I tried several whole wheat breads. Realizing of course that no supermarket flour is truly whole grain and even the best of them are
refined with the most nutritious parts of the wheat kernel removed.. Some of the breads I made were unpalatable; some were so-so. This is the
first not quite whole wheat bread that I actually enjoyed and so the thought
occurred there may not be a wholly whole wheat bread that will appeal to my
taste, so I accepted a partial defeat. But it tastes wonderful, the texture is almost perfect, the ingredients are basic
and the work involved in the making is minimal. Adapted from “Recipe: Easy, no-knead whole wheat bread” by The New Home Economics.2-3/4 cup whole wheat bread flour
1 cup unbleached white flour or white bread flour
Scant 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1-1/4 tsp salt
bran flakes for dusting
2 cups water, room-temperature
- a large bowl combine the flours, yeast and the salt.
- Add 2 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
- Let dough rest 18 – 24 hours, at warm room temperature.
- When the dough is ready, lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it.
- Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself twice.
- Don’t worry about it if it seems gooey and weird.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes.
- Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball.
- Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with wheat bran.
- Put dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more bran.
- Cover with another cotton towel and let it rise or spread for about 2 hours.
- When it is ready the dough will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
- About half-hour before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450F.
- Put a 6-quart heavy covered pot in the oven as it heats.
- When the dough is ready, carefully remove the now-hot pot from oven and place it on top of the stove.
- Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K.
- Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
- Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.
- Cool on a rack.
- Make sure you cool it completely so the crust can fully develop.
- I have to confess the bread was still warm when I sliced into it.
