Cooks Joy

For this month’s “We Knead to Bake” we are baking a whole wheat sandwich bread. I was skeptical since I have not had good results when I substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour and the muffins used to turn out a tad dense and so on. After having cold feet for a while, I finally decided to go ahead and see what the outcome was.
The bread is very simple, but there is a lot of wait time and the dough is a very sticky dough. I tried using the food processor, but gave up on it and started kneading by hand. Skeptical and with fear I sliced it hoping for it to be edible and not too dense. You see, I have a picky family and did not want the whole loaf to go for a waste. 
I was in for a surprise because the bread was terrific. It was a tad dense, but that was only a fraction of what I feared it would be. Most of the bread was used for breakfast. I dipped the remaining pieces in tea for a quick snack. Recipe adapted Peter Reinhart’s recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from his book “Whole Grain Breads”. Off to the recipe.

My Notes
1. Refer to this link to see how to shape a sandwich loaf.
2. I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
3. I used all of the 1/3 cup of flour while making the final dough.
4. The dough to start with will be VERY sticky. Stop adding flour and kneading when the dough pulls off the sides of the bowl.
5. You can do the whole process by hand without a food processor.

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Pictorial
1. Soaker : Take the soaker ingredients in a bowl. Start with 3/4 cup water and mix with a spatula until the flour is hydrated.2. I used about 1 cup of water and the soaker had the consistency of a loose dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12 - 24 hours.3. Biga : Take the biga ingredients in a bowl. Again start with 3/4 cup milk and add more as needed. Mix and form a dough.4. Dough ready.5. Knead well to form a smooth ball of dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.6. Two hours before you plan on making the dough for bread, remove the biga from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. The dough would have risen slightly in the fridge.7. The is how the soaker looked the next day.8. Divide the soaker and biga into 12 pieces each, for a total of 24 pieces.9. Take the pieces in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients for dough except the 1/3 cup flour. Knead for 3 minutes.

Let it rest for 5 minutes. After that add as much flour as needed and knead for 3 - 4 minutes until the dough pulls off the sides of the bowl. Do not add more flour than necessary. The final dough will still be sticky.

Place dough in a oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume. It took around 1.5 hours.10. Dough has doubled.11. On a lightly floured surface, gently pat the dough to form a rectangle. Next fold to form a tri-fold. Bring the bottom 1/3 of the dough to overlap. Next bring the top 1/3 to overlap.

Fold the dough over itself once again and pinch the edges to seal.12. Can you see the pinched side? Next flip the dough so the pinched side is facing down and you have a smooth surface on top.

Place in a greased loaf tin and allow to rise until the dough is above the loaf tin.

Bake in a 350F oven for 40 - 45 min until the top is brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.13. Out of the oven. I brushed some butter on top. Allow the loaf to cool for about 2 hours before slicing.
Soft bread ready for making sandwich.
Enjoy!