BREAD
Bran and germ soak up water, which can dry out a loaf and make it crumbly–and largely for this reason, bakers cannot simply substitute whole grain for white. Rather, recipes must be entirely recomposed. Germ and bran also add weight to the dough, which can impede its capacity to rise, leading to loaves that are dense. But a properly made whole wheat loaf can be surprisingly light.
Use enough water. WHITE flour dough can be made with as little water as just 60 percent of the flour weight. But whole grain flour demands significantly more. Most commercial bakers use at least a 90-percent baker’s percentage of water–that is, 14.4 ounces to a pound of whole wheat flour. Miller uses even more water than that: almost 17 ounces of water to 16 ounces of flour.
You also don’t want to over-knead your whole wheat dough. That’s because it contains flakes of bran which can actually cut the dough like knives. This cutting action, he explains, will damage the consistency and structure of the dough and curtail its ability to rise. Anyway, an extra wet, gooey dough may be too sticky to easily knead, and a quick mix will do.
How much yeast? The rule of thumb is a baker’s percentage of 1 percent yeast (remember, that’s 1 percent of the flour weight).
How long to rise? About three-and-a-half hours at 75 degrees Fahrenheit before it attains its maximum volume. This is more time to rise than for white dough, thanks to the heavy germ and bran particulates. But there is only so much time you can give. That is, at a certain point, a ball of dough will reach its maximum volume. Then, as the fermenting yeast continues metabolizing the sugars in the wheat, the dough stops rising and reverses. “If you let your dough over-ferment, then the gluten deteriorates, and the dough can collapse.”
Use enough water. WHITE flour dough can be made with as little water as just 60 percent of the flour weight. But whole grain flour demands significantly more. Most commercial bakers use at least a 90-percent baker’s percentage of water–that is, 14.4 ounces to a pound of whole wheat flour. Miller uses even more water than that: almost 17 ounces of water to 16 ounces of flour.
You also don’t want to over-knead your whole wheat dough. That’s because it contains flakes of bran which can actually cut the dough like knives. This cutting action, he explains, will damage the consistency and structure of the dough and curtail its ability to rise. Anyway, an extra wet, gooey dough may be too sticky to easily knead, and a quick mix will do.
How much yeast? The rule of thumb is a baker’s percentage of 1 percent yeast (remember, that’s 1 percent of the flour weight).
How long to rise? About three-and-a-half hours at 75 degrees Fahrenheit before it attains its maximum volume. This is more time to rise than for white dough, thanks to the heavy germ and bran particulates. But there is only so much time you can give. That is, at a certain point, a ball of dough will reach its maximum volume. Then, as the fermenting yeast continues metabolizing the sugars in the wheat, the dough stops rising and reverses. “If you let your dough over-ferment, then the gluten deteriorates, and the dough can collapse.”