The Fresh Loaf

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85% Whole Wheat Bread

January 26, 2009 - 4:32pm
breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...

85% Whole Wheat Bread

Hey All,

Just wanted to share with you all my experiment baking whole wheat bread...  This is 85% whole wheat flour with 15% bread flour, and 85% total hydration...  I also used a small biga starter, and a long autolyse for the whole wheat portion of the dough...  The texture of this bread was lighter than I expected, but not quite what I had intended...  I would like to try for a lighter texture in the future...  The flavor however is has a wonderful sweetness to it...  There is no added sugar or anything other than flour, water, yeast, salt, and time...  Lemme know what you think.  I can post a recipe if any of you are interested in trying this one out...  It takes about 11 hours to make...

Tim

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janij's picture
janij
Jan 26 2009 - 5:28pm

Yes, I would love the recipe.  Did you use store bought whole wheat flour?

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...
Jan 26 2009 - 5:45pm

It is store bought flour...

Whole Foods Market 365 Brand Whole Wheat Flour (brown bag)

King Arthur Bread Flour

I'll post the recipe in a bit...

 

 

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner
Jan 26 2009 - 5:35pm

and a beautiful crumb. c

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...
Jan 26 2009 - 5:46pm

Thanks!

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...
Jan 26 2009 - 6:13pm

85% Whole Wheat Bread
Yield: one 1000g loaf
Time required: 11-12 hours

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour: 510g
Bread flour: 90g
Water: 510g
Salt: 12g
Active dry yeast: 3/4 tsp

Instructions:
Whole Wheat Dough:

  • In a larger bowl, mix whole wheat flour with 456g lukewarm water with a wooden spoon until well combined.  Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, knead dough in bowl for a few minutes, form into ball, cover and let rest for about 3 hours.

Biga:

  • In a small bowl, mix bread flour with 54g of lukewarm water and 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast.
  • Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes, place back into small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled.


Final Dough:

  • After about 3 hours, turn whole wheat dough out onto lightly floured surface and stretch out like pizza so it is about 1/2” to 3/4” thick.  Brush top lightly with water.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 tsp yeast over dough.   Take biga out and stretch out to about the size of the whole wheat dough, and place on top of whole wheat dough.  Roll entire dough up into ball and place in covered bowl for about 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, knead salt into dough, over and let rest for another 30 minutes.
  • After rest, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and turn dough using stretch and fold method 4 times at 20 minute intervals.  After last turn, let dough ferment covered for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled.
  • After fermentation, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, shape into ball (boule) and place seam side up in a bowl lined with a floured tea towel. Use whole wheat flour to flour the towel.  Let proof for about 1 hour or until barely springs back.
  • 30 minutes into proofing, turn oven on to 500F.
  • When dough is proofed, turn onto lightly floured peel, slash, and place into oven.  Turn oven down to 450F and bake for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, rotate loaf 180 degrees and turn oven down to 425F and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reads 210F with an instant read thermometer.
  • Remove from oven and let loaf cool completely before cutting.


Let me know if this recipe works for you.  Thanks.

Tim