Hello,
For the first time since I started getting into hearth breads, I baked a 100% whole wheat loaf. It was 100% hydration, and it was a bit hard to handle, but it made some nice (extra long, because it was stretchier than I thought) baguettes. The flavor was excellent, the same as I'd experienced when using the 'soaker' method from BBA.
The crumb was also amazing. Not as open as my 90% white baguettes, but still pleasantly open, with a nice, chewy crust. I thought the baguette was cool, so I cut into it, and found it was still warm on the inside. The crumb stuck to my knife. Later, I cut into another that was cool, and the crumb stuck to my knife just as the first had, though this one had been cool for hours.
Is 100% wheat bread gummy no matter what, or did I underbake? I baked my 253g baguettes for 10 minutes with steam, and maybe 18-20 dry. The bottom was just starting to become too dark. I baked at 500 with steam, and 425 without.
Any insight is much appreciated.
If so, what was it when you removed the loaves from the oven?
First of all, ww is not characteristically wet or gummy but it does need different handling than AP/bread flour. It needs time to absorb moisture into its branny bits on the dough-making side but it also needs more time at a lower temp in order to bake out moisture sufficiently for a good crumb. I would lower the 425 temp to 375/400 and bake 10 minutes longer.
WW is not known for making a large-holed crumb so the fact you noted that tells me that you kneaded enough to establish a good extraction of the flours starchy gel. Good job! What flour are you using? What part of the world?
A picture of crust and crumb would be extremely helpful, as would a recipe/handling description.