September 15, 2020 - 12:21pm
Success! My first 100% HRW loaf
With a sense of quiet pride, I share my first successful loaf of 100% home-milled Hard Red Winter. Nice crust, consistent crumb, almost successful dome. And, of course, great flavor. This will especially become my "go-to" bread for breakfast on cold, wintery days.
Thank you, everyone, who encouraged me along the way.
And for everyone's amusement, my first not-so-successful HRW, while I was waiting for my GrainMaker to arrive and so milling with my coffee grinder. You could drive nails with that loaf!
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Nice loaf. Once you taste home milled flour, you realize that the "other stuff" doesn't compare. There are a small number here that are 100% home milled fans, glad you joined. Keep posting successes and failures, since the rest of us home millers can learn more about how it does with different procedures.
I toyed with the idea of a grain mill for years, but it was the March Panic that caused me to buy my GrainMaker. And I'm glad I did, for the nutritional benefits of home-milled over "chalk dust" alone. And the flavor! Plus, as a devotee of Self-Sufficiency, milling my own flour was my next logical step.
In addition to HRW, HRS, HW, SW, and Durum, this winter I'll be exploring other grains like spelt, rye, etc., so I can master breads like kimmel, Ezekiel, pumpernickel, and more.
Finally, I'm also exploring technologies for "buffing" the bran off the berries, so that "whiter flour" can be milled for things like pizza dough, crossants, cakes, etc. I will be posting results as I have something to post.
Thanks again, I look forward to contributing to tfl!
Do the kids eat it?
That's the real test, innit? ;-)
No -- because I'm a bachelor! Never been married and so don't have kids. LOL!
BTW, in previous replies you offered many excellent insights. Now that I've reached this plateau, it's time for me to begin climbing to the next level and so I'd like to query about your insights in order to further my mastery of craft, if you don't mind.
Also, since I am a devotee of Self-Sufficiency and now have a grain mill I'll be focusing on 100% whole grain baking for the time being. There's much for me to learn before I add white flour to the mix, so to speak.
For yeasted 100% WW pan loaves, you can't do better than Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, updated edition, the one with the blue sky cover:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0812969677/ref=olp_f_collectible?ie=UTF8&f_usedLikeNew=true&f_usedVeryGood=true&f_usedGood=true&tag=froglallab...
(I coded that to not show "acceptable" condition books, as they are usually too beat up.)
Used paperback, $9 (incl shipping!) and up in good condition. (The Updated edition only comes in paperback, not hardcover.)
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Robertson/e/B000APFLYU?sort=price-asc-rank&tag=froglallabout-20
You still have to adjust Laurel's formulas for using fresh-milled flour, as that book is mostly about store-bought flour. But she does give some tips. and you've read them here in my comments, and summarized in my "7 things..." blog post.
There are 2 books on Amazon about fresh milled flour, "The Flour Lab" and one more that will show up as a recommend when you view that one. But.... some of the reviews indicate they aren't really worth it. Nothing you haven't already read here at TFL.
Laurel uses commercial dry yeast. She does go into a "desem", how to create and use, which is a _form_ of sourdough, but desem is not currently discussed on TFL. So maybe check to see what the search box shows up.
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My main reco to you at this point is doing longer bulk ferments with less commercial yeast in order to develop flavor. 1/8 tsp active dry or instant dry yeast per two pan loaves. Start in AM before work, end bulk ferment when you get home after work (8-10 hrs), shape it, pan it, proof an hour, bake in the evening, de-pan, cool it in the open two hours, put it in sealed plastic bags, don't cut it open until the next morning.
Until you switch to sourdough (or maybe desem if Laurel's method intrigues you) you can't get better flavor other than a long bulk ferment or a long proof.
Thank you for the recommendations. Laurel"s book is now on my shopping list, along with some by Peter Reinhart.
The bulk ferment has intrigued me since you first mentioned it. I will try it next week and post the results.
Thanks again!
If you are only going to do 100% or near 100% WW bread, don't bother with any of Reinhart's books except his "Whole Grain Breads". All his others are very sparse on recipes for anything over 75% WW. So why spend $20 on a book with only 1 formula that matches your goals?
Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, and Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads are plenty to start with.
Do you have a mixer? What make and model? If you do not have one, hold off, and don't get one. Like Phaz has said on other threads, time can do most of your kneading for you, if you plan ahead.
Thanks for the tip about Reinhart.
I currently have a KitchenAid Pro 600 that I'm disappointed in. The first time I tried kneading, it shut off on thermal overload with smoke belching from the motor. At this point, I can knead no more than six cups, for at most seven minutes, before the motor housing is getting warm.
If/When I buy another mixer, it will be a Bosche Universal. Here's a link to a video that sold me on it.
https://youtu.be/LzSc4XFiC7A
As for "self-kneading," I've some some remarks in others' posts; and possibly observed that in some crude hydration experiments that may have touched upon autolyse.
and would not attempt 6 cups of flour.
It's sad how far KA has fallen. Mine is enough for simple mixing, whipping up heavy cream, or powering the cutter/shredder attachment. But kneading pizza or bread dough like the older models? No way.
Here's a pan loaf recipe, using 100% WW (home-milled, I think) that uses all commercial yeast, no sourdough:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62486/community-bake-approachable-loaf-bread-lab
It's the 3rd spreadsheet down in the OP. Text instructions immediately follow the spreadsheet. Here's the image URL of the spreadsheet, if the one in the OP is too small to read:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com//files/u32564/ApproachableNoSD_Poolish.JPG
That's got what I think are the best reviews for any WW pan loaf with commercial yeast that I've seen on TFL.
Thanks for this recipe! I'll definitely experiment with it in addition to the others.
Also, I will get to sourdough sometime this winter. I have much on my plate that I'm working right now.