# Using home ground flour for bread



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

I didn't want to hijack the other thread where this was mentioned, but as wheat is the backbone of my storage, and I sell a LOT of artisan-style loaves (when I have a working stove, of course  ), I thought I'd give a few pointers to those who are struggling with using their wheat storage for bread.

Making bread out of freshly ground wheat can be a learning curve, but it's not that difficult when you get the hang of it. I have used vital wheat gluten in the past, but it's so expensive here -- not to mention being a highly processed food product -- that I don't like to use it. I've also done the "white flour" thing, and like that even less. 

There are several "tricks" to using home ground wheat for bread making that makes for a lighter loaf -- try any or all, and see which works for you --

-- add protein -- in the form of an egg, etc. Protein helps develop the gluten (the elastic-y stuff that allows your loaf to rise)

-- grind your wheat the day before -- I no longer do this, as I like the fresh wheat taste and feel, but it does help when you're just learning to make your bread with whole wheat. The flour sitting for a day seems to help somehow.

-- sift out the "worst" of the bran -- bran is sharp, and it's edges can cut the developing gluten strands, resulting in a heavier loaf. If you put your flour through a sieve before using, you'll take out the biggest chunks of the bran. Don't throw these out! Use them for bran muffins or keep them in a jar and sprinkle on your morning cereal, add to meat loaf, etc.

-- Knead longer. Gluten needs to be developed, and to develop properly in WW dough, it takes a longer kneading period. 

-- WW dough likes a longer, slower, wetter, cooler rise. Therefore, do not rise in a WARM place, rise on your counter top or somewhere away from your stove or other heat source. Make sure your dough is just a LITTLE BIT stickier than you would want with white flour dough -- it'll be okay, I promise! Let rise for about 1.5 to 2 times as long as you would for your white flour dough.

-- WW dough HATES DRAFTS! Really. Keep it away from open areas with lots of traffic, open windows, or doors that open and close sixteen times an hour. 

-- Fermenting (starting with a poolish and having your bread making span a couple of days) allows for a lighter, more complex loaf, as opposed to the "instant" process we've become used to with instant granular yeast and white flour. Invest in a good book on making artisan breads and then go from there. Half the joy of bread making is in discovering your own recipes and putting your own mark on the recipes you discover.

Also, understand that this makes a different product from what you're used to. Wonder Bread it's not -- so if your family is used to commercial white bread, making an immediate switch to home ground wheat bread probably isn't going to go over well. It has ten times the flavor, and I won't even get into the health benefits, but it's not the same stuff. Thank God.


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## michelleIL (Aug 29, 2004)

I wish I could just throw loaves together and be done with them. I tried italian bread. It smelled good, but had no flavor. Blech


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## Randy Rooster (Dec 14, 2004)

thanks for the tips Tracty!


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

That's just it, Michelle -- you can't just throw it together and be done with it.... not if you want a loaf that tastes like something you want to eat  Trust me, I've made enough of the other kind to know! Patience is *NOT* my most outstanding quality (HAH! By *FAR*!!!! LOL! ), and the bread knows it. But patience is key to making a good home ground wheat bread.

Be comforted in the fact that anyone can make a really good loaf of bread, though. This isn't rocket science, all it requires is taking your time and learning what the dough likes and doesn't like. Remember, yeast is a living organism, and like most living organisms, has preferences. Work with them, and you'll have outstanding results the vast majority of the time.


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## au natural (Mar 8, 2004)

Tracy-If it wouldn't be too much to ask, would you be willing to share any of your recipes?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Thanks for the tips, Tracy !


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks Tracy! I'm still learning and it's great to get such good tips from a pro....

I didn't realize experienced bakers don't like vital wheat gluten, or that's it's highly processsed. I need to try sifting my flour next time, and adding an egg.


