It’s true that I’m not particularly known for my wholegrain breads — and that’s mostly my own fault for never discussing them much — but I do actually know a thing or two about them. Having spent 15+ years as a professional baker, I’ve made more than my fair share of wholegrain breads. But I’ve found that my ideas regarding wholegrain don’t always mesh so well with the current paradigm of “open crumb above all else” (yes, I’m aware of how that sounds coming from the guy who wrote “Open Crumb Mastery“).
So I’ve decided to consolidate a few of my Instagram posts regarding wholegrain breads (please see this post for context regarding “Instagram Recaps”). These posts are not in chronological order — I’ve ordered them in the way that seems best to me as a stand-alone blog post. I do intend to write much more on the subject of whole grains, but until then, these posts should give you a fairly accurate idea of my approach.
I should note that all of these posts were written with an eye towards supporting Mockmill — the company that provided me with my home mill. Let me be clear, I never promote anything which I’m not completely enthused about, and these were not paid promotions. Mockmill was generous enough to send me a mill at no charge thanks to the very kind recommendation of @ceorbread (thank you very much, my friend). Please do not disregard the information contained here because of that fact — my words are always genuine.
Now then, let’s get to the good stuff . . .
Link to Instagram post (1/22/20)
Wholegrain Intro Part 1: As promised, I’ll be posting wholegrain breads a bit more often (while still posting plenty of my usual “open crumb” fare). Figure I might as well start with one of my favorites – – honeywheat. I’ll discuss the specifics of this loaf in my next post, but for now I just want to share my approach to higher-percentage whole grain baking (in general) so you know where I’m coming from…
—
#1) I rarely seek open crumb from high-percentage wholegrain loaves. Not because it can’t be done – – it can, to a certain extent. But rather, because it goes against the nature of the grain. If you chase after white-bread crumb with wholegrain flour then you do a disservice to both. You can’t achieve the same openness of crumb as you can with white flour; and in the chase, you lose those wonderful qualities that wholegrain naturally provides. In seeking the best of both worlds, you are more likely to find the worst of both. IMO, trying to achieve open crumb from wholegrain might be a fun challenge, but even when you succeed, it does not make the best wholegrain bread. —
#2) So what does make the best wholegrain bread? Obviously, this is a matter of opinion also. But as I see it, quality wholegrain bread is moist (not gummy), dense and tender. Tenderness is the key here. Gluten is the enemy of tenderness. Think about it. The reason we make cookies, biscuits and pastry dough the way we do is to reduce gluten formation. By doing so, we create tenderness. Wholegrain flour produces poor gluten by its very nature. Yet so many bakers are fighting against that nature when making wholegrain breads. They are looking for ways to increase gluten strength rather than embracing the nature of the grain. Wholgrains retain water and are poor at forming gluten. That is not a weakness, it is their strength!
—
#3) When you cast away the desire for open crumb from your wholegrain loaves, an entirely new world of bread opens before you. Hearty, dense, tender. And full of wonderful wholegrain flavor. These are the kinds of wholegrain breads that I like to make. I may occasionally strive for a more open crumb, but it’s for the challenge only. 😎
Link to Instagram post (1/23/20)
Wholegrain Intro Part 2: 50% Wholegrain Honeywheat. This loaf represents my typical approach to wholegrain baking. If you missed my last post then read that first for context (and to see more pictures of this loaf).
—
As I mentioned previously, I typically prefer my high-percentage wholegrain breads to be dense, moist and tender – – rather than light, open and custardy. And this loaf is just that – – it has a texture somwhere between that of cake and bread, without being crumbly in the slightest. It is soft, kid-friendly and makes tender toast that won’t tear up your gums. This loaf was never meant to be open. In fact, I took several steps to ensure that it wouldn’t be. But before I discuss those points, here’s the formula for this loaf…
—
50% bread flour, 40% coarse-ground whole soft white wheat, 10% rolled oats, 75% water, 10% honey, and 2% salt. Starter was 10% of total *dough* weight, 50% hydration, and about 12 hours old.
