"Cook's Illustrated" Perfect Whole-Wheat Bread

[weinoo]

Okay, it's time. Time again for me to try another one of those Cook's Illustrated recipes. Just like I did last December, when I tackled their "Best pizza ever" recipe. Without hesitation, I can say that the pizza dough I made using that recipe really came out great.

Well, once this month's Cook's Illustrated arrived, how could I wait? There it was, right on the cover - "Secrets to Perfect Whole-Wheat Bread." Of course, the whole cover of Cook's Illustrated is, ummmmm, covered with those types of pronouncements. For example, just on that same issue's cover we had:

Dressing Up Steaks - Shortcut to 4-Star Pan Sauce

Broccoli-Cheese Soup - Throw Out the Rule Book

Real Boston Cream Pie

All About Butter

Who knew it was so easy? But that's what makes Cook's Illustrated great, and also one of the few food mags that I literally read cover to cover. Now, onto those perfect loaves of whole-wheat bread.

First, understand that it takes 18 - 24 hours from the start until you actually have something resembling a loaf of bread that can be eaten. Second, I can literally take a 10 minute walk to the Essex St. Market and buy a great, artisanal whole wheat bread for about $4 a loaf, which makes me think that it's a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, to make my own. And unless it's categorically better than Pain d'Avignon's, why bother?

Well, I'm a cook, and I'm a food geek, so why the hell not? Also, I had all the ingredients on hand.

I didn't take pictures of the process, only the results, but you start the night before with a biga (which is a starter, which is a pre-ferment, which is…well, plenty of topics about that) and also a soaker, which allows the whole-wheat flour to develop to its fullest potential.

The next morning, you actually put the dough together - and having a Kitchen Aid or other heavy-duty stand mixer comes in handy; otherwise, prepare for lots of kneading. Once the dough comes together, then it's only about 3 more hours till it's baked, and 2 more till it cools enough to cut into. Whew.

Now, before showing you the finished product…a mea culpa. Instead of the bread flour called for in the recipe, I mistakenly used all-purpose flour, and that may be the reason for one of the admittedly minor grievances I had with my loaves. So here's what the bread looked like after baking…

And then the loaf cut in half…

And finally, a close-up…

A couple of things. Take a look at that 'tunnel" up in the right-hand corner of the slice. Not good. Not terrible, but probably not something I should be proud of. Next, see how the "crumb," which is the interior texture of the loaf, gets tighter and tighter towards the bottom of the slice? That's called, I believe, pudding-y (jack?), or at least something like that. Whatever it's called, it's not what you're looking for. It might be due to the lower gluten content of the flour I used vs. bread flour. Taken altogether, not a bad first attempt, and when I made Significant Eater a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, she commented on how delicious the bread was .

But, if anyone has any suggestions as to what might've gone wrong - I'm all ears.

Although next time, I'll probably just head over to the market - it's so much easier.

[jackal10]

From looking at the pictures I'd guess it was over proved, and under baked. That would also explain the "flying crust".

Looks good tasting sandwich bread anyway.

What happens is the dough expands beyond its optimal point and collapses a bit but the crust has dried some and stays..The big hole in the middle is from a moulding fault (press harder when shaping), but doesn't matter

It also looks a but wet, from the way its curled over the tin, but proving less will also help that - dough gets less viscous as it proves.

AP flour is OK, and for some breads I prefer it, but it may take less water.

The stated protein content of whole wheat flour is not the gluten content, as the bran contains some protein.

I guess this is a single rise bread, that is having kneaded and formed it you put it straight in the tin and let it rise.

Next time cut the final rise time, by say an hour or even an hour and a half, and let it rise in an oiled plastic bag, such as a garbage bag.

A loaf will naturally get tighter towards the bottom, but if the crumb is wet and pudding like it may indicate baking at too high a temperature, or with not enough bottom heat.

Did you bake it on a preheated pizza stone or tiles?

Jack

Edited April 12, 2011 by jackal10 (log)

[weinoo]

Interesting points, Jack - and thanks for responding. Let me address some of the issues you have brought up.

First, I'm following the recipe and technique almost exactly as printed in the March/April issue of Cook's Illustrated.

Except for using a/p flour instead of bread flour. The recipe calls for using the bread flour in the biga (11 oz. flour to 8 oz. water) and the whole-wheat flour in the soaker (16.5 oz. flour to 16 oz. milk). I even used the brand of whole-wheat flour they suggest.

Once the dough is brought together, it's risen once at room temp for 45 minutes, stretched and folded and risen again. Then it's shaped and proofed until, as the directions state, it's risen about 1 inch over the lip of the pan.

Baked, in a preheated 400 degree oven on a stone. Once the bread is put in the oven the temperature is reduced to 350 degrees F.

The bread was baked until the internal temp reached 200F.

The big hole in the middle was definitely do to my shaping technique. And of course my slashing technique sucks.

I guess I'll have to try again - with less of a final proof and using bread flour. Or, I'll just go to market .

[jackal10]

That is a pretty wet dough - 24oz total water to 27.5oz total flour, about 87% hydration, almost a batter. That will give bigger holes, but wetter thick walled crumb.

Normal bread is in the 55% to 70% range. You might want to cut the water in the dough step down to 10oz - about 65% hydration, and stretch and fold twice say every 15 mins.

[Lisa Shock]

Once the dough is brought together, it's risen once at room temp for 45 minutes,

The recipe giving you times for steps may be part of the issue. Room temperature, humidity, and, to a lesser extent, barometric pressure can all affect fermentation. Even in a commercial kitchen with proof-boxes to give us controlled environments, we check the volume of the dough and use that as the indicator to move on to the next step.

I agree with jackal10, that shape is definitely an indicator of being over-proofed and under-baked. And, the hydration % is very high -it's like a ciabatta, not a sandwich-loaf type bread.

Some of your crumb structure is a result of the AP flour, it can make a bread a bit more muffin-like. But, depending on your region, AP flour can be very close to bread flour in gluten content. The only way to test it is to do a Hand Test, which is very approximate unless you're used to handling a lot of different flours regularly.

I think with a few changes you'll have a great loaf on your next try!

Edited April 12, 2011 by Lisa Shock (log)