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Farm Kitchen:  whole wheat bread  |
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palmettogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
571 Posts
sue
camden
south carolina
USA
571 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 06:41:08 AM
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| i've made quite a bit of bread in the past, but it was always white, or egg bread. anyway, now trying to become more organically health concious(!),i made whole wheat. i thought it came out a little dense and dry???? is that normal with home-made (not bread machine)? i bought brand new yeast and followed the recipe and let it rise properly.....(as i said, i've made other bread in the past) anyone else run into this? |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 08:34:26 AM
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Can't say that I've ever had a problem with dry bread UNLESS it was done in a machine. Overly dense usually means it needed to rise more. Dry usually means over baked. If you really don't think it was either one, try a different recipe. There are lots of them.
Oh, another thought...You did use half whole wheat and half white flour, right? I tried making bread without the white flour and it was way too dense.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
http://www.freewebs.com/lisamariesbasketry/index.htm |
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palmettogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
571 Posts
sue
camden
south carolina
USA
571 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 11:23:52 AM
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| thanks....and you may have just solved it! the recipe had 4 2/1 cups wheat and 2 cups of white flour. they did say you could adjust it, but i had no idea of what that meant and just followed the recipe. thanks for your input!! |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 12:07:14 PM
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| Sue, did you add gluten to your whole wheat flour? I make 100% whole wheat with added gluten. Comes out great. |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 12:15:13 PM
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| I make 100% whole wheat from the recipe that sometimes appears on the back of the Fleischman's Active Yeast packets. I don't think it's too dense or too dry unless my bake time is off (my oven timer doesn't work properly so I have to remember the time and check it). |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2008 : 3:23:17 PM
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Sue, I use the whole wheat berries and grind them fresh for every batch. My recipe makes 3 loaves or rolls. It has gluten, lecithen, olive oil, honey, eggs, milk, salt yeast and the whole wheat flour. I also use a DLX mixer that does the kneading for 12 minutes. The gluten needs to be incorporated really good to make it soft. But too much kneading can make it tough. When it's done with that, it rises 45 minutes then shape into loaves or rolls and rises another 45 minutes. It's good bread. Several people I know add seeds to the dough, too. I've been making this recipe for about 8 years now and can hardly eat other bread. It keeps the plumbing working good, that's for sure!
Good luck with your bread making adventures and have fun with it.
Kris |
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palmettogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
571 Posts
sue
camden
south carolina
USA
571 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2008 : 06:39:30 AM
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| there was no mention of gluten!! in fact, it was pretty much flour (ww) and water. duh!!??! i guess i should have realized that it wasn't gonna be that great. i got it out of an old pillsbury cookbook. as i said i never made ww bread before. adding olive oil, eggs, etc. sounds really good! maybe even some italian herbs?? well, now i am determined to make something else with ww flour, just to prove to myself that i'm not that inept! what kind of mixer do you have? is it one of those kitchenaid $300 ones? i just have the hand mixers.....i never bought one of those other, free-standing--on the counter ones which is weird because i really love to bake so much. i guess i figured where am i gonna keep the thing? if any of you have one, do you think it's really worth it?? |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2008 : 08:10:43 AM
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I mill my own flour, so all of my bread is whole wheat or mixed grains. For my whole wheat bread I never add any gluten or white flour and it turns out wonderful. The gluten in the whole wheat need to be worked. The biggest help I had on this subject was the book "The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book" it really helped me understand working with whole wheat.
Lillian |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2008 : 08:16:09 AM
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Sue, When I first got started in the "bread cult" as we're called here, I think for all my equipment over 8 years ago was around $800.00. That was for the DLX mixer, Whisper Mill grinder, oat flaker attachment for mixer and several other attachments. Everythings gone down a lot now. Some people have a Zojirushi bread maker machine that does the mixing and rising. I think that's why there rolls are softer than mine.
I tried the Kitchenaid and a food processor, but for my bread, I had to get all this stuff. It never would do right. So I think it's worth it because you can get a lot of different attachments like meat grinder and other things. I'm sure there are a whole lot of new options out there now a lot cheaper than mine.
And it's not that big. I keep all my stuff in my laundry room on shelves when I'm not using them.
Kris |
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Farm Kitchen: whole wheat bread |
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whole wheat bread