—
The key to such a soft, tender and moist crumb was the coarse-ground whole wheat (fresh-milled with my Mockmill). I soaked the grain (and the oats) in the water for 2 hours before mixing the dough. The coarse grind soaks up and retains water beautifully (so do the oats). Understand that the coarser the grind, the less supporting structure it provides. That’s a bad thing if maximum lightness and openness is your goal. But that was not my goal. Furthermore, the soft white wheat I used is very weak – – typically used for pastry flour rather than bread. But perfect when seeking tenderness rather than gluten. I also degassed the dough several times to ensure a finer crumb. The crumb you see here is the result. It may not be Instagram beautiful, but it is absolutely lovely to eat. Cheers! 😎 #wholegrainmastery
Link to Instagram post (6/25/19)
Honeywheat: Part 1 – – It’s been a while since my last post so figured I’d start with something a bit different. I have a fair amount to say here so it will probably be a 3 or 4 part series. Let’s consider this the intro.
—
Though I don’t often post them, I’m a big fan of pan breads. And having been raised on Wonder Bread, you might rightly guess that I like them soft, and sometimes a little sweet. Honeywheat fits the bill.
—
I typically make 2 types of honeywheat: high percentage whole wheat (75% – 100%) and lower percentage (typically around 25%). At 80% whole wheat, this loaf is the former. I also usually include a portion of oats (usually rolled) and sometimes cracked wheat (as a soaker). This loaf doesn’t have any cracked grain (though it does have some coarse #mockmilled grain that I’ll discuss in my next post), but it does include 10% rolled oats. And honey, of course (10% here). I’ll discuss the specifics of the formula and method in another post.
—
The purpose of this bake was to make a very soft, very tender loaf with a thin and supple crust. Lightly baked, easy to chew, and kid friendly – – yet still retaining the health characteristics of plentiful whole grains. Something that might pass for an enriched yeast bread, even though it is lean and made from sourdough (and not sour in the slightest).
—
In order to meet those characteristics, I made certain choices. For example, to get a thin supple crust I baked it in a pan, I baked it at low temp (400F/204C), and only to a light tan color. No bold bake here. And I gave it only a shallow score to encourage a smooth top without ears or ridges (which would create areas of darker and tougher crust than I wanted for this loaf). In following posts I will discuss other choices I made and why I made them. Tomorrow I’ll talk about the grains and how different grinds can affect texture, tenderness and moisture. Cheers! 😎 #opencrumbmastery
Link to Instagram post (6/26/19)
Honeywheat Part 2: The Flour – – It’s my belief that the reason so many struggle to make good high percentage whole grain bread is because they are fighting against the nature of whole grain flour. They are trying to mimic the qualities of white bread, but using the wrong ingredient for that style. Basically, they are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Whole grain can make absolutely wonderful bread if you accept its nature and work with it rather than against it.
—
The grains chosen for this loaf were intended to make a dense yet soft and tender loaf. Pleasantly moist, but not custardy or gummy. Almost like cake. In order to achieve those qualities I needed a combination of grain that could retain moisture while also forming sufficient gluten to hold together.
—
The flour in this loaf is 80% whole wheat and 20% bread flour. Furthermore, the whole wheat portion is 80% fine, 20% coarse. Plus there is 10% rolled oats. If given sufficient time to soak, oats and coarse-milled grains will absorb and hold onto water creating that moist and tender texture I wanted for this loaf. The bread flour and fine-ground whole wheat provide the necessary structure to hold it all together and allow it to rise.
—
I used my Mockmill 200 by @wolfgangsmockmill for milling the fine and coarse whole wheat. The thing I love about home-milling (besides the vastly improved flavor) is the control you have over the grind. It allows you to create a wide range of different flours and flour combinations. My struggle with whole grain breads has always been the limited selection of flours and grinds available. Now I can simply make exactly what I want. Consequently, I’m making and enjoying far more whole grain breads than I used to. #notanad 😂
—
Fine-ground WW flour allows for better gluten development and potentially lighter loaves, though it can make for a drier crumb unless extremely hydrated. But high hydration requires hotter/longer baking to avoid gumminess, resulting in a thicker darker crust than I wanted. The use of oats and a small portion of coarse-ground flour allowed me to avoid that scenario and achieve the soft, moist and tender texture I was after. 😎
Link to Instagram post (6/27/19)
Honeywheat Part 3: The Dough – – I generally prefer my pan breads to be made with a somewhat stiffer dough. Not super stiff (usually) but somewhere around medium to medium-soft. I don’t usually make pan breads from wet dough. Good bread can certainly be made that way, but the loaves that result are not typically what I personally want in a pan loaf. Stiffer dough tends to produce crumb on the fluffy side, as opposed to the custardy crumb of wet dough. Fluffy is what I like in pan breads. And stiffer dough doesn’t usually need to be baked as deeply as wet dough which allows for a softer, thinner and lighter colored crust – – also something I typically like in my pan loaves. This dough was 85% hydration, but because of the high percentage of whole grains it was only a medium-soft dough.
