Wheat Bread Loaf #2
...but baking my own bread is very satisfying.
I have made two sandwich loaves of wheat bread in my recent baking flurry. Both of them were made with a combination of White Whole Wheat and All Purpose flours. They came out reasonably well, with good taste and texture and color, but not quite as tall and fluffy as I would like. The white whole wheat flour produces a nice & soft, lighter tan colored loaf. I think I need to either use more yeast or let it rise longer to get the lift I desire in my bread. Or maybe do both.
Baking and cooking is good creative expression for me. It allows me the freedom to design what I want and to make it my own way. Gives me freedom and also some control. I say some control, because my creations don't always turn out exactly the way I want them to. Actually, that's sort of the fun part. A little adventure and surprise in the kitchen. Safe adventure. Just my speed.
I started this recent bread baking because I became aware that I was spending almost $5 per 1 1/2 lb loaf of store bought bread. So I decided that making my own bread would save me some money. It does that. Now I am not sure I can go back to eating store bought bread again. I really like the way my homemade bread tastes. It is so much fresher tasting that store bought. Even when my wheat loaves don't rise as tall as I would like.
It makes great sandwiches and toast.
Slices of homemade Wheat Bread
Hopefully, I will find the time to bake some more soon. I do enjoy it.
© Copyright 2009 Mountain Harvest Basket
Good job! Have you tried gluten to lighten up your whole grain breads?
ReplyDeleteHi Lulu,
ReplyDeleteYes, I did add some gluten to these loaves. I also add gluten to my white bread loaves if I don't have any bread flour handy. Perhaps I should add a little more.
I believe your bread factory definitely needs to increase it's production.
ReplyDeleteTwo beautiful loaves of whole wheat bread, lots of talk about how delicious homemade bread is, and I don't recall any sharing going on.
I am glad you're having fun, a good diversion from life's stressors.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI think I did share a couple of pieces of these wheat breads....with Jack. Sorry, you didn't get any of these two loaves. There will be more in the future.
While baking is fun and a nice diversion from other things, I actually haven't baked at all for the past two weeks as I have been too preoccupied with stressful paperwork, meetings and communications. These two loaves were baked, photographed and eaten several weeks ago. I do hope to get back to my fun soon though. Thanks for praising my work.
I love to bake and cook as well. And I agree. It is a great way to be creative. There are so many variations that you can come up with. And the end result may just be a surprise!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that many farmers are forgoing growing wheat over growing corn now, though. They get more money for corn because of bio-diesel companies. And now the price of wheat is going up higher and higher. It used to be I could buy a 5lb bag of fresh wheat flour for under $3.00, now it's anywhere between $3.00-$6.00 for the same bag.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have no idea why the cost of yeast has gone up, though.
So far it's still cheaper to bake our own bread and I hope it stays that way.
Your bread is just lovely.
~Lisa
This new* white whole wheat flour is just amazing. I'm still experimenting with it myself.
ReplyDelete*new to me, anyway
Yum!!! We have become quite fond of baking our own bread also - in a bread maker of course though!! I have found that the addition of wheat flour definitely decreases the rise so I tend to not use it even though I prefer it. More yeast might work though - I'll have to give that a try!
ReplyDeleteHi Marcee,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy cooking and baking and am itching to get back to it. Too many other chores keeping me from it lately!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for the bread compliments. I knew about the corn production and prices, but I was not aware that US farmers were reducing their wheat crops. That's not good.
Hi KnitWitch,
I have been using the White Whole Wheat flour from King Arthur mixed with all purpose flour for my wheat breads. It seems to make a lighter loaf than stone ground whole wheat does. They use a different kind of wheat for that flour I think. Homemade is the way to go.
I've been using the technique in the book "Artisan Baking in Five Minutes a Day": you make 4 loaves' worth of their wet dough at once, let it do an initial rise, and then it lives in the fridge bubbling away for up to 2 weeks until you decide to bake it as needed. Much easier for a busy person, and the bread tastes great.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon,
ReplyDeleteYes, I have that book also and have started exploring their methods. So far I have baked one beautiful artisan loaf. Been too busy to post about it yet though.