The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Naturally leavened Graham loaf?

Breadzik's picture
Breadzik

Naturally leavened Graham loaf?

Hi!

Does anyone have a recipe for a naturally leavened Graham flour loaf without any white flour? Or possibly a mixed loaf with some whole grain rye or Type 1850 rye flour? If there is such a thing I couldn't find it.

happycat's picture
happycat

Whole grain rye? Check out the Rye Baker website? 

My Borodinsky is naturally leavened 100% whole grain rye. The rye baker recipe specifies coarser meal for the main dough part.

True sourdough pumpernickel would use coarse rye meal by definition.

alcophile's picture
alcophile

Do you have a source for coarse rye meal or are you milling your own?

After NYBakers closed its retail portal, I have not found any sources for coarse rye meal.

happycat's picture
happycat

I sprouted and milled my own.

Breadzik's picture
Breadzik

I know of Stanley Ginsberg but I don’t think any of his recipes use Graham flour.

happycat's picture
happycat

It's not a huge stretch to adapt one of his recipes. i.e. Illya says modern Borodinsky uses 15% wheat flour. Graham is just coarse all grain wheat, right? So recipes designed for coarse grind might be a place to start playing.

alcophile's picture
alcophile

Many of the recipes on The Rye Baker website use whole rye (1850) flour, as well as whole rye meals. He often adds a small amount of yeast but I think omitting it may be possible. You might also want to look at these German-language bakers' websites:

 

alcophile's picture
alcophile

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread has many recipes that are 100% whole grain or what he calls "transitional" that have some bread flour and whole grain. The other feature that makes this a valuable book is he has options for using a yeasted biga or using a naturally-leavened starter, but if read the recipes correctly, he still uses yeast in the final dough. I suspect the yeast could be omitted and the timing would be longer.

I believe there are many recipes here at TFL and you will also find some naturally-leavened bread recipes at the WSU BreadLab (https://breadlab.wsu.edu/recipes/) and at Breadtopia (https://breadtopia.com/bread-recipes/).

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Graham flour is not the same as whole wheat flour and baked products made with graham flour will have a different texture than those made with WW.  HERE is a very good explanation. Essentially, the germ,bran and endosperm are separated, the endosperm is very finely ground while the bran and germ are more of a meal. Then they are all reblended in the same ratio as they occur naturally in a wheat kernel.  I am a little confused on what you are looking for as some of the responses sound as if graham is the same as WW and some acknowledge the difference. While the particles of the wheat bran and germ can act like a pumpernickel, the endosperm flour can give a finer crumb. The problem comes in when the larger granules are not properly hydrated in the dough stage and after baking will rob the crumb of moisture, causing the slice to crack and crumble. If properly made (more techniques than amounts) it can produce a soft loaf but it will be denser that a loaf made with WW flour.

The ideal recipe to use to make a loaf of bread with graham flour should incorporate an adequate soak-an autolyse, biga,sponge,remix,cold retard,etc,etc. So many ways to accomplish that. Look them up and pick which you think would work for you.

Also crucial, the dough needs to be kneaded,folded or mixed to windowpane. It can be achieved or gotten very close. 

Peter Reinhart has a recipe for "100% whole wheat with biga". You should be able to find that recipe through google as it has been around a long time. It would be ideal.

You might check with the company that milled the graham flour. Often they already have bakers and recipes developed with their product.

Have some delicious fun!

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

@clazar: Thanks for the explanation of Graham flour.  I used to think it was entirely coarse ground.

The differing granule sizes now makes sense -- I remember now that the bigger particles always seemed to be on the top whenever I opened a bag.  (Larger objects always "float" to the top in a container of smaller objects as the container gets jostled around.)

alcophile's picture
alcophile

I always referred to that phenomenon as the "Brazil nut effect" but now I can sound like a total geek and call it "granular convection".

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

for those terms.  Brazil nut effect is a nice visual. And  "granular convection" will impress my smart friends.

jl's picture
jl (not verified)

Here's an example.