Greetings! I make a damn fine loaf of white sandwich bread, but every time I try to make whole wheat, rye, whatever else, it never comes out quite right.
I welcome any and all tips and/or recipes. Thanks!
Posted Nov 17, 2019, 7:08 PM UTC
Use a reliable, well tested, well written recipe. Here are some whole grain recipes to browse.
Whole grains are thirsty, and benefit from autolyse. Also, whole wheat flour can vary a lot in how thirsty it is, so be prepared to make adjustments if you can't/don't use the brand/type flour the recipe was created with.
Whole grains generally develop gluten slower, but ferment faster. More kneading, combining w/ higher gluten bread flours, etc.
Whole wheat always needs more water. The bran soaks up a lot so it will need more than you think. It also has more natural sugars so it will take longer to rise.
Rye flour is whole different animal. Rye has very little gluten so in order to get structure you need to combine it with flour that contains gluten.
Jeffery Hamelman from King Arthur Flour has some great Rye recipes in his book ‘Bread’. Also some great whole wheats and helpful hints.
Awesome, I work at a book store which means I'm gonna own this book asap.
Check out my blog about rye breads.
I haven’t made whole wheat myself yet, but I’ve been doing some reading and apparently doing an autolyse makes whole wheat more successful bc the whole wheat pieces are softer and less able to cut the gluten apart. Good luck!