January 11, 2013 - 5:02pm
what should i expect?
i have been making wheat bread for about 12 years and like many that have posted here i have varying results, mostly in crumb. if i were to incorporate a proofing box what difference should i expect to see? what about using a whole wheat soudough starter vs dry yeast?
i am asking so that when i do see a change i have a better idea what the source of that change is.
thanks, mike
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By technique, I mean in giving the WW flour time to soak up the water in the recipe and using adequate water in the recipe.. Whether it's an autolyse, a sponge,preferemnt, an overnight retard-just so there is a few hours of soak time for a good portion of the WW flour. The other trick is to develop the gluten that is in there with adequate moisture,kneading,mixing or stretch and fold. A third consideration is to make sure there is adequate starch development-sometimes I add 2-3 tbsp per loaf of rye flour. Any other finely milled flour (bread flour,AP,Oat,etc) will do but rye seems to work best and is readily available at the grocery store. Whether it is a lean or enriched dough-these are really the key steps that must be incorporated.
Do a search on "fluffy wheat bread" or "soft wheat bread" or even "crumbly" and you will get a TON of posts to review. I learned all this in the last 2 years and can make a pretty great whole wheat loaf. and this is where I learned.
Have delicious fun!
thanks, i have some soaking from yesterday and i will give you tips a try.