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Sprouted Wheat Flour Turning Out Soggy Bread

Centeōtl's picture
Centeōtl

Sprouted Wheat Flour Turning Out Soggy Bread

I've had a problem branching out to using Sprouted Wheat Flour to make a Sprouted Wheat Bread with two failed attempts so far. No matter how long I bake the bread the loaves' insides are gooey dough.

I used recipes respectively one after the other:

With the first one I turned out the loaf after cooking for 35 mins and it looked okay then I noticed it started deflating like a cake so I poked with a needle and found it pulled out dough. So, I put it back for another 20 mins and still no improvement.

So, I tried the second recipe, and after a bit of research some suggestions were to ensure there was enough flour to soak up the water content and use a thermometer to test if the loaf's internal temperature was between 87C and 98C which apparently is a sure way to tell whether the bread if cooked through. Well, that bread baked for 1 1/2 hours, the thermometer was correct, I took it out, let it sit for 10 mins and thought something wasn't right, cut it in half and it was 2 1/3's soggy dough.

I did use a Raco non-stick bread tin and I have found that my non-stick baking trays do tend to not conduct heat as quickly so often biscuits will take an extra 10 mins to bake for example. I wondered if that was the issue. The recipes could also be crap of course.

I thought about just plaiting the dough into a plaited loaf and putting on a flat baking tray so the bread would heat on all sides and hopefully bake the inner dough.

Any other ideas or insights or tips welcome.

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Are you sure the sprouted flour is good.  I have made a few loaves by sprouting my own flour,  and the first few times I let them sprout too long and had the same experience you did - it collapsed like a balloon with a pink hole in it when I took it out of the oven.    Nothing in the second recipe jumps out as crazy, though the note at the bottom says if it is too "flimsy" to substitute whole wheat flour for the sprouted till you hit 50 50%.  This post has a recipe you might want to try http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40502/peter-reinharts-sprouted-whole-wheat-bread

Centeōtl's picture
Centeōtl

Thanks for your reply.

The sprouted wheat flour I have confidence in because it's from a reputable flour making company.
https://snk.com.au/product/sprouted-wheat-flour/

Thanks for confirming the second recipe seems okay. I'm sure it's something either I'm doing or the utensils I'm using.

I'll try that recipe from Peter Reinhart you recommend and see how it goes.

Anon2's picture
Anon2 (not verified)

Sounds like either the flour is too hydrated or it's not baked through properly. How about holding back some water and baking till the bottom of the bread taps hollow? Just because it's a recipe for sprouted wheat doesn't mean the wheat you're using can take the same hydration. 

Deflating might point to taking out the oven too early so under baked. Could also mean over fermented. A photo will help. 

Centeōtl's picture
Centeōtl

Hi Abe,

Over-hydrated could certainly be an issue. I had wondered if the wheat could be different depending on processing, type etc and you've confirmed that can be the case.

If it stuffs up on my next attempt, today I hope, I'll post a photo. The last two hit the trash pretty quickly :-)

Thank you for you're response.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

"Just because it's a recipe for sprouted wheat doesn't mean the wheat you're using can take the same hydration. "

Concur. It's unlikely that the conventions/standards for sprouted flour in AU are the same as in US or EU.

First off is the residual moisture level in the flour. There is no reason to believe that the AU miller held to the same moisture level used by the millers who supplied the recipe authors in other countries. Especially a small or boutique miller.

Second, is the degree of sprouting. Sprouting is similar to malting, it activates the enzymes that convert starch to sugar. And sprouted flour has (or makes) a LOT of sugar, which holds onto the water, preventing it from baking off.

"Degree of sprouting" is somewhat related to "diastatic power".  Beer-brewers keep track of this -- there is an actual number rating used for malt.  So your AU sprouted flour may have a higher diastatic power than the recipe author's sprouted flour. Though I doubt it is something measured outside the brewing industry.

(Come to think of it, this is a recurring theme on TFL, using a foreign recipe with local ingredients.)

Therefore.... it may not be just a matter of hydration %:

1) You may need to adjust the ferment times if your highly diastatic flour is making too much sugar.

2) You may need to "dilute" your sprouted flour with regular flour in order to reduce sugar creation, while still maintaining a long enough ferment time to generate CO2 gas.

--

Taste it next time, after baking, even if you have to throw it out, and see how sweet it is. That may provide a clue.

Good luck, amigo. And bon appétit!

Centeōtl's picture
Centeōtl

That's some interesting information, thanks muchly. And tasting the bread after to test its sweetness is a great technique to keep in my back pocket. Sure will use this.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

When working with such a high percentage of sprouted flour the timing is crucial.  I had the same issue when making Peter Reinhardts 100% sprouted whole wheat where the dough over fermented and the crumb was gummy.  It took me several tries to finally get it to work.  I have much more success when I mix the sprouted flour with a higher %of non sprouted flour.

Centeōtl's picture
Centeōtl

Mixing with more non sprouted flour sounds like a good idea. Fermentation time never occurred to me. I know I watch it with my sourdoughs so there's depletion of the yeast's food. So much to look at. 

I'm not far off another attempt. Today, I'm just making a well tried white bread, 4 baguettes and a pasta dura plaited bread with yogurt. That gets the confidence back up basically :-D

Thanks for your tips.