Whole Wheat Bread - Light as a Feather NOT Thick as a Brick

 

I have loved bread made with whole wheat flour as long as I have lived.  That's what my mother made for us.  That along with cracked wheat cereal (the British call it "porridge") was a staple in my childhood home.  We've carried on the tradition in our home and all our children have been raised on wheat bread.

When I was young the only alternative to homemade bread was white store-bought white "sliced bread".  It was too light for my tastes.  Take one of those slices and mash it into a ball--it ends up the size of a large marble.  There's not much to it.  I have always preferred the heartier wheat bread.

I like the full-grain goodness of whole wheat bread (i.e. no white flour added) but the result is usually a very dense loaf that is heavy to hold and challenging to chew!  Consequently my mother always made it with half white flour and half whole-wheat flour--we called it half-and-half.  The reason whole wheat bread is usually so dense is that the with all the fiber (which makes is so much better for you) the proportion of gluten to the rest of the flour is relatively low.  Gluten is the protein part of wheat and is the stretchy stuff which traps the air-bubbles made by the yeast.  Gluten is obviously a problem for those with Celiac Disease, but for the other 96.5% of us it's an amazing and healthful substance.  Despite all the "gluten-free" hype gluten, it turns out, is very nutritious.  It is the miracle God put into many grains to enable us to feed ourselves from the grass-seeds.  Enough about that.  The secret to light and fluffy whole-wheat bread is to add a bit more gluten.  You can buy it online, at many health-food stores, and also at many grocery stores in the baking session.  It looks like flour but is a light tan color.

Another important factor that improves the flavor and reduces the expense is to grind your own fresh-ground flour from wheat grain.  The best bread is made with white hard winter wheat rather than red hard winter wheat.  There are many grain grinders on the market.  The one I've used for years and love is the grinder made by K-Tec (they're the folks who make the famous Blendtec blenders and the "will it blend?" commercials).

So after years of trial and error and perfecting the process, here is Papa Joe's not-so-secret recipe for light and amazing whole wheat bread:

Whole Wheat Bread

• put 6 cups warm water in a mixer or large bowl
• add ¾ cups sugar (you can use honey if you prefer)
• add 3 heaping tablespoons of yeast
• add 3 tablespoons salt
• add ¾ cup of vegetable oil
• add 2/3 cup of gluten powder (called "vital wheat gluten" at some stores)
• add whole wheat flour until it is the proper consistency (springs back when you poke it) usually 12 to 16 cups.
• Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes
• let dough raise for 30 to 60 minutes
• punch dough down and form loaves and place them in greased pans
• let dough raise until about double in size 
• bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes
• remove from pans and cool on a rack

This recipe makes 5-6 one-and-one-half pound loaves.  The recipe can easily be cut into a third or half of the amount.For pizza dough, bread sticks, or french bread leave out the oil as this will make it more chewy.Different types of grains, nuts etc. can be added to the dough as desired.