—
Formula (approx.): 80% fresh-milled whole wheat (80/20 fine/coarse), 20% bread flour, 10% rolled oats, 85% water, 10% honey, 2% salt. The leaven was 20% of total *dough* weight, young (3 hours, approx. doubled in volume) and contained all the bread flour in the recipe. Loaf was scaled at 1100g for a 1kg loaf after baking. —
Method: I soaked the oats in the water and honey for 15-20 minutes then added the whole wheat and set it to autolyse for 3 hours. The dough was fairly stiff at this point, but seemed to have sufficient water to adequately hydrate. Then I sprinkled on the salt, dumped the leaven on top, then worked the leaven into the dough by hand until completely incorporated, about 5 minutes. Bulk was 4 hours at low 80’s F. Punched down/degassed at around 2.5 hours when nearly doubled. At end of bulk (dough doubled again), punched down/degassed then preshaped and let rest 30 minutes. Then degas, shape and set in pan to rise for 1hr. 15 min. at low 80’s F. Score lightly and bake with steam at 400F for 20 minutes, vent steam and rotate to bake another 20 minutes without steam.
—
I decided to make this loaf at the last minute and so that influenced my process. Had I decided it the night before, I would have changed things up a bit (like a longer soak for the whole grain, for one). I wanted to share my reasons for this method, but I’m out of space. Next time. Cheers! 😎
Link to Instagram post (6/28/19)
Honeywheat Part 4: The Crumb – – As mentioned in the intro to this series, for this loaf I wanted a soft tender crumb and thin delicate crust. I wanted a kid-friendly loaf reminiscent of enriched yeast bread, but made instead from high percentage fresh-milled whole wheat and leavened entirely by sourdough (without being even slightly sour). This 80% whole wheat (and 10% rolled oats) sourdough pan bread met those characteristics superbly. Soft and tender, almost like cake, light easy to chew crust, and slightly sweet honey flavor with almost zero acidity. Here are the main factors that made it happen….
—
In order to achieve the cake-like tenderness of the crumb, I used a medium-soft (not wet) dough as described in Part 3 for a “fluffier” texture rather than “custardy”. And I punched it down/degassed it several times to increase strength and aeration (as described in prior posts on Pioneer Sourdough). I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it really does create a lighter yeast-bread style texture. —
The stiffer dough consistency also allowed me to bake the loaf at a lower temperature and to a lighter color than I could’ve if the dough were wetter (which requires a deeper bake to prevent gumminess). To ensure that the crumb was moist and tender I used a portion of coarse-ground whole wheat and rolled oats to soak up and retain moisture, as described in Part 2.
—
To prevent acidic flavor I aimed for a quick room temp fermentation (less than 6 hours total) – – refrigeration would’ve increased sourness. I used a large amount of liquid leaven (20% total *dough* weight), but kept the leaven very young (3 hours old) to limit the acid load. In my experience, short fermentation via large amounts of leaven elicits less acidity than long fermentation via small amounts of leaven.
—
Every decision I made was made for a specific purpose. And each choice was given full consideration regarding the positive and negative effects it would have all the way down the line. Every choice comes with opportunity cost and the potential for unintended consequences. This is important because your choices are your method, and the method makes the bread. Cheers!😎 #opencrumbmastery
Link to Instagram post (7/5/19) Note: This post (and the one that follows) was clearly promotional and the coupon has long since expired. I’ve included this because it’s a fair and accurate depiction of my approach to wholegrain bread. Plus, the videos hold value for those who are observant.
Hey folks, if you haven’t already heard, Mockmill (@wolfgangsmockmill) is currently having a summer sale. They are offering a full $100 off the price of their Mockmill 200 (the same model I use). That’s a serious deal. The sale is only good through July 16th. Use coupon code S200 at checkout. Here are some links….
—
US: https://us.mockmill.com/pages/mockmill-200-summer-sale-s200
—
EU: https://mockmill.com/eu/secret-summer-sale
—
Though I received my #mockmill as a courtesy, I am not an affiliate of the company. This is not a paid promotion and I do not receive commission from sales or profit in any manner. But I’m a huge fan so let me try to sell you one of these bad boys anyway….
