March 18, 2021 - 12:20pm
7 Grain Bread
I'm Fred--new to baking. I've made 7-grain bread a couple of times. It's too dense and bland. Any ideas of how I can improve it? I use 3 cups bread flour now to 1 cup of gluten (wheat) flour. Forums suggest honey for better taste, but other forums say honey kills the yeast. Sorry for the questions: I'm a neophyte. Thanks.
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First, honey kills yeast is just plain wrong. And with the information given, only thing that can be said about bland bread is add more salt. Enjoy!
Concur with phaz: check your salt is enough. Around 2-2.3% and you should be fine.
is your 25% flour a whole wheat flour? That should give good flavour. Personal preferences basically, but 20-25% should definitely give flavour (so long as you’ve included salt ;-) I’ve had better luck toasting seeds/grain mixes, then soaking and adding into the recipe at the start. (Some people say to knead the grains and seeds in after the autolyse, but I can’t be bothered with the added kneading.) Just check your water amounts to be sure hydration is enough as grains and whole grain flours will suck up a bit more water. Experiment, keeps notes and enjoy!
Fred, heavily seeded breads should be anything but bland. Take a look at THIS LINK. When it comes to seeded bread this one is an all time favorite on The Fresh Loaf. If you decide to give it a try, post your bake on that post and others will reply with help.
Bland means insufficient flavor. Salt is flavor. Sugar is also, but adds calories and turns the bread into dessert rather than food. If you want dessert, that's your choice. I avoid sugar in bread, because I eat bread as food, not as a confectionary. I make proper gateaus, pastries, cakes and the like when I want a confectionary.
Add salt in the amount of 2% of flour weight. Avoid sugar, honey and sweeteners.
I do find that if the seeds are toasted that they are so much more flavorful in my bread than if they weren’t toasted. Did you toast your seeds or buy toasted seeds?
Benny