Possibly stupid bread machine recipe questions

[matt819]

Okay, so I'm not a purist. I bought a bread machine. It came with some recipes, and I'm trying some others from the Betty Crocker bread machine cookbook from the library. Even the whole wheat flour and whole grains section calls for bread flour (white) in addition to whole wheat flour (I haven't tried anything much more exotic yet).

So here are my questions. Do all whole wheat flour bread machine recipes (or even by hand recipes) call for plain old white bread flour in addition to the whole wheat flour? Does the world come to an end if I use all whole wheat flour (substituting the whole wheat flour for the white bread flour) in addition to the part of the recipe calling for whole wheat flour?

How about bread machine cookbooks? Recommendations? Preferably the kind of cookbook that you just can't do without, as opposed to one you check in on once in a while. Is it possible to simply take a regular old bread recipes and shift it over to the bread machine? Or are there recipe adjustments needed?

Thanks.

[Denninmi]

1. Pure whole wheat flour is too heavy.

Very few recipes use just whole wheat -- it is almost always mixed with at least 1/2 white flour (you can use the unbleached stuff, it's not the color that's the issue, its the lack of bran and endosperm that makes it lighter).

If you use just whole wheat, it probably won't rise much at all, and will be extremely dense and probably not very appetizing.

Go ahead and try it if you're interested to see what it will be like. There are a few tricks you can do -- double the amount of yeast, add a little molasses (1 T) to give the yeast some extra umphh, and give it an extra long time to rise, that may lighten it up a bit.

Or, the other thing you might try is to substitute some other whole grain flour that doesn't have gluten in it for the white flour. Rice flour or even sorghum flour might work. I kind of experimented with this stuff years ago, and I think rice flour made a decent bread when mixed with wheat flour.

I think most recipes will work in bread machines if you cut back the quantities to account for the smaller loaf size (most recipes make 2 loaves, so probably have to cut in half). If your bread machine is the kind that has a fixed rise and bake time, that might not work out so well, you might just have to play it by ear.

[matt819]

2. Thanks

I kind of thought that might be the case, but I hadn't thought of how to deal with it. I'll give it a try.

[GoCubsGo]

3. A couple things...

If you decide to try an all-whole-wheat loaf, add some vital wheat gluten to it. It's a natural protein found in wheat, and is what makes bread lighter, and the dough more elastic. You should be able to find it in most grocery stores along with the flour. You may need to go to the "organic/health food" section. Several companies produce it, including Bob's Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, King Arthur Flour, and Hodgson Mill. The package should tell you how much to use.

Another option is to use white whole wheat, which is whole wheat flour, but it looks and bakes like white flour. Since it's an all-purpose flour, rather than a bread flour, you'll need to add vital wheat gluten to it. Bread flour is made from a hard spring wheat with more protein than the wheat used for A-p flour. King Arthur makes a great white wheat, as does Eagle Mills. The latter is less expensive, but a bit more difficult to come by. I no longer use ordinary all-purpose flour for anything, as the white wheat has all the good characteristics of whole wheat flour, without the heaviness. Including fiber.

[GoCubsGo]

4. P.S.

I can't recommend a great cookbook, but I picked up "More Bread Machine Magic" at Goodwill a while back. It's okay. Here's their recipe for 100% whole wheat bread. It's a "light" recipe, as in low-fat. I haven't tried it. You could substitute cooking oil for the apple sauce in the same quantity. I have done so in the past with good results with other recipes. And, their are tons of recipes on the internet. Overwhelming numbers of them. :-)

For the medium loaf:

2 Tbs unsweetened apple sauce
3 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp salt
3 c whole wheat flour
3 Tbs vial wheat gluten
1.5 tsp dry yeast
1-1.25 c water

Use whole wheat cycle, and medium crust (if your machine has such a setting). Start with least amount of liquid in the recipe. Watch as the dough kneads. If the dough seems dry or stiff, add more water a tablespoon at a time. The dough should be smooth, soft, pliable, and slightly tacky. When it's done, remove from the pan and cool on a cake rack for at least an hour before you slice it.

[Warpy]

5. While you can make good 100% whole wheat bread

the dough is very wet to start out with and has to rise for a much longer time to hydrate the flour and bran so you don't end up with a dense, heavy loaf of bread. Most bread machine recipes will therefore call for white flour to lighten the whole business up so that you can get same day bread instead of parking the dough in the fridge overnight, one strategy for 100% whole wheat bread but one that sort of defeats the "set it and forget it" bread machine ideal.

[matt819]

6. You learn something every day

I'm not a bread baker, and so all of this is new to me. But I was talking to the guy in the pizza place the other day, and he told me they need 24 hours notice to make whole wheat pizza, for just the reason you cite - needing time for the dough to rest (or rise, or whatever it is it does).

[ejpoeta]

7. i don't have a bread machine anymore, but you can use a lot of recipes

in i. just have to layer according to your machine i guess. i made lots of doughs in my bread machine when i had one. i don't remember any actually being FOR the bread machine. and i don't buy 'bread machine' yeast either. i buy a 2 pack at bjs of dry yeast and it's a lot cheaper. but that is totally off subject. you just have to order your ingredients as per your bread machines instructions. i like to go to allrecipes to look for recipes. the reviews are the best. and i find them very helpful.

as for using all whole wheat, i think unless you counter it somehow it won't work. i don't know how to counter it but when i tried using all whole wheat flour i got a very tough dry bread that was very bad.