First some jovial bragging, then a serious question ❓ ❓
Attached please see how I incorporated 10% ground flax into my tried true approachable bread.
My question is, would it be to much to top the pan loaves with flaxseed meal before baking?
As has been my way since I joined the bread club, which is now quite a long time ago! I submitted a fledgling formula before it is tested workable.
Photo #2
Deconstructed " Trump bread"
I've done 15% and it was good. I don't care for toppings because they make a mess when I slice the finished bread but I imagine the flaxseed topping would also work fine.
I treat flaxseed meal like flour in my hydration calculations.
Have you seen Just the Flax from the AmeriFlax?
Gary
I have not visited that link address. Thanks for posting, I will check it out. Regarding topping I agree about the mess. I do it anyway sometimes. Regarding hydration calculations, on advice I received here, maybe from you? I don't remember. I also treated the ground flax as part of the 100% flour. I had wanted to lower the hydration for this formula before I revised it to include flax. Even with the thirsty flax, it is still a messy dough to get into the bulk container.
A sticky mess that goes around in circles and isn’t kneaded;)
The new formulation never became anything but a sticky mess. I was forced to add copious amounts of WW flour after the bulk. This in a failed attempt to do some kind of shaping. It was all I could do to get the mess into the pans.
The flax seeds soaker is generally pretty slimy and sticky. Whole wheat dough is also rather sticky compared to dough made with white flour.
Flax seeds + whole wheat (+ sourdough) doesn't make the handling any easier. You need light, fast, non-sticky hands.
I'm not 100% sure, but for me it looks like the final proof was a bit on the long side. At least this is my interpretation of the pinholes. In this case it's normal, that you don't have much oven spring. The crumb might still be nice and light for a whole wheat loaf, with many small regular alveoli.
Everything you mentioned sounds legitimate. Only the flax was ground and added dry, not soaked. I was hoping that over fermentation was the issue. The crumb results are very nice. I will need to do a one loaf experiment on the weekend. There are no demand charges then, so a retard will no be necessary.
The crumb looks pretty decent, for a dense-ish whole grain bread. Next we want to know about the taste!
I always get a great oven spring with the formula without flax. The photo above is oven ready after the proof. They were proofed and ready to bake at 3:00 PM due to our solar electricity plan featuring demand charges during peak hours, I was forced to cold retard until 8:00 PM.
Absolutely no oven spring! So disappointed. I am hoping my disappointment will be tempered by a good crumb. I am not confident of that outcome.
The bread says it turned out great. You've never seen better bread. 😄
Ouch!
You got me!
Not to bad. It looks like a pretty okay fail!
Looks good! Without knowing the background story nobody would guess what happened ;)
Being retarded was part of the problem it bombed. Blame the disappointment on high energy prices and not having the right plan.
Donald
I'll tell you this, Don. No bragging intended, (this time.) this dough was so bad, that a less experienced baker would have relegated it to the trash. I am glad I pushed through to the end game.
Tom.
As for the taste. God my wife is worse than a nine year old! The bread looks different she made up her mind she wouldn't like it.
Me,? I am not going to break my fast. So taste test, ETA 12:00 PM mountain time. Smile 😊
Never tried with unsoaked flax seeds. I was always afraid that the dough consistency changes too much during the bulk. From too wet during the mixing to too dry after baking.
If you want to make the shaping a bit easiert, you could try cold bulk or just cool down the dough in the freezer in the last 20-30min of bulk. Shaping a colder dough should be easier.
Maybe reduce the amount of honey. Not sure how honey affects the stickiness of the dough.