Wheat Sandwich Bread for everyday - my 5 kids love it
I have 5 children and run a CPA firm from my home...that being said it means I have to be frugal for the sake I have 5 kids and cheap because I am an accountant, and my love of baking is sprinkled there on top. So, this all leads me to baking all the time to keep them fed, my bank account happy, and my inner baker busy.
My kids refuse to eat store bought bread and for good reason. This recipe I (greatly) adapted from a friend. About a year ago I finally converted it to weight and I consistently have great results. My 5 kids eat this every day for lunches, and people that dislike whole wheat bread generally like this bread. It is tight, not crumbly and oh, so soft. So, here you are, try it out and show me some pictures.
Wheat flour 1170 g
Water 712 g
1.5 - 2 tsp instant yeast
Salt 1 T
Brown Sugar 125 g
1 large egg
60 g olive oil (I also really like 1/2 olive and 1/2 safflower - its amazing, but the kids don't like it so much)
I throw it all in my kitchen aid at one time, and let it knead with my "twirly" dough hook for 10-15 minutes, where it is nice and stretchy. When the dough is pulled on with your hand, it stretches a lot before tearing. If the dough tears right away it isn't done kneading.
I let it rise in an oiled bowl till doubled, pull it out, stretch and fold, let it rise again till doubled. Shape into 3 standard loaf pans or I seriously love my Norpro 12" nonstick pan (http://shop.honeyville.com/norpro-12-nonstick-bread-pan.html) I put about 850-930 g into each (2) 12" pan and the little bit of extra dough I shape into a few rolls or just make a very small batard which my 16 year old likes to snack on at school or I let my 4 year old use it as "play" dough.
I let it rise till nice and big and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
A note on the wheat flour - I really only use Montana Milling wheat and I grind the wheat myself. I feel it is superior wheat, but you have to buy it in bulk. Given that I am a food storage guru, that is not a problem. If you do not have excellent results with the recipe, change the wheat flour you use. I have made this using several different wheat flours and I keep returning to my Montana Milling. This is not to be confused with the bakery chain montana mills.
http://www.montanamilling.com/ here is the site! Kitchen Kneads in Ogden, Utah sells it too.
Comments
Looks great and by the sound of it very tasty.
Interesting though you do to bulk ferments and then a final proof.
"I let it rise in an oiled bowl till doubled, pull it out, stretch and fold, let it rise again till doubled. Shape into 3 standard loaf pans... I let it rise till nice and big and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes".
Lovely soft crumb for a wholewheat and it looks delicious.
Yes, that is correct, two bulk rises. The second one goes fairly quick and the first takes quite a while, but that depends on how warm my house is, etc. One of the major changes I made to the recipe to get it where I have it now, was my friend had half of the flour in a bulk rise without the oil, additional water and egg, then added that...another rise...then shape and then the third rise. I took a note out of the buttermilk sandwich loaf recipe from the Handbook here on TFL and (with much trepidation) changed the process to just combine everything at the start, it not only makes beautiful bread but it cuts the complexity down a ton in respect to the process.
Taking half the flour and adding equal amount of water by weight and a small amount of yeast for a preferment overnight is called a poolish. Or if you do the same preferment at a lower hydration, so it's more like a dough, then it's called a biga. These preferments bring out flavour. Then you add the rest of the ingredients and do a bulk ferment after which you shape and final proof.
What you've done is bulk ferment twice to bring out more flavour. which is fine as long as you don't over ferment the dough which clearly you aren't as it has turned out very! well.
I sometimes do a non enriched bread (just flour, water, salt and yeast) with very little yeast, make the dough and bulk ferment overnight. You put eggs in it though so either your friends way of a poolish then adding the rest of the ingredients or your way of two bulk ferments will be better.
Lovely bread. Bon Appetite.
Its funny you have these definitions as she has NO CLUE what any of those things are, I love her dearly, but she is not an artisan baker at all. I know those terms and have done them before, but could not succinctly define them as well as you have here. She also used 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat in lower quantities (thus raising the % of yeast added and a faster rise) She would do the first rise for an hour, then add the rest of the ingredients, rise again with the 2nd half of flour, then shape and rise.
Maybe it is that I am not over fermenting the dough because I don't have much yeast in that quantity of dough and let it rise really slowly? Would that be the reason? The results are fantastic and I don't think I will go back to the multiple bowl method (which also turned out well), as this saves so much effort. With me making it once a week to keep the kidlets fed, simpler helps a lot.
So the longer the fermentation the better the flavour. Whether you take half the recipe and preferment that then go onto making the final dough or if you make the dough, use less yeast, and incorporate 2 bulk ferments etc it is all about increasing the fermentation time. But all this must be done before the yeast runs out of food so there is a time limit that is why less yeast is used. When it comes to long overnight ferments i'm fussy about doing so with eggs but many on here have said they do it and it's ok. That is why the way I sometimes do it, to make the final dough and bulk ferment overnight, I stick to breads which aren't enriched. Your way is to incorporate two bulk ferments, which isn't quite as long as a poolish or biga, but nevertheless increases fermentation time and greatly improves the flavourand using less yeast to do this is the way to go.
Also, if it works it works! And yours is certainly a big success. You have found a way that works best and that is what bread baking is all about. I'm no expert either. Been on this site for 2 years now and I've only scratched the surface. Everyone can learn from each other.
I totally agree, we all can help each other. I marvel at the baking knowledge that can be tapped into here. Happy Baking!
Not to criticize the Wheat Montana products, but you might make a trip up I-15 to one of the Central Milling mills to pick up a bag of regionally grown organic wheat berries (the one I go to is in Collinston, just off I-15 on the way to Logan). They have a wide variety of grains and flours...
http://centralmilling.com
WHEATLAND MILLING
14400 N Hwy 38 Collinston, UT 84306 P (435) 458-2249
F (435) 458-2175
Well, that would be something to try certainly, but I live in South Carolina now and not Utah any longer. Maybe they ship? Funny, I have never heard of Collinston, UT... I also order my white bread flour from Honeyville grain out of Utah, and their 4.99 shipping can't be beat. You wouldn't believe it, but you CAN NOT find a 50 lb bag of anything out here. No one cooks!
Okay, so fantastic flour that is hard to find from looking at their website, but shipping to SC is $45 :(
the bread is so good! his is some awfully nice WW bread.inside and out. Well done and happy baking.
Awesome! So you tried it out already? Please post a picture I would love to see another experienced bakers results. I am always working for perfection