Need help

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Tromba on 8 Sep 2018 at 06:47

Hello I am new to the forum.  I am not an experienced baker but I have a lot of good cooking knowledge and equipment in my kitchen.  

It has been a goal of mine for some time to be able to make all the bread for my family from sourdough starter and never have to buy a store loaf.  I tried making my own starter and failed miserably.  Recently a friend of mine gave me some starter and I was off and running.  White bread was easy and came out delicious every time.  I transferred some starter over to whole wheat flour and have been trying time and time again to make a whole wheat sandwich bread and have pretty much failed every time.  The first attempts didn’t rise and were dense.  I searched online and have never found a never fail recipe that worked for me.  I tried a lot of different solutions.  Eventually I got a bread that had good flavor and texture but still would not rise much.  I have also tried adding vital wheat gluten, experimenting with different ratios but there are too many variables at play for me to deal with.  

My holy grail is 100% whole wheat sour dough sandwich bread that is my family’s every day bread for toast and sandwiches.  I would like for it to be tall and fluffy just like a white bread that jumps out of a standard loaf pan.  Can anyone offer up a recipe or some tips geared towards the beginner/novice baker?  

Unfortunately, a whole gran bread will never be as light and airy as a good white bread. BUT, whole grain can be relatively light and relatively airy. 100% whole grain bread is challenging, but very doable with practice. I suggest you start with a small percentage of whole grains and work your way up as you gain proficiency. 15 or 20%, although still challenging might be a good place to start. I’m sure that sounds low to you, but it is best to succeed early, than to struggle with failure, IMO.

Keep us posted, images are very helpful.

HTH

Danny

I'm a relatively new sourdough baker and have found better success with higher hydration dough. I've done around an 89-90% hydration. Trouble is, it's tricky as heck to work with and shape, and to get the timing of the fermentation right. It can easily turn into a pancake when it's being shaped or being baked.

eg.) here's the crumb of a 100% whole grain dough. I was hoping for more openness, but the responses I got in the thread seemed to suggest this was pretty par for the course for whole wheat.

 

"I transferred some starter over to whole wheat flour..."

Not necessary to switch flour feeds of the starter and perhaps the starter is more stable with AP.  Often the yeast will then react stronger to the whole wheat flour in the recipe resulting in more lift.  Because whole wheat flours are heavier, a good yeast population and good dough development are even more important.

The idea of taking your trusty white bread recipe and slowly subbing some of the white flour for whole is a good way to learn what is happening.  It makes for easier comparisons.  Eventually as the whole flour increases you may notice the need to increase the water and mixing/kneading times.  Whole wheat will take anywhere from 5 to 15% more water and needs more time to develop gluten.  

I'm also new here but I have experience with sour dough which I think is what you're making?  I have posted an alternate method for sour dough which you may find interesting.  My back ground is fermenting foods and what I have noticed in sour doughs, especially if a starter is given to you, the yeast and bacteria fight for dominance over the food supply.  One usually wins which means the other is in short supply.  It sounds to me that the bacteria have won over and you may have excess bacteria?  If there is not enough viable yeast, you will not achieve a rise.  Also, if the bacteria has taken over, there will be an abundance of Lactic Acid that may drop the pH value too far.  Just a thought.