Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
Story
A wholesome and hearty loaf of whole wheat bread, perfect for daily sandwiches or simply toasted with butter.
Ingredients
warm water
360g
dry yeast
7g
salt
1 teaspoon
whole wheat flour
65g
high-gluten flour
355g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Mix the yeast, salt, and warm water in a large container; the yeast does not need to dissolve completely. Then add the whole wheat flour and bread flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until the wet and dry ingredients are evenly combined and there is no dry flour. This step only takes a few minutes. Cover with a lid (it does not need to be airtight), let it ferment at room temperature for two hours, then place it in the refrigerator to chill overnight. I usually just put it in the fridge right after making it and wait until the next day to continue.
2
Step 2
The next day, the dough has already more than doubled in size.
3
Step 3
Take it out before starting to make the bread.
4
Step 4
To prevent sticking to your hands, first sprinkle a thin layer of bread flour over the dough, then quickly grab the dough and snip it off with scissors. Pull the surface gluten network tight and quickly finish shaping. Place it on a pizza peel dusted with whole wheat flour and let it rest for 2 hours (the book says to rest for 40 minutes, but I don't think that's enough, especially in the dead of winter).
5
Step 5
Sprinkle plenty of dry flour on the surface of the dough, and use a knife to score a cross, scallop, or hash mark pattern on the surface. Keep the residual dry flour on the surface during baking; it can be patted off when slicing the bread to eat.
6
Step 6
20 minutes before baking, place the baking stone on the second-to-last rack of the oven, and place an empty baking pan on the very bottom rack. After preheating at 230 degrees for 20 minutes, slide the dough from the pizza peel onto the baking stone, quickly pour a cup of boiling water into the baking pan, and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the surface of the bread becomes hard. Remove the bread, place it on a wire rack to cool, and then slice.
