Picked up 100 pounds of organic wheat

Boy does this bring back some fond memories. I'll spare ya'll the details, but MaryB I really need to be at your house when you take the loaves out of the oven. I'll bring the butter :bounce::bounce:

Mary,

I've got two recipes up in the bread section, and I'll be posting a third next week. If you want you can read about it in my blog, BDL's CFG. http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/blogs...ts-iii-iv.html IIRC, you said you were planning on doing the Pumpernickel recipe which is already up. Take a look at the Onion-Dill recipe as well. Both recipes have been getting very good reviews -- and, so far at least, no complaints. The Onion-Dill bread will make your house smell soooooo goooooooooooooooood. So very good. Even your hands smell great after kneading it.

Another bread I really like is for a type of bread sometimes called "Struan." It's an excellent toasting bread -- one of the very best really. The story of the bread is a little complicated. I haven't quite got to the bottom of it yet. Peter Reinhart was either sort of generally inspired by a bread he had in Scotland or Ireland or faithfully copied -- with a few minor alterations -- said bread. Reinhart published the recipe in his Brother Juniper's book, and in the Breadmaker's Apprentice as well -- with a few minor tweaks. I'll link you to an evolutionary version of the BA recipe: Struan Bread | The Fresh Loaf It's for one loaf, which in my opinion isn't worth baking. The recipe scales up well by simply doubling it.

If you want my tweaked version which uses slightly different ratios of the other grains, and handles the sweetener differently, I'll PM it. IIRC, it's at the "line" stage, more notes than actual recipe. Some people want a little more structure for baking, but I know you can handle it.

At some point, I'll make a few more tweaks, write it up and post it. But for now, no hurry.

Do you know what hardness your wheat is? I'd make a pain sur poolish or something else very simple to get a feel for it, before I started throwing in a lot of walnuts and whatnot. Which reminds me, I just finished writing a Walnut-Orange-Wheat bread recipe. Interested?

Hey! Wait a minute. Will you be making white, wheat or both types of flours?

BDL

PS If you do go to the blog, please leave a comment. I'm not fishing for compliments, just say what you think, then lie through your teeth and rate it "five stars." Same for everyone else that reads this, too.

MaryB-

Where did you get your wheat at that price? I would be very interested if they have a website. I also have a mill and make all our bread.

I usually order from Bob’s Red Mill; my mill is also a micronizer and I’m very careful to buy only wheat that has been through a careful cleaning process because, as I’m sure you probably know, if you get one little stone in your mill it will tear it up and the warranty does not cover that type of damage.

As for a recipe I use a straight dough method, I’m not much into fancy bread all I make are sandwich loaves that we eat on a daily basis. I use the same recipe to make hot dog and hamburger buns.

I use:

2 cups hot tap water
1/3 cup dry milk powder
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup Splenda (I like a sweeter dough but I don’t like to use too much sugar)
2 eggs
1/4 cup veg. oil
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten (I also order this from Bob’s Red Mill in a 25 pound bag that I keep in the freezer)
3 cups home ground flour (I use a fairly course grind which for my mill is still pretty fine)
4 teaspoons of instant yeast

Beat this up in my Kitchen Aid with the paddle until the gluten starts to develop then switch to the dough hook and kneed in enough flour, 1/4 cup at a time, to make a soft dough that gives you a good window pane test.

Proof till double.

Make your loaves and raise them.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or till the loaf reaches and internal temp of 185°

I have had trouble making a loaf that doesn’t get holes in it and have found if you twist the dough like you are wringing out a wet dish towel and then let the dough twist back on itself and seal the two ends. I get a loaf that I can raise fairly high before I put it in the oven and I don’t get any holes in my bread.

100% whole wheat bread doesn’t have much oven spring to it so you have to get the rise you want out of it before you stick it in the oven.

Another little tip you may want to look into is getting a spare oven. I know up North folks have basements but here in the South we usually don’t. I keep an oven in my garage and do all my baking out there so I don’t heat up my house. I got a very plain little stove at a resale shop for next to nothing, it bakes really well and is worth it’s weight in gold to me.

You’re very fortunate to have someone near you to buy wheat from; I live in rice farm country, no wheat.:(



Best of luck with your new toy, I know you are going to enjoy it. We love the bread made with the freshly ground wheat; but it's all I can do to keep up with my family making just sandwich bread. I make about 8 loaves a week.