Jean’s Everyday Bread

Categories: Bread, Whole Wheat

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1-1/2 tablespoons rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup home-ground whole-wheat flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons SAF yeast (2 teaspoons if other instant yeast)
• 2 teaspoons wheat gluten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Enough flour to clean sides of bowl

Directions

1. Sponge all but last 2 ingredients.

2. (For Bosch) Warm to 115 to 125 degrees (I microwave for 6 min.)

3. 6 cups water

4. 1/2-cup rolled oats

5. 1/3-cup oil

6. 1/3-cup honey)

7. Add last 2 until sides of bowl are cleaned.

8. (For Bosch: 6 cups home-ground whole-wheat flour

9. 3 tablespoons instant yeast (I use SAF Yeast—you may need 4 T if not SAF)

10. 1/4-cup wheat gluten

11. Warmed water mixture above)

12. Run mixer with dough hook until well mixed and smooth.

13. Cover bowl and let rise 15 minutes.

14. (This is called a proof and is the 1st rise.)

15. Add 2 tablespoons salt (DON’T FORGET THIS)

16. and enough flour to clean the sides of the bowl while kneading.

17. I like to add flour a small scoop at a time. When the sides just start to be cleaned off, I stop the mixer and let it sit a few seconds—maybe a minute— so that the ww flour has time to absorb the water. It takes whole wheat longer to do this than white, and I find that if I don’t wait this minute, I get too much flour in my dough.

18. Start up the mixer again, adding just enough to get the sides to clean, then kneed for a short while. I have never timed this, but it isn’t long (3 minutes maybe?). I like to wet my hands and rip a piece of dough off and try to smooth it out into a thin sheet. If you can get a section to smooth out so that it is thin enough to become almost transparent, the kneading is done—make sure your hands are wet enough not to stick to the dough. It should not be exceptionally sticky either. If it tears, it needs more kneading. This stage is short—if you over knead it you will not be able to get the proper rise out of your bread.

19. en ready, pull dough out of bowl onto a floured surface and divide into 5 or 6 pieces (depending on how big you want your loaves). Form into balls making them smooth and taunt. Cover with a towel and let rest for a few minutes (4 or 5)—this allows the bread to relax and let you form it into loaves without fighting with it. Shape into loaves and place into greased loaf pans. I use 8.5X4.5 pans—if your pans are too large, whole wheat bread might deflate part way through the baking cycle.

20. Let rise. It is ready to preheat the oven when you poke the bread slightly and the indention fills back in slowly. If it doesn’t fill back in or if it “sighs” you have waited too long. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place in oven leaving a small amount of space between pans—as much as you can with 6 loaves. I place them all on the center shelf. I use glass pans, and I check my loaves after 20 minutes. (Aluminum takes a little longer.) If the bottoms are about the same color as the tops, they are done. Let cool on a rack—do not wrap in plastic until they are completely cool. If you are going to slice them before placing in the freezer, it helps to let them sit in their bags overnight before slicing. This allows the bread to firm up a bit.

21. If you want to roll out one loaf into a large rectangle, smooth melted butter over it and sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, you can roll it up and have a loaf of cinnamon bread as well. Caution: this never sticks around in the kitchen for very long….

22. When I place the pans in the oven, I use a mister bottle to mist the loaves very lightly with water so that the surface is just damp enough to get that last rise from the heat as it starts to bake. They should easily rise an inch or more above the bread pan.

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