100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

It's a different flavor than I'm used to, but it's tasty. Not as sour as sourdough, but there's definitely some acidity there.

I think it could have baked for a little longer. During the last ten minutes I kept taking it out to test it, so I'm sure that didn't help.

The milk wash probably wasn't necessary. That wasn't in the directions but I remember it working well with a previous loaf of bread. I also may have let it proof a tad too long, because it was starting to hang over the edges of the pan. It did rise quite a bit more in the oven too.

It took about an hour and 15 minutes for the dough to proof. While it was proofing I preheated the oven to 425°F. The baking temperature is 350°F, but preheating to a higher temp makes up for the heat that's lost when the oven door is opened.

When the dough was ready, I put it in the oven and reduced the temp to 350°F. After 20 minutes I rotated the pan, then baked for another 30 minutes, until the center reached at least 195°F.





It's going to be hard to wait a full hour until I can cut into it and taste-test!

I let the dough rise for a full hour.



Then I shaped it into a loaf and put it in an oiled 8"x4" pan. I lightly brushed it with milk and sprinkled it with a little wheat germ and whole wheat flour.

I'm letting it rise (proof) for another 45 minutes to an hour, until the dough rises about 1 1/2 inches above the rim of the pan.

The time has finally come to make some bread. This is the soaker that I made last night.



This is 14 ounces of my mother starter. I have about 8 ounces leftover which will need to be refreshed when I'm ready to make my next loaf.



I divided the soaker into 12 smaller pieces, to make it easier to combine with the other ingredients.



Next, I did the same thing with the starter.



The pieces are sprinkled with flour so they don't stick together.



The final ingredients are 1.5 ounces honey (or any other form of sugar), 1 ounce canola oil (or melted butter), 2 ounces whole wheat flour, 5/8 tsp salt (5 grams), and .25 ounce yeast (2 1/4 tsp).



Since my yeast was active dry instead of instant, I mixed it with a little warm water to hydrate it.



Next, everything is mixed together in a big bowl.



This can be done with a stand mixer, but I opted to get down and dirty and use my hands.



Then I dumped it out onto a floured surface and kneaded it for 3-4 minutes. I let it rest for 5 minutes and prepared a lightly oiled bowl.



I kneaded it for another minute or so, then formed it into a ball, put it in the bowl, and covered it with plastic wrap. Now I'm letting it ferment for 45 minutes to an hour, until it is 1 1/2 times its original size.

Extra flour needed for this dough: 3/4 ounce

All the recipes in this book begin with a soaker to soften the whole wheat flour. It's supposed to yield a softer loaf.

8 ounces of flour is mixed with 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used fine sea salt) and 7 ounces of scalded (then cooled) milk (I used 1%). Then it sits, covered, at room temperature overnight, or 12-24 hours.