Help! (Suas' Honey Whole Wheat: Gloppy WW dough)
I'm in the process of making the Honey Whole Wheat pan bread from Advanced Bread and Pastry. It uses a firm levain and instant yeast. It is a 100% whole wheat, except for a little bread flour in the levain. It is also interesting in that Suas specifies a double hydration technique, mixing initially with about 80% of the water and adding the rest slowly after the gluten is somewhat developed.
Suas' dough is 80% hydration and, after all the water is added, is extremely gloppy. I mixed for maybe 10 minutes. There was some gluten development, but the dough was still extremely slack and sticky. It didn't come close to cleaning the sides of the bowl in my KitchenAid mixer.
Suas' formula calls for a 2 hour bulk fermentation followed by shaping and proofing, but, because the dough is so slack, I'm adding a couple of stretch and folds. I've just done the first S&F, and am starting to believe I will actually be able to form a loaf from this dough after another 45 minutes and another S&F.
Has anyone else made this bread or worked with another gloppy WW dough? Any experience to share?
David
I have worked with other whole wheat recipes and it does take a while to absorb the extra moisture.I'm sure it will benefit from the extra stretch and folds. I'm not so sure the dough will be firmer, though, given that hydration level.
At this point, the loaf is proofing.
I did do a second S&F and fermented another 30 minutes or so (total fermentation of about 2 1/2 hours). By the time I formed the loaf, the dough was quite tacky but very manageable - not at all difficult to form into a pan loaf.
I'm eager to see how it turns out. I'm definitely wanting a nice honey whole wheat in my repertoire to use for sandwiches and toast.
David
Glad to hear that, David!
I haven't baked this bread myself, but when you think about it, it shouldn't be very far from Hamelman's miche, should it? Now that's coming in at around 82% hydration, with high-extraction flour. It's suggested in the recipe that if high-extraction flour is not available, one could replace it by roughly 90% whole-wheat flour and 10% bread flour. Does Suas' recipe remind you of a miche in terms of dough strength/stickiness?
I usually make miches with First Clear Flour. It is a sticky dough, but no where near as sticky as the Honey WW.
BTW, the loaf baked beautifully. I haven't sliced it yet, but the dough felt nice and soft-spongy when I put it in the oven.
I'll post on it after slicing. (Probably tomorrow).
David
Hi David,
You might find this thread interesting- they are discussing dough hydration in Suas' AB & P. I realize you are saying that the hydration seemed too high, but there are some comments on this thread that may pertain to your situation with your pan bread.
Hope your loaf turns out well! Would you be so kind as to post your results? I just asked a question about a sandwich loaf and am looking for a good PB & J type ww bread.
I certainly do not think the hydration was too low in the Honey WW formula!
The dough was nice by time to form it came around, and the baked loaf looks and smells great. I will post on it after slicing and tasting.
David
Hi, Carl.
I mixed the dough for about 3 minutes before adding the additional water gradually. Perhaps I should have mixed longer or employed an autolyse.
Can you say what percent of the gluten development should be accomplished before adding the reserved water? This is the first time I've used this technique.
David
Try full window pane at 67% hydration then add rest of water gradually over a few minutes. Good luck! Paddle attachment works but that encourages over mixing.