August 25, 2012 - 6:40pm
First whole wheat loaf
This is my first post in TFL, but ive been reading the posts quite often since i took up baking, about two months ago, and ive been practising a lot since then. This is a whole new world to me and i love it.
Here are some pictures of the first whole wheat loaf I made. Its not a 100% whole wheat loaf, i made it 70% cause i thought it would taste better.
I also added some sunflower and poppy seeds to give it a different taste, and though it was the first one i made i was quite happy with the results.
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Congrats on your first WW loaf. It does look by your photos that it may be under-baked. Your crust should be much darker and the internal temperature should be around 205-210 degrees F.
What did the crumb look like?
What formula did you follow and what temperature did you bake your loaf?
Hi, Payta
Try kneading your dough more. I'm talking about a min of 15 minutes of proper and efficient kneading. Try also aiming for a wetter dough, and resist adding more flour during the initial kneading stages, as this leads to a dense loaf.Ideally, water to flour ratio should be at least 70-75% by weight.
Another tip, would be to add steam in the oven during the first 15 min of baking, in order to have a golden crust, and also assist the loaf in the expansion phase called: oven spring.
Waiting to see your future bakes.
Khalid
I can't remember my first loaf that I liked :-) Would love to see a crumb shot. I think Ian is right. You probaby could have baked it longer or at a higher temperature but no worries - as long as it taste great and not an inedible brick, (thatwe all have had), it is a huge success. Welcome to TFL and we will be looking forward to your future successes.
Happuy baking
Thanks for all the tips.
Yeah ive been having issues with the crumb, being a bit too light and not dark enough, though the taste is okay and it was hard enough, im just not able to get that dark color i should be getting. Temperaturewise, at first i used to bake at 430 degrees, but lately Ive been baking at 500. Unfortunately my oven has no thermometer, so that a bit of a problem, im only scare to make it too hot and lose the oven spring due to high temperature. I have read higher hydration doughs demand lower baking temperature in order to spring.
And regarding the steam, well i still have to figure out a good way to put steam into the oven, ill get around it hopefully though.
Oh and sorry for the spelling mistakes, im not a native english speaker and i do my best, but it may get hard to read at times.