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## tomstractormag (Feb 23, 2007)

I am making bread right now!
How I do it...
Grind a little over 2 cups of wheat berries per loaf (usually do 2 loaves at a time).
From grinder to mixer in less than 10 minutes.
Using bread machines today but even if I do it in the oven I use the machines to mix/rise/punch down the remove and place dough in bread pans or on a flat pan.
The whole ingredient list,
Fresh ground flour (whole NOTHING removed).
1 batch hard red wheat the other spring hard white wheat
1.5 tsp REDMAN REAL SALT
1tsp yeast
1tsp Sucanat
1.75 to 2 cups water
per batch.
This is the basic stuff.
I will add different stuff for a change of flavor,
oats,rye, kamut, spelt, cinammon.
Thats it!

Tom


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

If you have lard, that is the best fat to use with whole grains. It absorbs into the grain better and softens the bran.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

One of Tracy's basic bread recipes is in the extra section of the HT Calendar. (that's one of the little surprises).


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

it took me about 6 months of baking fresh-ground whole-wheat bread before i was semi-decent instead of almost a brick. (i chose to use 100% whole wheat without gluten or store-bought white flour, because i don't want my ability to eat to be dependent on those extra items with their limited shelf-life, instead of the very long shelf-life of wheat berries. kinda defeats the entire purpose in my mind.)

i found making a "sponge" helped a great deal. a sponge is basically all the liquid and 1/2 the flour, plus the yeast, and giving it a running start on soaking up the water for a half-hour to an hour, before adding the rest of the flour (and egg and salt and oil) for the first rise. 

also, i make it a lot stickier and wetter than you're "supposed to" for white bread, and it rises better, and it turns out fine. (eg, the original recipe i started with, which was for 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour, said 2-1/4 cups water, for 7 cups flour, and i upped it to 3 cups water.)

for my grinding, i use a retsel; A.T. Hagan noted flour made with his retsel takes longer to absorb water than flour made with his whispermill/wondermill. 

--sgl


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I've been adding a tb spoon of honey.


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## tomstractormag (Feb 23, 2007)

Jim-mi said:


> I've been adding a tb spoon of honey.


Thanks for the reminder. 1 tsp instead of sucanat or 2 tsp for a sweet flavor. Yum Yum...

Tom


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

I agree with the wetter mix. My best luck is with a banana bread consistancy. If I get it to the point it can be kneaded it's a brick.

Would love to try some tricks to get a well risen, kneaded, light tasty loaf.

Just made fresh ground ezekial bread the other day. Tasted awesome. Shock to the system though. lol


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## Nottingham (Dec 5, 2008)

Tracy,

Thanks for the tips! Now I have a couple new ideas to try out this week when I make bread. I have been thinking about sifting out some of the bran lately. Do you know what size mesh sieve to use? Or do you us a regular flour sifter?

Thanks,
Mike


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I made two loaves of bread on Friday, adding an egg and trying to leave the dough a little stickier. But I had a terrible time kneading it until I added more flour a sprinkle at a time. How do you knead the dough if it's sticky? 

The bread turned out pretty well - not like Alan's photos, but lighter than my beginning efforts, and tasted good too.

I've had the best luck using my sourdough starter and unbleached white flour. That recipe turns out great every time but I'd like to make bread like that with my home ground wheat.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Kneading is best done by a bread machine or specialty bread mixer with dough hook. I have a K-Tek but there are quite a few good machine available including Kitchen Aid. If you knead by hand, use your clean table or countertop and use oil to keep it from sticking to the table and your hands instead of adding flour.


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

Mom_of_Four said:


> How do you knead the dough if it's sticky?


i use a kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook for the initial kneading. after the first rise, more of the water has been absorbed, and it's less sticky, so i knead a little by hand before the second rise. 

--sgl


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

When I make home ground wheat bread, I make a batter instead of a dough. It's quick, with no rising time. I actually pour it into the bread pans. It makes a wonderful loaf of bread that rises nicely while baking.

I forgot to tell that I make the bread batter about the consistency of pancake batter. I often add flavorings such as banana, zucchini, various herbs, cheese, etc. I sometimes add strawberry flavored syrup, it makes a nice breakfast bread. Playing around with different flavors it part of the fun of making home made bread. 

