use Peter Reinhardt's forumula as a start for a boule/hearth bread from his Whole Grain Breads book.  This recipe calls for a pre-ferment + a soaker overnight, and when the final dough comes together, I do not add any fats (no oil or sugar), and I do not add any commercial yeast (I let the natural leavening starter do its thing).

I am happy with the rise, the crumb, and the flavor of my whole wheat sourdough bread, but I always wish the crust were harder.  The entire bread feels beautifully light on the inside (not the heavy/chewy door-stopper type of weight that a lot attribute to WW), but I think that the crust should be harder and maybe even thicker.  When searching hard or soft crust on this forum, it looks like the trend is how to get a softer cruster instead of harder... well, I need tips on harder crust.

I experiment baking two ways: 1) on parchment paper directly on a fibrament baking stone pre-heated for 1 hour to 550 deg F (temp reduced to 450 deg F after 2 minutes) with a steam pan and a spritz of water sprayed directly onto the boule; and 2) inside of a pre-heated cast-iron dutch (with parchment paper again for ease of transport) oven pre-heated to 550 degrees (lowered to 450 degrees after first 2 minutes), boule spritzed with water, and covered with a lid for about 75% of the baking time.  The results are somewhat similar, with the crust browning more on the stone (and maybe slightly tougher just on the bottom).

Recently I am scoring the loaf, and I'm happier with the oven spring, but look for your tips on a tougher and harder crust out of the oven.  I know that after a day or so in a plastic bag, the crust will soften, but I'm hopeful for the day 1 crust!

Thanks,
-Nico

I just wanted to add a couple of observations about the 100% whole wheat sandwich breads I've been making lately.

First off, the epoxy method really does work. I've done it now by hand and by mixer and it really isn't that hard. I really like it. It seems to give the whole bread a better texture, and I'm getting whole grain breads that are soft enough for even my toddler to like it for PB&J sandwiches. And that's something.

Another thing is that I've noticed is that the whole wheat seems to stay softer longer than the white bread of the same type I make. I think that the epoxy method has something to do with that. If anyone else could comment on that, I'd really love to hear some ideas.

I find it all incredibly interesting.

I actually put this together, meaning to for a while, after dmsnyder mentioned Suas's whole wheat. This is my first try at a truly 100% whole wheat bread and both Adam, my husband, and I think it's a keeper, but with one change: it needs more honey.

Soaker

• 200g whole wheat flour
• 115g white whole wheat flour
• 35g gluten flour
• 260g milk

Biga

• 200g whole wheat flour
• 150g water
• 5g instant yeast

Final Dough

• all of the soaker
• all of the biga
• 50g butter
• 55g honey (we think that 80g would have been better)
• 12g salt
• 25g milk

Method:

Put soaker ingredients together in a bowl and thoroughly combine. Set aside. Put biga ingredients together in a bowl and thoroughly combine. Place plastic wrap over both bowls and let alone for an hour or so. Mine went for a little over since I was feeding Alexander at the time.

To mix the final dough, break both the soaker and biga up into small pieces and place into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add all other ingredients and mix on low until everything is incorporated into the dough, then medium-low for 3-4 minutes until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Place in a bowl for bulk ferment.

During bulk ferment I did 2 letter stretch and folds. I don't really think I needed to as the dough seemed to be very elastic, but I wanted to be sure. Allow to double after the second stretch and fold if you decide to do it. Overall, the dough got a 2 hour ferment.

Cut into two pieces and shape into loaves. This worked for 1 loaf sandwich bread and about 4 rolls. Baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, then went down to 325 for 10 minutes. I took the rolls out before turning the temperature down.

This is soft, light, and perfect for sandwiches. Both my husband and I like the fact that it isn't too heavy, yet it's 100% whole wheat. Considering the fact that none of my projects have been going completely right lately, this success (and one other that I'll mention on my other blog once I've figured it out *without* it being a slight accident) makes me feel good again.

Now I think I can tackle David's San Joaquin Sourdough. ;)

I've made about 8 different recipes from PR's book, always with success, although with experience I improved.  Then I tried his regular Whole Wheat.  I used corn for the soaker, but only regular "store bought" whole wheat flour for the Poolish and main ingredient.  As I kneaded the dough, I noticed that it would not pass the window-pain test.  I tried adding more flour and then less flour, and then simply kneading some more (hoping for the gluten to develop), but NO GO.  Finally, I just put it in a bowl for the first rise, which was fine!  I then formed it into loaves, but after an hour the texture of the dough was no longer smooth and they had not risen much at all!  The two loaves looked all broken on the surface, giving me an indication of poor gluten formation.  I'm going to bake them off, but I expect a poor result.

Q:  is this due to my not using high-protein wheat flour?  That was my only variation from the recipe, and the book does say I can use it.  I was skeptical because I've noticed that other "whole wheat" recipes call for both white and wheat, perhaps because of gluten?  I am a novice here, and upset over my first failure with this fellow's wonderful recipes.  Where did I go wrong?

Received this book as a Christmas gift from a relative who really enjoys my bread :)  Yesterday I started the first recipe in the book: 100% whole wheat sandwich bread.  My last three attempts at the 100% whole wheat bread in The Bread Baker's Apprentice were failures, so I was hopeful he had tweaked the recipe and technique.

Baked it today and had it with dinner.  My wife claims it's the best sandwich bread I've ever made!

Yum :)  The overnight autolyse and combination of soaker and biga really seem to have made the difference.

-Joe

I have searched the site and am trying to find basics for making a freshly ground whole wheat starter. What measurements do I use for the water and flour (preferably in cups)? How often do I feed it? When do I refrigerate it? How do I replenish it? Like I said absolute basics =)

Thanks.

I have a West Bend bread machine and can make excellent white bread that rises just up over the top of the pan perfectly every time. However, when I make whole wheat bread - and I've tried several recipes - it never rises - oh, it may rise 40% of the pan height at most, but that's it. My 1.5 lb. wheat bread load is less than half the height of my 1.5 lb. white bread.

Any suggestings on where to start looking for the cause? I have all fresh ingredients.

Thanks oodles!

Terry Farrell

Tampa, Florida

I was wondering if anyone had comments on using fresh skim milk vs. fresh whole milk in bread.  I've noticed that The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book and Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads both recommend fresh whole milk (though Laurel also uses nonfat powdered milk in some recipes).  Does anyone have an opinion on whether this makes a difference?  Obviously whole milk has more fat, but it would seem to me that this wouldn't make much of a difference if the recipe already included butter or oil (a quick search shows that whole milk has around half a gram of fat per tablespoon while oil contains 14 grams).  I've always used skim, but that's just because that's what I keep on hand normally.