The secret to light, fluffy wholewheat bread

[jajbellsouthnet]

After many years of breadmaking, I recently discovered the secret to producing light, fluffy, finegrained wholewheat bread.
1. Use nothing but wholewheat flour. A cup of rye flour enhances flavor.
2. Make the dough as moist as you can. If you can just barely handle it without having it stick to your hands, it's just about right.
3. Knead a lot. I knead 100 times, rotating every 5 or so.
4. Do this early in the day. I mix around 10AM and let the dough rise throughout the day, knocking it down and letting it rise again about 5-8 times. The more you do this, the finer the texture will be.
5.Bake @350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
6. enjoy

[Penny_Plinker]

Wow, i'm glad you got that figured out. Anytime i made whole wheat bread it was good and all, but heavy as a brick. Sounds like you got it down pat though.

Penny

[MNMOM]

Thanks for the great idea, my wheat bread always has been quite heavy, but great for toasting.

[bookwormom]

I read that adding a bit of extra gluten helps, too. they sell it at the Amish store. well, I sure will give your method a try. thanks for posting.

[ffd430]

Maybe you can answer this for me? Every time I make bread I let it rise only once then pop it in the oven.... the reason I do this is because if I let it rise and punch it down it dosn't rise a second time. Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong?

[Shamrock1121]

Maybe you can answer this for me? * Every time I make bread I let it rise only once then pop it in the oven.... the reason I do this is because if I let it rise and punch it down it dosn't rise a second time. * Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong?

You are probably over-proofing it during the first rise in the bowl and then possibly after the loaf is in the pan. NEVER raise dough to a clock or suggested time from the recipe. Dough is double when it reaches that amount - PERIOD. I use a dough rising bucket for this (you can find them on line from King Arthur Flour, or at a restaurant supply store - you could even use a plastic ice cream tub with the lid), rather than a slant-sided bowl that is covered and you can't clearly see when "double" has occured.

A dough rising bucket (aka dough doubler) is a food-grade plastic container with a tight-fitting, snap-on lid. After you have kneaded the dough, then handle it with oiled hands and form the dough into a nice smooth ball. Place the dough into the dough rising bucket and flatten it on the bottom. Put the lid on - this creates a nice moist environment and doesn't allow the dough to dry out. Note where the dough is. Most dough rising buckets have graduated markings on the side, but if it doesn't, just mark where the dough is, and measure with a ruler where double will happen and mark it with a piece of tape/post-it-note/grease pen, etc.. If the dough is up to the 1 quart line, when it reaches the 2 quart line, it's doubled.

Doubling the dough amount during proofing is all about the type of dough, the hydration, the ambient temperature, how much sweetener is in the dough - NOT about watching the clock.

Commercial flour is no longer bromated and therefore doesn't have the extensibility it once did. If you use freshly milled flour, it also does not have that extensibility. Because of this, I only let dough rise to just under double. Once dough rises more than that, you risk over-proofing it. Over-proofed dough is known as "old" dough and doesn't perform well when baked.

Over fermented doughs will not necessarily raise repeatedly as the gluten structure can be damaged and/or the activity level of the yeast can be spent and no longer active.

-Karen

[Blacksmithswyf]

I find that using molasses instead of sugar gives the yeast a very very slow high resulting in a fluffy loaf of whole wheat bread.