42% ww biga in lean wh grain loaf, clas, Zoji

I made a 100% whole grain loaf with 42% whole wheat biga (4hr).

It was a definite improvement over my usual daily clas loaf- softer and nicer texture.  The loaf of 472 g total flour was as tall as a 520 gr  flour lean clas loaf (9% less flour means roughly 9% less calories per slice!).  I used 200 gr whole wheat flour for the biga to keep the measurements simple. The hydration of the biga was 75% as compared with 50%.  All the coarse sifted particles went into the biga.  Clas went into the main dough and conditioned all of the whole wheat grains - no bitterness from the hard red wheat berries!

Here is the ww biga:

Below:  The crumb shows hardly any visual difference but the softness is significant. Left slices result from 520g flour dough; right slices from 472g  flour dough w/ biga -- about the same height :).

Mixing up a biga ahead of time is hardly any effort and the rise (for using 9% less flour) and softness will be worth it.

 MILL 418 g Wh Wheat Berries (hard red/white) and 14 gr Wheat malt.  Sift out the coarse particles (use in the biga).

The Whole Wheat biga:

200 gr freshly milled wheat  (all of sifted coarse particles here with added extracted flour)

1/3 tsp diy

150 gr water

Mix as a biga (see R. Susta -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzCbv97Tn8 )

Rest  4h room temp.

Dough (20 min total kneading in Panasonic 2550; mix biga, clas, water and flour together-mix 10 min;  add salt and yeast after 10 min)

All Biga

100 gr - clas 150% hydration  (mix with water and pour over biga to loosen it a bit; then add flour)

168 g water 

218g  Finely milled Wh Wheat (this will be the rest of the extracted flour)

14g Fr Milled Wheat Malt (milled with reg wheat)

==

9g salt

0.6g DIY (1.6g = 1/2 t; use 1/6 tsp for .6gr-total yeast in loaf will be 1/2 tsp)

Bake in Zoji (10min preheat; 50-55 min Bake)

Oven bake with steam ok too.

Desired dough temp -205-208F