KA Whole Wheat vs KA Golden Whole Wheat

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Every other week I bake Hamelman's Workday 100% Whole Wheat  (formula at Workday 100% Whole Wheat).  I added 120g of whole walnuts because my wife loves them, and rounds of stretch-and-folds, coil folds, and a lamination fold (where the walnuts come in) to build some extra strength.

One week, I couldn't find KA WW in the supermarket, but only KA Golden WW.  We both thought the golden WW tasted better, but the loaf was flatter (12.2% protein vs 14% protein).  I cut the nuts back to 100g but at 80% hydration per the formula, the golden WW doesn't' seem to have the same strength.

I asked Google' AI about cutting back the hydration; AI said I should use a higher hydration with the golden WW. Even at the same 80% hydration the golden WW dough seems stickier.

What's going on?  Should I lower the hydration to, say, 75%, for the golden WW?

BTW, on alternate weeks I bake rye breads, mostly from "The Rye Baker"

 

 

My chatbot gave the opposite answer:

  • For recipes developed with regular whole wheat flour, using golden whole wheat can result in slightly stickier dough because golden whole wheat absorbs less water.
  • To achieve similar dough consistency, reduce hydration by about 2-5% when substituting golden whole wheat for traditional whole wheat.
  • Protein content doesn't tell you as much about whole wheat flour as they do about white flour, because there is protein in the bran that doesn't contribute to gluten formation.
  • As Tom said, if the dough felt sticky and the loaf ended up flat, the first thing to try is reduced hydration, regardless of the underlying cause. If you've been baking this recipe for a while, you should use your familiarity with how the dough should feel to adjust the hydration whenever you make any change, rather than trying to always use the amount in the recipe.
  • These chatbots don't have any insight into these flours to make a determination on what adjustments need to be made between them. The best they can do is search the internet for what other people have said, and I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't as specific about which two flours they're comparing as they should be.