Question about making bread with fresh milled flour

[Julpost]

Actually I have 2 questions. First, do you notice a difference in consistency between different types of wheat grains? I use hard winter wheat in my yeast breads but I just started buying my wheat from a local farmer instead of from the health food store....and this wheat gets all gummy and strange in my KitchenAid mixer. I use the dough hook and in the past, it has worked great. Now the dough gets really dense but doesn't hold together into a 'ball', it just gets pushed up against the sides of the bowl and on the bottom. I always have to take it out and knead it by hand at the end. I didn't think I should add even more flour because it just gets really heavy-like....this is really hard to explain.

Second: I've been baking my wheat into a dinner roll recipe because I haven't found a good sandwich bread recipe. Whenever I bake a regular recipe in a loaf pan, it comes out dense and with a very hard crust. When using whole wheat, should I use more yeast maybe? I've been adding a bit of gluten, about 1 Tbsp. for a whole recipe. I'd like to start making something other than dinner rolls! :)

In the mean time, I've discovered tortillas for my soft wheat...delish!! Easy for sandwich wraps!

[Adrianne]

I would add more gluten. I use about 1/3c per 5 to 7 cups of flour. This will help your bread rise better. I also use a dough conditioner with ascorbic acid.

100% whole wheat dough is very hard on a mixer. I found my Kitchen Aid could not cut it. We had to a upgrade to a mixer with a better motor. We bought an Electrolux. I hear a Bosch is good also. This might help with your kneading problem.

Sorry I could not do more!

[Amy in NH]

When I first started making fresh milled bread it came out just how you've described yours.

This is the recipe I use now:

WHOLE WHEAT OATMEAL FLAX BREAD
from Wildflour

Mill: 10-12 cups hard red or hard white grain

6 C Hot Water
3/4 C Honey
1/2 C Dry Lecithin
1/2 C Dry Milk
1 C Coarsely Ground Flax Seeds
2 C Rolled Oats
1/3 C Olive Oil
10 C Flour
3/4 C Gluten
2 Tbsp Dough Enhancer
3 Tbsp Yeast
2 Tbsp Salt

Mix and allow to sponge until double...approximately 30 minutes.
Add flour and salt until dough cleans the sides of the bowl and is slightly sticky.
Knead 7 minutes on speed #2 or until smooth and light and silky.
Shape into 4 eight inch greased pans and rise until double.
Preheat oven to 450*
After bread is in the oven, turn heat down to 350* for 35-40 minutes or until done.

This is the dough enhancer recipe I use, although I leave out the milk & lecithin since I'm already adding them directly from the bread recipe:

DOUGH ENHANCER

1 cup nonfat dry milk
2 cups wheat gluten
2 teaspoons powdered ginger (you will not taste it)
4 tablespoons powdered pectin (in the canning supplies section of the grocery store)
4 tablespoons unflavoured gelatin
4 tablespoons lecithin granules (health food store)
1 tablespoon ascorbic acid crystals (Fruit Fresh -- in the canning supplies section)

Mix together in bowl and store in fridge (I store mine in a mason jar in the freezer). Use 2-3 tablespoons per batch of bread -- maybe a bit more....)

Now that I'm more comfortable with using fresh milled flour, I use other recipes, but I always add the extra gluten, lecithin, and dough enhancer. I also use a Bosch Universal, which I purchase just for the task.

BTW, these are recipes I borrowed from other WTMers. ;)

HTH!

[profmom]

Here is a bread recipe that has always turned out soft and wonderful: Joyful Living Distributors (http://www.joyfullivingforyou.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=1). The owner told me to knead it for 8 minutes in my Bosch instead of the 6 minutes in the recipe.

(Sorry I can't help with the difference in the wheat.)

[5sweeties]

There is a huge difference in types of wheat. White wheat, and red wheat, turn out completely different. If I use red, I always, always add white flour. However, if I use white wheat, then I just use it for the total amount of flour in the recipe and do not add flour at all.

I love the taste of hard red winter wheat, as it is more "nutty" and stronger tasting, but have local friends who don't like it at all, and won't use it. Red is also harder on the digestive tract. It is also interesting to Google the difference between the two as far as nutrients go.

Baking your own bread takes a lot of trial and error, and time. Don't give up, and eventually you will fine-tune a recipe that you and your family love! I would just suggest adding white flour if it is coming out to dense. It is an easy fix.
:)