Post by sasinpa on Nov 9, 2008 7:58:57 GMT -5
Hi! I saw that people have been asking for whole wheat bread recipes and I have been experimenting with easy whole wheat hearth breads, especially on the days when I don't have time to stand by my mixer. This recipe I made just last week and we really loved it and it was so easy. If you don't have freshly ground wheat though, it is best to use only half whole wheat and half white flour. I made it with Carl's free Oregon trail sourdough starter (which I love), but it can be made with yeast too. It is a good bread to make on a busy day, but one where you are home most of the day.
Night before:
Mix 1/2 cup sourdough starter with 3 cups hard whole wheat flour and enough warm water(80F) to make it like pancake batter (1 1/2-2 cups). Let sit covered overnite. ( if using yeast, mix 3 1/2 cups ww flour with the water and add 1/4 tsp yeast)
In morning add:
7 cups whole wheat flour at room temp.
4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups warm water (80F)
4 tsp yeast ( if using yeast)
Mix together with wooden spoon in large bowl. It should be thicker than pancake batter, but very wet and sticky and gloppy compared to regular bread dough. Cover with plastic wrap or wet towel ( don't want it to dry out). Let sit in warm place ( i put it on top of oven and turn oven on 350F for a short time, then turn off) After 1 1/2 hours it should have swelled. Delicately pick up one side of it and stretch and fold it on top of dough. Do this to other side too. You don't have to be too delicate, but you don't want to mess up the bubbles in it or mash it down. After another hour, do this again. These times are approximate, I do it when I am going by and see that it has risen a few times while it is rising. After you have done the stretch and fold thing on it a 2 times and it is risen at least double then you get to shape it into whatever kind of loaves you want. When I shaped mine, it had risen double and was tacky but not sticky ( it was ripe dough) and it was very stretchy. If you have made it a wetter dough it may still be sticky, you can either dump it on the greased pan and stretch it out lightly into a foccacia and dimple it on top and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle w/ sea salt and fresh rosemary, or shape it into 2 large french bread style loaves, or I made mine into 3 regular loaf pans. If you want it to rise high, you need to shape it in a way that the gluten is stretched tightly while not pressing out all the air in it. I do this by patting it into a slight rectangle shape delicately, then folding the top third down, sealing it, then folding the bottom third up and sealing it. Then I turn that longwise and pat it down again into another slight rectangle and repeat. When shaped into loaves cover w/ oiled plastic wrap or damp towel and place into warm over ( around 90F)-- I turn my electric oven onto 170 for a minute, then turn off. Set timer for 30 minutes if using yeast, 45 minutes for sourdough, then check to see if it is fully risen by touching dough lightly to see if it bounces back or leaves indentation. You want to catch it when it is almost full risen. Then turn oven onto 425F for loaf pans, 450F for french bread or foccacia. Leave bread pans in oven. Place pan with 1 cup warm water under loaves. Set timer for 20 minutes. When timer goes off, take pan of water out of oven and turn oven down to 400F and bake about 20 minutes more, check for doneness by seeing if bottom is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped.
Making whole wheat bread this way has given me bread with pretty big holes in it for all whole wheat and a sourdough bread that is easy and not really sour and has nice holes in it all over. I hope this helps someone!
Stephanie
Night before:
Mix 1/2 cup sourdough starter with 3 cups hard whole wheat flour and enough warm water(80F) to make it like pancake batter (1 1/2-2 cups). Let sit covered overnite. ( if using yeast, mix 3 1/2 cups ww flour with the water and add 1/4 tsp yeast)
In morning add:
7 cups whole wheat flour at room temp.
4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil
3-4 cups warm water (80F)
4 tsp yeast ( if using yeast)
Mix together with wooden spoon in large bowl. It should be thicker than pancake batter, but very wet and sticky and gloppy compared to regular bread dough. Cover with plastic wrap or wet towel ( don't want it to dry out). Let sit in warm place ( i put it on top of oven and turn oven on 350F for a short time, then turn off) After 1 1/2 hours it should have swelled. Delicately pick up one side of it and stretch and fold it on top of dough. Do this to other side too. You don't have to be too delicate, but you don't want to mess up the bubbles in it or mash it down. After another hour, do this again. These times are approximate, I do it when I am going by and see that it has risen a few times while it is rising. After you have done the stretch and fold thing on it a 2 times and it is risen at least double then you get to shape it into whatever kind of loaves you want. When I shaped mine, it had risen double and was tacky but not sticky ( it was ripe dough) and it was very stretchy. If you have made it a wetter dough it may still be sticky, you can either dump it on the greased pan and stretch it out lightly into a foccacia and dimple it on top and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle w/ sea salt and fresh rosemary, or shape it into 2 large french bread style loaves, or I made mine into 3 regular loaf pans. If you want it to rise high, you need to shape it in a way that the gluten is stretched tightly while not pressing out all the air in it. I do this by patting it into a slight rectangle shape delicately, then folding the top third down, sealing it, then folding the bottom third up and sealing it. Then I turn that longwise and pat it down again into another slight rectangle and repeat. When shaped into loaves cover w/ oiled plastic wrap or damp towel and place into warm over ( around 90F)-- I turn my electric oven onto 170 for a minute, then turn off. Set timer for 30 minutes if using yeast, 45 minutes for sourdough, then check to see if it is fully risen by touching dough lightly to see if it bounces back or leaves indentation. You want to catch it when it is almost full risen. Then turn oven onto 425F for loaf pans, 450F for french bread or foccacia. Leave bread pans in oven. Place pan with 1 cup warm water under loaves. Set timer for 20 minutes. When timer goes off, take pan of water out of oven and turn oven down to 400F and bake about 20 minutes more, check for doneness by seeing if bottom is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped.
Making whole wheat bread this way has given me bread with pretty big holes in it for all whole wheat and a sourdough bread that is easy and not really sour and has nice holes in it all over. I hope this helps someone!
Stephanie