December 31, 2023 - 10:41am
Yes or No, can a fluffy loaf be made from fresh milled with no sifting?
New to milling wheat berries and I need to establish some baking expectations using fresh milled wheat. My goal is fluffy loaves and needing assistance achieving this goal.
Using 100 percent fresh milled hard white wheat (no sifting), can a fluffy and soft loaf be baked?
If no, what if sifted with a #40 sifter?
Is there a recipe you recommend?
Thank you.
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Understand that whole grain breads are almost always going to be less fluffy than the equivalent bread made with white flours.
That said, I commend you to the blog of a previously prolific TFL poster, txfarmer. Here's one sample that addresses at least part of your question: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21575/sourdough-100-whole-wheat-oatmeal-sandwich-bread-whole-grain-breads-can-be-soft-too
To my recollection, txfarmer didn’t mill her own flour. Still, what she did with whole grain breads should give you plenty of insights for your own breads.
My own experience with milling my own flours is that I can achieve anything with them that I achieved with purchased flours.
Paul
I recently made a loaf of 100% WW that had a fairly open crumb for a whole-grain bread. I did not mill the flour but it was milled by a local water wheel stone grinding mill. Slightly different from the linked txfarmer post, instead of adding oatmeal I sifted out the largest bits of bran, around 92% extraction, and scalded them with water. After the scald cooled, I mixed the dough.
The loaf was soft and tasty, with a fairly open crumb. It wasn't a white enriched sandwich loaf, though. If you want that enriched feel, go ahead and add milk, butter, eggs, etc., or even use a tangzhong They tend to work against an open crumb, but make for a softer slice. Of course you could use a loaf pan instead of making it free-standing as I did.
Here's a picture of my loaf -
ww_scald_crumb.jpg
TomP
The key is in fully developing the gluten. You have to knead it all the way!
Fully-kneaded, and with the addition of some classic enrichments like 1/3 cup of milk, yogurt, or buttermilk, and a few tablespoons of oil or butter, you will get a tender, fluffy, and slightly chewy (not crumbly) bread.
There's also the option of scalding a portion of the flour with a portion of the water to make it extra soft but I haven't tried that yet.
I have been working on this project, here is my recent version using 100% whole grain spelt flour. (I have also done the same loaf with regular hard red whole wheat and it was a little easier to handle and baked up with the same texture, but it didn't have the richness of flavor that you get with spelt.)
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/73413/100-ww-spelt-yeasted-sandwich-loaf-mixer-method-larels-loaf-learning-yogurt
Whole wheat can be a soft,non-crumbly bread and it is technique more that recipe. AP flour will develop a nice,connected gluten network almost by just sitting in a high hydration over time in a bowl. Whole wheat need both time and encouragement otherwise all those branny bits absorb the moisture from the baked crumb which then shatters when you take a bite of your ham sandwich. So to sum it up in 3 words: moisture, time, windowpane.
Use the search box and use key words like " fluffy whole wheat" or look up my name. I have responded to so many WW inquiries over the years and how to get the best,softest loaf from 100%, home-milled, non-sifted flour.
To give credit where it is due, txfarmer AND pmccool are 2 of my excellent teachers. TFL is a GREAT place to learn. It has been around for a long time and the archives are FULL of priceless info.
Bake some delicious fun this year!
Just to chime in and say yes, 100% home milled wheat , no sifting, can be soft - though not the same as AP, still pretty soft. IMO, the most important part is that every part of the process has to be spot on. With AP or BF, it is pretty forgiving in kneading, BF and FP, for whole wheat, at leat for me, you have to get each step right to get the best results.
easier to achieve with unifine whole wheat bread flour and high hydration.
Here’s a honey-lemon whole wheat from Clayton’s Complete Book of Breads. The process has been modified to include a 45-minute autolyse and 20 minutes of machine mixing. Flour in this batch is a 50/50 mix of home-milled whole wheat and King Arthur all purpose.
Crumb:
The crumb is very even in texture, largely due to the extended kneading. Though moist, it is sturdy instead of fluffy. That has more to do with the selected flours and their protein contents.
Could it be fluffier? I suppose that I could push the hydration higher but I’m happy with it as is. It makes great sandwiches, isn’t at all crumbly, doesn’t leak condiments, and has a pleasant chew.
So, one data point to give you an idea of what’s possible.
Paul