So.... I've been struggling with trying to let lift and good crumb from whole wheat. I like 100% for it's health benefits. This is my third try and will post crumb shot later.
Formula (give or take)
250 gm whole wheat (sifted)
175 gm water
4 gm salt
Autolyse above for several hours. While doing that I fed my whole wheat starter and poured 60 gm of boiled water on the remaining 40 gm of the bran from sifting.
Final dough
autolysed dough (429 gm)
levain 48 gm
bran / water mix 100 gm
After mixing in several stages I added water as needed to get the consistency I'm used to. It ended up being about another 50 gm of water.
Did 6 hour bulk fermentation with s&f every couple of hours.
Final bench rest (30) and shaping and then into fridge.
However, I put some parchment paper in the banneton to help me with transfer for the morning bake. I did this b/c of the collapsing I've had w other attempts.
Baked for about 40 minutes, first 20 @ 475, last 20 @ 460.
Crumb shot: I'm pretty satisfied with these results, Not perfect but improving with 100% ww and hydration.
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Looks great, I've never been brave enough to bake 100% whole wheat.
Well done!
Happy baking
Ru
It took me 3 tries and I'm not there yet, but improving. Thanks.
hester
With a crumb like that only means great bread and eats! Well done and happy baking and eating Hester!
It's been a struggle... But I'm getting there
Congratulations! I am taking baby steps with whole wheat. I dream of baking a 100% whole wheat someday that tastes amazing.
It's been a struggle and the taste is both sour and a bit bitter, which many in the US don't like but suits cheese well. Next bake I might add a tad of honey but that will alter the rise, so I'm not sure.
Thanks again
hester
and this is a lovely loaf with a lacy crumb and blistery crust... Yum! Kat
I have in ample supply. What I need is skill... lol.
Thanks for the nice comment. I had 2 failures preceding this so I was pleased w my progress.
hester
beautiful crumb, and the the grigne shows that you got nice oven spring.
You mentioned mixing in several stages - mix for 10, rest for 10, mix for 10, etc? So you keep mixing until the dough is string enough?
Trevor often mixes in stages. I learned that from him. If you are taking the premix out of the fridge it's very hard to handle because of the cold temp. So I'll let it sit on counter for about an hour, then add the levain and the held-back water... that's what I do in stages, add the water and mix. I mix until it feels right. I didn't quite understand your last question.
hester
Thanks. By stages I thought you might have meant mixing by hand for say, 10 minutes, then resting 10 minutes, then mixing for another 10 minutes, etc. until you had adequate gluten development.
I mix by hand in stages with 10-15 minutes rests until the gluten is developed to my liking.
I've also been working with 100% WW and trying to find my way to that level of rise. I love the level of bitterness from a WW dough and nice long fermentation (found my way into it from Bittman's no-knead article of course, but he didn't crack the rising problem!)
I've never heard of sifting out the bran and soaking it separately. Is that your own innovation? Will that work with any WW dough, or do you grind your own? Is the idea that the bran needs its own autolyse, separate from the rest of the flour?
I have been having great results with the cast-iron dutch oven with a circle of parchment on the bottom so will continue like that. But very curious about your bran step, which I've never seen before!
Thanks for your question.
I sifted out the bran b/c I'd read that the bran can puncture the gluten strands and i wondered if that contributed to the difficulty with 100% ww rising. If I did it again, I would not do that and compare results.
hester
Gotcha— another approach to softening the bran is a very long autolyse. Have you found the Elly's Everyday Youtube video? A lot of folks seem to like it, but of course there is some disagreement too. Her video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_r69WauPk. Here is a thread on this website where it gets discussed. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/58336/help-me-refrain-slicing-my-first-sourdough-loaf. Elly advises 90% H2O, but her starter adds a bit more liquid. Lots of folks on the other thread swear that autolysing stops being useful after an hour, but a couple of folks on the thread swear by it. And I had a good result too. I'm about to do a trial with 100% H2O and a medium-long autolyse and a long ferment. Wish me luck! Here's to 100% WW!
streaming your way. It will be delicious no matter what.