100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

The Very Best Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

modified from fivehearthome.com

This 100% whole wheat bread stays unbelievably soft and fresh for days!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (I grind my own hard white wheat)
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
4 teaspoons quick-rise yeast
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2 1/2 cups very warm water (120°F to 130°F)
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1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled) OR olive oil
1/3 cup honey
4 teaspoons lemon juice
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2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

Directions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together first three ingredients. Add water and mix for one minute, scraping down bowl halfway through if necessary. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

2. Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Knead dough in mixer using dough hook for 10 to 15 minutes or until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and feels smooth rather than sticky. (With my  Bosch on the 2nd of 3 speeds, I knead for about 10 minutes.)

3.  Let rise in the bowl for 25-30 minutes. Dump dough onto a well-oiled surface and punch down. Roll tightly into a fairly long log. Cut log in half and press each loaf into a greased loaf pan.

4. Preheat oven to lukewarm by setting it to 350°F and then turning it back off after exactly 1 minute. Place pans in warm oven and allow to rise for 20 to 40 minutes, or until dough is nicely domed above the tops of the pans (about 1/2"). Without removing pans from the oven, turn on oven to 350°F and set timer for 30 minutes. With an instant read thermometer, check bread after 20 minutes. Baked bread should be about 195 F. If the bread is not done but the crust is getting too brown, cover with foil and continue baking. Once baked, immediately remove hot bread from pans and cool on rack.

Tips, Tricks, & Variations


Kneading and rising times are approximate and depend on many different variables. The dough must be
kneaded until it pulls away from the bowl and is no longer sticky, even if that takes longer than 10 to 15
minutes. And the dough should be allowed to rise in the pans until it is as high as you want your final
bread to be.

http://fivehearthome.com/2013/07/08/the-very-best-homemade-whole-wheat-bread-plus-free-printable-kitchen-labels/

Here is a fantastic commentary on this recipe, and bread making in general, provided by my friend, Jake. He's my baking idol.

Gluten is an important part of this recipe. If you don't have any, don't make this bread because it won't come out the same. Whole wheat has a lower gluten content than bread flour that you buy in the store. Gluten is a protein that helps the bread stretch and contain the carbon dioxide that the yeast makes. This is one of the reasons the bread has such good crumb–it stretches to retain those CO2 bubbles and you get a light, airy sandwich-style crumb that is rarely found in 100% wheat bread.

Delayed salt method: some breads are made by just tossing everything together and kneading it until it's fully mixed. The reason you add water, yeast, and flour then stop is twofold: it helps hydrate some of the flour (whole wheat flour is slower to absorb moisture), and it lets the yeast get started multiplying. Salt is bad for yeast, so adding the salt later gives the yeast a head start

(By the way, old-school bakers and recipes always tell you to put your yeast in warm water and add a bit of sugar, then wait 10 minutes and see if it's working. Modern packaging and processing of yeast just doesn't require this anymore. Do this if you have doubts about your yeast, but otherwise you don't need to.)

The oil (coconut or vegetable) adds fats that make the bread taste better. I'm not sure if there's another purpose, but I'm happy with this one.

The acidity of lemon juice will help take the edge off the bitterness of whole wheat. You can substitute any other acidic juice here with little difference. I often use orange juice instead. Lime or pineapple would work just as well. There isn't enough to contribute to flavor so it doesn't really matter what you use.

Rising and proofing: yeast breads are made in a work-rest-work-rest method. You mix things together, then let the dough rest. You knead it, then let it rest. You shape it, then let it rest, then bake it. This method has been developed over centuries and works reliably. Kneading develops and stretches gluten strands, but it will also develop on its own if left long enough. Resting lets the proteins relax so you can repeat the process. This is what makes the dough "pull away" from the bowl–as you knead the bread it pulls together. When you put it in a bowl and let it rise, it falls down to the form of the bowl as it relaxes and also starts puffing up as the yeast builds CO2. You punch this down and shape it to redistribute nutrients and yeast around the dough for the proofing stage.

To clarify, rising is the first resting stage and proofing is the second rest that comes after shaping and right before baking.

As long as your kitchen isn't prone to being cold, you can let it rise and proof at room temperature. As yeast makes CO2 it also creates alcohol which contributes to a lot of flavor in the bread as it bakes out. You could put the pans with the proofing bread in your refrigerator overnight and it would still rise albeit much more slowly. Gluten will still continue to develop. This can lend a lot more flavor to your bread, and is a common sourdough technique. It's also good to know if you suddenly find yourself without the time to stick around and wait for your bread to rise then bake.

Kneading, rising, and proofing times are all subjective. When the dough loses its shaggy appearance and becomes silky it's ready to rise. This takes about five minutes max in my mixer–the dough hook is scientifically designed for rapid kneading, and it works great (I use a Kitchenaid). Rising stage should double your dough. When it's doubled in size you're done, whether it took ten minutes or four hours. Proofing is a little tougher; some doughs have more "oven spring" than others. This recipe doesn't spring up at all when baking, so you stop proofing when it reaches the height you want it at, just as the recipe says.

Anyway, that's my two-cent contribution. It comes from years of experimentation, tons of personal research, and a bunch of America's Test Kitchen knowledge.