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100% whole wheat, home milled

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

100% whole wheat, home milled

Abe posted this a few days ago, and I decided to give it a try. This had to be the easiest and best 100% whole wheat I have ever made!! For anyone who enjoys home milling, watch the video and give it a try. This is the first time I haven't had to do something else (add some AP or bread flour, follow Reinhart's "epoxy" biga/soaker method, or something else) to get a decent rise and crumb. Really happy with the simplicity of this!!

My dough info:

Hard spring white wheat 300 gm

Hard red winter wheat 150 gm

Water 405 gm 

Stiff starter (~ 70% hydration) 130 gm

Salt 9 gm

She encourages you to use any wheat, and these are what I had on hand. I suspect any good whole wheat flour works great for anyone doesn't mill their own. (For inquiring minds, I mill on a Mockmill 200.)

Also, this was a tad too much hydration for my wheat, next time I will drop it a little bit, maybe try 85% hydration. I wanted to follow her directions for my first attempt, just to see how it would go. The dough was still kind of slack after bulk with stretch and folds x4. The shape came out looking like it wants to be a manatee, lol. I tried to score it, but shouldn't have bothered.

The crumb is soft with a mild tang, not too much for our tastes. We had some for sandwiches today, and it worked great for that. This one will definitely be going into regular rotation. 

Link to the video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_r69WauPk&feature=youtu.be

My results:

 

Comments

Abe's picture
Abe (not verified)

I don't think scoring is always the way to go. Depends on how the dough looks and feels at the end of the bulk ferment. If the dough is a little too hydrated and/or the bulk has been pushed to the limits then better not to lose anymore strength and don't score. Having said that the crumb looks amazing for 100% whole wheat. As for the handling of this dough every flour is different. Elly said her flour is extremely thirsty and goes up to 90% hydration. I think depending on the flour then anything between 80-90% is in a normal range so next time it might be better to try 85%. Do you enjoy the taste and see the benefit of the long autolyse in the fridge? And what about the whole process? I like the laid back method of this recipe and the slow ferment through the day stopping to give it a stretch and fold every now and again. A lovely bake. 

Benito's picture
Benito

Beautiful crumb that’ll make great sandwich bread, well done. 

Benny

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

Using the VSSD as a point of reference for comparison purposes, this one came out a little tangier, with a little softer crust and equally pleasant crumb. It is indeed good for sandwiches.

The dough was exactly like hers, really soft and pliable.It was very relaxing to put together, and didn't require much "babysitting". A very pleasant discovery.