Marathon bread

I'm visiting a friend of mine next month and she asked me to come with a Marathon Bread recipe for us to bake together.  I live in Florida and had never heard of the stuff (no Wegman's here!), but I found this recipe online.  I question their use of whole wheat pastry flour- I don't think that would give the bread enough 'chew.'  Again, i haven't had the stuff, so don't know what to aim for, but I think i would start with 40:40:20. or 50:40:10 White flour:whole wheat flour: rye.  Too much whole wheat can make a heavier bread, but I would think after trying a loaf, you could adjust to bring it closer to the Wegman's loaf.  Rye, I understand, in addition to a nice flavor helps the bread seem 'moister.'

My *guess* is the bread doesn't have a ton of chew if the online knock-off recipe used pastry flour.  If that's the case, I'd think you'd be fine using AP flour for the white flour, vs. bread flour.  After that, it looks like 'soup'!  My husband makes great soup, and when I ask him what he does, he says, "I dunno, it's just soup!  throw in good ingredients, and you'll have good soup!"  

One more thing I will suggest- I see in looking at the list of ingredients my friend sent me (screen shot of ingredients sticker), is it has ascorbic acid and "enzymes."  That will help the bread to come out a little softer.  One of the first whole wheat breads I made that came out nicely was "Dee's Health Bread."  She adds 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (ascorbic acid), and says somewhere you don't taste it, but it helps soften the texture of the bread. Note: she makes 6 loaves (unknown size) with this.  I'd recommend adding a couple teaspoons of lemon juice with the Marathon Bread.

Good luck- let me know how it turns out!  I may be trying a loaf here before visiting my friend!  I'll let you know how it goes if I do, though I have nothing to compare it with... :-) 

I’ve been deconstructing Wegman’s ingredient list and am on my second trial today. I baked the first 2 loaves too quickly and too hot. It came out crusty and a bit gummy inside, but the flavor is spot on. Sorry to say with all these nuts and seeds I used a sourdough preferment and gave the dough a long 18 hour cold ferment. But the knock down, deflated the Dough a bit too much before shaping.today I’ll bulk ferment to just 3 1/2 hours, shape and pan loaves for the long cold rise overnight. I’ll keep you posted.

Cranberry Seeded Marathon Bread RecipeINGREDIENTS

• 120g/½ cup sourdough starter (or 1tbsp yeast softened in ½ cup water)
• 640g/5 cups Bread or all-purpose flour
• 240g/2 cups Whole wheat and/or spelt flour (e.g. you can use 1 cup of each)
• 120g/1 cup Rye Flour
• *720g/3 cups water
  -------------------------

• 480g/2 cups *(from the water listed above)
• 20g/1 Tbsp+1tsp sea salt (NOT iodized)
• 130g/1 cup dried cranberries
• 90g/ ½ cup grated carrots
• 72g/1 cup banana chips
• 72g/¾ cup dried diced apples
• 60g/⅔ cup rolled oats
• 60g/⅓ cup rye chops or cracked wheat
• 40g/3 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
• 14g/2 Tbsp honey
• 30g/1 Tbsp each sunflower, sesame, flax, millet, and pumpkin seeds

1. Four hours before mixing, feed your starter with enough flour and water to make 120g (or half a cup) more starter than you began with.
2. Meanwhile, boil two cups of water. Place this hot water in a separate container and stir in all the soaker ingredients. (NOTE: do not keep this in a pan on the stove, but let it start hot and cool naturally on a counter.)
3. After 4 hours, check the starter to see if it has doubled, is bubbly, and a small spoonful will float in water. If not, allow it to ferment longer until it is active.
4. Also, check the soaker temperature to make sure that it is no warmer than 85°F/30°C, then place this mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (or another bowl if mixing by hand).
5. Stir in the remaining cup of room-temperature water.
6. Place the dough hook on the mixer and set it on the slowest speed while you add the starter and all the flours listed above, (if doing this by hand, work to incorporate all the dry ingredients until there is nothing dry remaining; then let this sit for a 30-minute rest).
7. Turn the mixer to medium speed and let it run for 6–8 minutes or until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
8. Then wet your hands, remove the dough from the bowl, and use the slap and fold method (see how on YouTube) to strengthen the dough for 4–5 minutes. As you work the dough it will become smooth, elastic, and starts to hold its shape.
9. Then put this into a covered container for 3 hours of bulk fermentation. However, during the first 90 minutes, do 3 sets of stretches and folds (see how on YouTube) at 30 minutes intervals.
10. After 3 hours, divide and pre-shape the dough to fit into your bread pan (see how on YouTube). This can be placed directly into the baking pan or if you have them, into proofing baskets for a long, cold proofing overnight.
11. Place these in large plastic bags before putting them in the fridge so that they do not dry out.
12. An hour before baking, preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C with one rack in the middle and one moved to the bottom third of your oven for your steam pan, (preheat this pan with the oven).
13. When you are ready to bake, prepare a cup of boiling water for the steam pan.
14. Score the bread down the middle, and place the loaves in the hot oven.
15. Immediately add the boiling water and close the oven door.
16. Bake this for 20–25 minutes.
17. Then vent the steam and remove the steam pan from the oven.
18. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F/190°C and continue to bake the loaves for 30–35 more minutes, or until the internal dough temperature is 200-205°F/93–96°C. The loaf will be a golden brown, sound hollow when thumped on the bottom, and the crust will have a crackling-crunchy sound when squeezed.

I was thinking of reconstructing it and I'm glad you're ahead of me. I find their ingredient list really surprising:

Ingredients:Water, Organic Wheat Flour, Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Yeast, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Sugar, Organic Stone Ground Whole Rye Flour, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% or less of each: Organic Rolled Oats, Cranberries, Organic Cracked Rye, Organic Carrot, Salt, Organic Wheat Sour (Organic Wheat Flour, Water, Starter Culture), Organic Spelt, Organic Dried Bananas, Organic Honey, Organic Sugar, Organic Sesame Seeds, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Canola Oil, Organic Apple Dices, Organic Malted Barley Flour, Organic Cultured Wheat Flour (preservative), Organic Whole Wheat Flour, Organic Guar Gum, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid, Sunflower Oil, Vinegar (preservative).

If they are following the labeling rules then there is more yeast than any of the remaining ingredients? That must be a load of yeast. Then there is less than 2% each of the last 21 ingredients!

I'm guessing their label is just plain wrong?