I’ve made a couple of loaves using recipes from Heathy Bread in 5 Min a Day and I’ve found the flavor to be surprisingly bland. TBH, some mass-produced store-bought bread has better flavor.
The first loaf was made using the recipe on the King Arthur website. The dough was only in the fridge overnight (≈8 h) so I thought the short bulk period might have contributed to the blandness.
The second loaf was made using the 100% Whole Wheat Master Recipe. The authors give the option of adding or omitting vital wheat gluten, as well as adding sweetener and/or oil. I split the difference on the VWG and hydration level and added 4% honey and ≈2% oil, and let it rest in the fridge for two nights (≈60 h).
The loaf had a little bit more flavor, but still did not compare with the 100% WW from Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads that uses the same ingredients.
I was going to make another attempt and increase the honey to 8% and hope for more flavor. I have also considered adding yogurt or unfed sour culture to boost flavor. Any other suggestions for improving the flavor of these breads would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
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You don't list one of the more important "ingredients" time. I find that cold fermentation really improves the flavor, though most of what I bake is just flour water, salt, Vitamin C and starter, I generally don't add sweeteners or VWG or oil.
Thanks for the response. The second loaf I made, I noted that the bulk sat in the fridge for ≈60 h (just above the ingredient table). I would hope that would be plenty of time to develop flavor.
That should be plenty of time to extract some flavor. While I bake primarily with 100% whole wheat, I switched to wild starter many years ago, so can't offer much on improving flavor with commercial yeast, other than bumping up the salt a bit - while many recipes recommend 2% , others go to 2,5% or higher, and that can impact taste.