—
I absolutely LOVE my Mockmill! I mean, just look at the sample grinds in this post! That is only 7 out of at least 30 major grind settings. There are MANY more potential grinds than just what you see here. You can go from just barely cracked grain all the way to fine flour, and everything in between. So many options! And the flavor of fresh-milled flour DOES live up to the hype! You have to try it for yourself to truly understand the difference. If you’ve been tempted by the thought of milling your own flour, now’s the time to act. I doubt this $100 coupon will be coming around again any time soon, if ever. Oh, and yeah, I did blend all these grind samples into one epic flour. Rustic and mealy. Gonna be fun using it next time I bake. 💪😏 #mockmill200
Link to Instagram post (7/9/19)
For those who were wondering what I did with that epic flour I blended from the demonstration grinds in my last post, this is the result. If you missed my last post be sure to check it out for context – – and because the $100 discount for the Mockmill 200 is still available (good through July 16th). That post has more info plus links to the sale and the coupon code if you want to take advantage of the one-time deal. But let’s discuss this loaf a bit more….
—
Those who read my previous post know that I milled a few different samples of flour to demonstrate some of the different grinds available on the #mockmill. And those who followed my Honeywheat series from a couple weeks ago know that I enjoy blending different grinds of flour to produce different textures in my bread. Naturally, I blended the demonstration grinds into one awesome rustic flour. Overall, it was very coarse – – probably half of it consisted of different grades of cracked grain (some just barely cracked). But there was also a portion of fine-ground and medium-ground flour in the there as well. I included a short video of the flour blend in my previous post if you want to see it.
—
This loaf used all of that wonderful flour. It worked out to be 51% whole wheat, 49% bread flour. It was only 75% hydration (which is quite low considering it’s just over 50% whole grain), but I knew it would be soft and tender if I let the whole grain soak long enough. So the night before I let the whole wheat soak in the recipe’s water for an hour, then added the salt and bread flour. I premixed it (just until evenly incorporated) then stuck it in the fridge overnight. The next morning I let it come to room temp as the leaven rose, then mixed in the leaven and began the bulk.
—
This loaf is so good! Such great texture!The finer grinds and some of the smaller bits of meal soaked up enough water to create an almost porridge-like consistency, while the coarse-cracked grains softened but still retained just enough “tooth” to make it interesting. Even though it’s relatively low hydration, it is extremely moist due to the retained water from the mixed grinds of whole wheat. Wonderfully soft and tender! 😎 Cheers!
Link to Instagram post (7/11/19)
Figured I’d put up one last post about the loaf I made from that blend of #mockmill sample flours I ground (see previous 2 posts for details). As a reminder, this loaf is 51% whole wheat, 49% bread flour, and 75% hydration. The whole wheat was a very coarse blend that was probably half cracked grain and half flour. You can see the texture in the accompanying posts here.
—
Despite its relatively low hydration, this loaf was exceptionally soft, moist, and tender. The blend of flours and cracked grain provided wonderful texture and retained moisture for reasons explained in my previous post. And the fresh-milled flavor was outstanding, of course.
—
In the short time that I’ve been home – milling, I’ve become a huge fan of blending different grinds into unique flours. It’s rare that I ever use straight grinds. I much prefer to blend different mixes that include various grinds of fine, medium and coarse flour, as well as inclusions of cracked grain (from sandy textured meal to just barely cracked berries). You might think that blending fine flour with coarse flour creates the same thing as a medium flour, but there are subtle differences in how the different grinds interact and behave in the dough. I’m no expert at milling, but I can definitely feel the effects in the dough. Interesting blends of flour make for interesting dough and interesting bread.
—
When using high percentage whole grain, I typically chase after texture rather than open crumb. Yes, I could get a more open crumb by sticking with fine-ground flour (and higher hydration), but the textures created by blending different grinds is far more interesting to me. I’m a fan of dense whole grain breads so long as they are moist and tender. To that end, it’s important to let your coarser flour and cracked grains soak and hydrate. Depending on the flour, a long autolyse might be sufficient, or you may need an overnight soaker for more coarsely cracked grain (or even cook it into a porridge). Coarse flour and cracked grain will steal water from the surrounding dough unless they are sufficiently hydrated. This can lead to a drier texture, especially when using lower hydration such as I did here. Cheers! 😎