Mission accomplished!!! Thank you all for your input!!!
The winner!
Made with wheat bran levain, inspired by Dabrownman's great idea...
The wheat bran levain. I know, that's a lot of it. I usually make my breads with 50%+ of pre-fermented flour.
Mixing the bran levain in the dough...
Adding sprouted grains to the dough... For this bread, the sprouted grains were mixed and cooked together before adding to the dough; there was no specific proportion for each grain.
Testing for gluten development. Imagining myself pinching my kids' cheeks. In a way, the dough is my baby too, isn't it?
Done mixing. Looking good...
The wheat bran whole wheat bread
100% whole wheat flour, 50% of which and 16% wheat bran were pre-fermented by starter and raisin yeast water. I decreased the % of sprouted grains to 24% because the dough was not as strong, and I didn't want to take any chances in my first bake of this bread. It's very likely that I'll test and change the proportions of wheat bran and sprouted grains in the future.
The crumb shot...
Ready to serve...
The runner-up...
I call it "the guys' loaf" because I used ingredients suggested by the guys: 10% cracked wheat soaker, 20% sprouted wheat berries (plus 10% of other mixed sprouted grains), and 2% vital wheat gluten.
Thank you for helping me out!
Getting ready for the "chewy crumb" challenge...
No more collecting dust, the grain mill is now being used...
Cracked wheat soaker - cereal-like, tastes sweet, very nice; microwaved for 2 minutes, all the water had already been absorbed. Even though I used about 160% hydration in the soaker, the cracked wheat berries still turned out a bit too tough in the baked loaf. Have you ever had similar problem with your soaker?
Sprouted grains for this bread were cooked and weighted separately...
Mixing the base dough...
Adding cracked wheat soaker first...Used only 10% because I was worried about the hydration in the soaker would make my dough too wet.
Testing for gluten development again. Pinching cheeks...
Sprouted grains with specific proportions...
Start mixing...
Final testing of gluten development...
All set...
Bread made with VWG comes out taller... Wheat bran WW on the left, without VWG.
Crumb shot of the "guys' bread". It's not as chewy as the wheat bran WW bread. Even though only 2% of VWG was used, that bland hollowness, which masked the flavors of all the other ingredients, shocked my taste buds one more time. It suddenly dawned on me why the store-bought whole wheat breads taste like "cardboard". The VWG used in those breads must be one of the culprits!
The "just for fun"...
Bread on steroids - made with 4% vital wheat gluten. Don't tell me what you're thinking!!!
With 4% vital wheat gluten added, yes, the bread is less airy and it gives a more substantial mouth feel. However, I still don't find the bread "chewy" and it tastes bland, which I suspect is caused by the (over use of) VWG...
but the loaf is indeed much taller...