PR's Wholewheat Sandwich Bread
I purchased some Pakistani Wheat (for Atta) , and i wanted to see how it fairs in Peter Reinhart's Wholegrain Recipes. I'am not sure of the protein content of This wheat, but i read that Atta flour is between 11.5% to 13% Protein. I milled the berries, and found them to be medium hard. The resultant flour made a coherent smooth dough, and delayed fermentation helped strengthen the dough even more.
Adding Milk, Butter and Honey, helped soften the dough further, and the result was a pliable soft dough that passed windowpane test.
PR's Recipe for this sandwich bread is a real winner, as this 100% wholewheat is transformed into a very fluffy and light loaf which was a true treat, especially when toasted!
I shaped my dough into a tight sandwich load in the manner that Txfarmer does hers as i wanted that shredable texture. My shaping needs improvement.
The flavor was Superb!
Comments
I have seen atta referred to in Indian cookery books. Isn't it used to make rotis? I remember reading somewhere that if you didn't have any on hand you could replace it with sifted WW. Nice bake Khalid. :)
Best,
Syd
Thanks, Syd. This is 100% Wholewheat.. not precisely atta..
Hi Khalid,
I love the colour of your loaf, and the crumb is really quite impressive for a 100% wholewheat loaf.
Atta flour is now milled in the UK by some of the mainstream milling compaines to satisfy the Asian community who have had such an influence on UK food and diet over the last few decades. Rank Hovis are at the forefront of this; I know you have used Hovis flour in the past.
Atta is milled from Durum wheat, I believe. So, I would have expected the grain to be hard. However, I know nothing about Pakistani growing conditions [if that is where the wheat was grown?]. Incidently, I don't know where Hovis source their wheat from to mill to Atta flour either!
Clearly the flour is not that strong. This is a really good illustration of how the headline protein figure can mask the true strength of the flour. You have a hard grain with a high protein figure, which is not very strong.
The crumb in the dough betrays this. Even though you were clearly happy with the quality of the mixed dough, there is evidence of weak points in the baked crumb, towards the top of the loaf.
I don't believe this will detract from the loaf flavour; it's clearly a formula you enjoyed making.
Regarding the shaping, don't be too hard on yourself here: all that's needed is to make sure your seam is carefully placed on the bottom of the tin. It looks like your loaf has broken open on the side, where you formed the seam.
It's really very light for a 100% wholewheat loaf
All good wishes
Andy
Always good to see a nice, soft crumb in a 100% WW loaf. A good sandwich loaf has always eluded me, but every so often someone posts one and I get motivated again. So, thank you!
Marcus
Thank you, Andy! True, you can't judge on the strength of the flour from the hardness of a grain. My mill, which is a small electrical stone mill (HAWOS-easy) did not mill the flour to the consistency you'd look for in a store bought flour, well it could have, but after 2 passes, i didn't want to stress the stones, nor the motor.
As to the feel of the dough, infact, i realized then why is this particular flour suitable for flat elastic breads, like nan, or rotis.. during kneading, the dough exhibited good elasticity, but poor extensibility. non-enrichred, i believe this dough would have had a hard time becoming a sandwich loaf. soaking also helped the extensibility. I still have lots of baking to do with a sack of 40kgs of this wheat!
Thank you for the shaping Tips..
Thank you, Marcus... why has it eluded you? I found that wholewheat can almost never be soft unless you enrich your dough, and soak part of the flour. Increasing the hydration also, seems to help.
Khalid, even with the little flaws in the crumb. I think it's always interesting to experiment a bit - I never heard of Atta flour before.
I bake the 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from WGB quite often (and sell it), and you are right, to taste and perform well, pre-fermenting most of the flour is really necessary (I usually make it with a starter).
You can sometimes buy 100%whole wheat breads in bakeries that are brittle, and coarse in taste. Those are obviously one-day products, done without any pre-doughs.
I also sometimes bake the Whole Wheat Hearth Bread from WGB, but I prefer the softer taste of the (enriched) Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf.
Karin
Thanks Karin..
Atta is an Indian/Pakistani Word for Wheat Flour. I don't think it belongs to the durum family.. it looks like ordinary wheat. My mis-shaping lead to the flaws in the crumb, the crumb would otherwise be perfectly intact.. I like this flour.
Beautiful crust color Khalid, nice crumb. How did it blow out the front of the loaf while confined in a loaf pan? Was that part above the pan line? I haven't tried PR's whole wheat yet, and I don't have the resources to mill my own. The flavor of freshly ground should be memorable. Ray
Thank you , Ray.. True, the top of the loaf was above the line of the pan.. Do invest in a mill... even a manual crank cheapo mill ( i started with Back to basics).. the flavor and nutrition of Freshly ground grains is indeed memorable and worth every penny..