In the beginning, lots of my experiments were fed to the chickens, but with practice comes good and even great loaves of bread.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Spinner, how does the gluten develop if you don't knead yours? Just curious since I thought that was very important in a light loaf. I'll try kneading more on the second rising next time and see if that works better with a wetter dough. I hadn't thought of oil either, but that might help me avoid wearing dough gloves, haha.


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

Mom of 4

...though you didn't ask me 

My whole wheat batter does sit long enough to rise with just the added yeast. Takes about as long as a kneaded white bread loaf to rise. Not sure if the gluten matters because mine is naturally not kneaded due to wet style mixture. Never tried an oven rising but might have to check that out!! It does tend to have a hearty/dense crumb and is certainly not your average mushy sponge store like loaf. Still plenty of flavor and moistness to appeal to my picky store loaf lovers. Easy to slice too which is important to me. I hate a loaf that falls apart.

I have never ever used added gluten. Don't even know why gluten is added anyway. I just develop my gluten by kneading to the stringy fiber stage if making a white loaf. That is usually a few minutes after the loaf tries to walk up the hook and out the bowl, if were using technical terms, lol. (I use a kitchen aide)


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

Ooops, almost forgot

This is the motherload of all bread sites. The guy is an artist. Lots of links you have to dig for but what a wealth of information.

Whole wheat isn't his forte but lots of experience, technique I envy and things you never knew you had to know.

http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/


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## barnyardfun (Mar 26, 2005)

It has taken me years to actually be able to make a good loaf of bread. Every family is different in their likes and dislikes so it just takes practice!

I have tried SO many recipes over the years and have learned two things. 1) Always try a recipe more then once. Just because they didn't like it the first time doesn't mean they won't like it the next. And besides that bread is kind of finicky and takes a few times of trying it to actually figure out what it is supposed to turn out like! 2) I have resorted to hand kneading mine. I know not all can do this and I completely understand. But I have found that for me hand kneading helps me become one with the bread and know all it's likes and dislikes. Once you know what it is supposed to feel like you will start making bread on auto pilot! Not saying you still won't have a brick occasionally!


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

hintonlady said:


> Mom of 4
> 
> ...though you didn't ask me


Please toss any tips my way! I'm determined to eventually have great whole wheat loaves that everyone likes for sandwiches. I consider myself an experienced (and good) cook but I was a little taken aback by the learning curve when I started using WW flour. Even more so when I ground my own berries. Slowly but surely I've progressed from doorstops to slightly edible to entirely edible but kind of heavy, and now I'm aspiring for fantastic.


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## barnyardfun (Mar 26, 2005)

Mom_of_Four said:


> ....now I'm aspiring for fantastic.


ME TOO! I had to start out by slowly switching over to fresh ground whole wheat. I would just sub a couple cups of WW in the bread. Now I am 100% WW and DH gave me a thumbs up with the last two batches and has told me I have found a keeper! :bouncy:

I am so excited because it was so stressful trying to find one that is 'just right'. I don't think it is so much the recipe as HOW MANY loaves I have made! Like I said before, switching to hand kneading helped me A LOT. Working with the dough in my hands helped me understand more of what it looked like or needed to look like.

I LOVE MAKING BREAD!


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I'm determined to eventually have great whole wheat loaves that everyone likes for sandwiches.


my bread loaves are a bit too crumbly to make good sandwich bread. so, i make buns about hamburger bun sized, and use that when i want a sandwich. might be an option for your family too. (also, since i'm single, buns are easier to keep fresh vs a loaf which starts going stale once sliced, but not likely a consideration for a larger family.)



Mom_of_Four said:


> .... I was a little taken aback by the learning curve when I started using WW flour. Even more so when I ground my own berries.


i didn't have much experience, but i also found that the switch from store-bought "whole wheat" to home-ground whole wheat to be a challenge. also, according to A.T. Hagan, there's a bit of a learning curve between a whispermill/wondermill impact grinder and a retsel stone grinder, since the grind method apparently affects the starch granule size and hence water absorption speed.

i found browsing the web reading various bread-making sites and the theory behind it to be useful in diagnosing my problems. 

--sgl


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