# Real Whole Wheat Bread



## AKGrowbuckets (Apr 29, 2012)

Does anyone grind their own wheat flour for bread-making? I tried it and think it is worth the effort. You can find complete details at: Wasilla Alaska Garden Adventures: Baking Bread From Scratch


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Yep!
Fresh Ground 100 Percent Whole Wheat-Bread - Recipes - Longarm Machine Quilting Service


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Are these photo's of bread you have made??
My bread (from whole wheat berries) is delicious.....but as dense as lead. 
If I could get it to be 'air' like this......I'd be a bakin' fool!!
Thanks for the site I will be checking it out


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Mine looks like that every time Laura. It takes the blue ribbon at the fair every time I enter it


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## AKGrowbuckets (Apr 29, 2012)

What is your flour mill? What yeast do you use? Do you hand knead?


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

See the link in my post, full pictorial included 



AKGrowbuckets said:


> What is your flour mill? What yeast do you use? Do you hand knead?


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

I have the Nutrimill so I can get the same kind of super fine grind, but I do not have a bread machine to kneed the dough.
I have a stand mixer or I can hand kneed.
Do you think that the bread machine makes the difference??


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

In the 20 years I've been baking bread Laura, I've never been able to reproduce the same textures in bread by either hand kneading or using my stand mixer that the bread machine produces. I wish I could figure out what the difference is! When my dough comes out of the bread mixer, the texture is comparable to mousse. But anyway, you can get a decent loaf from a stand mixer too, just not quite as light.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

I grind wheat fresh for bread baking every weekend. I use about half fresh ground and half bread flour to make a soft sandwich type loaf. It also makes the best toast I've ever had. I got the recipe from my good friend Callie. I have a Nutrimill that I bought used and it's been working great for over a year. I use my KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough and recently my Excalibur dehydrator to raise the bread.

I've found the best way to determine the quality of the finished loaf is by the gluten development during the kneading process. If you can take a small piece about the size of a silly putty ball in your hands and stretch it out without the dough breaking you'll have a much better loaf of bread. 

It's called the window pane test.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

I have an Excalibur dehydrator!! What setting / temp do you put it on and how long??


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

We make fresh ground ww bread. Next time we make a loaf I will have to post the picture.

The bread machine makes an incredible loaf though every so often we end up with a brick which is promptly turned into bread pudding


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

Thanks for the links!


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## Marcia in MT (May 11, 2002)

I grind whole wheat in a Vitamix -- works great!

We have "roadkill" wheat: there was a pile of it at the side of the road next to a freshly combined field a couple of years ago. We watched it and no one picked it up, so we did. I still have to winnow out a few pebbles and some chaff, but it sure makes good bread!


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> I have an Excalibur dehydrator!! What setting / temp do you put it on and how long??


I put a flat pan of water in the bottom of the dehydrator, slide a tray over that, set it at 115 degrees and preheat for about 10 minutes.

I butter a large bowl and turn the dough around to coat all over, then put it in the dehydrator covered with a damp dish towel for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in size. You can put it back in there to raise the loaves too. Make sure you oil them because the fan in the dehydrator will dry them out if you don't. That takes about 15-20 minutes. Rising time depends on your recipe.

Doing it this way has cut my time by more than half.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I prefer a cool rise, in fact my WW bread always turns out nicer in the cooler months, when our house is around 68 degrees. I let my dough rise on the counter. The longer the rise, the better the flavor


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

CJ said:


> I prefer a cool rise, in fact my WW bread always turns out nicer in the cooler months, when our house is around 68 degrees. I let my dough rise on the counter. The longer the rise, the better the flavor


I read an article in Country Side magazine that said 100% whole wheat bread does better with a cool rise. It makes sense because the bread is dense and the longer the yeast works on it, I would think, the better the rise. 

I haven't done 100% WW yet. I want to find a way to make cracked wheat bread. I don't think a Nutri Mill will crack wheat.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

CJ said:


> I prefer a cool rise, in fact my WW bread always turns out nicer in the cooler months, when our house is around 68 degrees. I let my dough rise on the counter. The longer the rise, the better the flavor


Ok.....in the winter I keep the house at 65 degrees. 
My daughter and I have a devil of time getting ANYTHING to rise!! 
I have gone as far as putting the bowl on a heating pad to get it to rise!!

This is all great information!! Thank you so much for your contributions!! I am looking forward to baking bread today!


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

The key to fluffy WW bread is vital wheat gluten (which I see CJ does use). It makes all the difference!


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

Karen said:


> The key to fluffy WW bread is vital wheat gluten (which I see CJ does use). It makes all the difference!



It also makes for bread that can actually stand up to having stuff spread on it.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I use Montana white wheat kernels and grind it in a Nutrimill, and knead it in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Then it rises in my convection oven that has the light on and was preheated for two minutes. My recipe is just wheat, an egg, water, sugar or honey, salt, yeast, butter, and sometimes a cup or so of rolled oats. I don't need to add gluten to get a high light loaf.

Montana white wheat is a higher protein flour so I find that additional gluten flour isn't necessary. It's a newer cultivar but is not GMO. The difference between that and red wheat is that the gene that causes that somewhat bitter taste has been bred out. I use it for cookies and cakes too, and they come out light and delicious. It performs quite well unless you overwork it.

I buy it in 50# sacks from the Mennonite grocery, but they also sell smaller bags if that's the consumer's preference.


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