specter65
Assistant Cook
Hi all,
I'm new to this discussion forum but not new to cooking and baking. However, I have been struggling with baking whole wheat bread and can't seem to find where the process is breaking down.
To start with, I have been using an old ChefMate bread machine for making bread. I know it's probably not the best method but I've gotten good results with any other types of bread.. except whole wheat. What I tend to wind up with when attempting this bread is a short, dense loaf that never rises nearly as much as a white bread.
The recipes I've started with tend to have a ratio of 1:1 of bread flour and whole wheat flour. One friend told me that was way too much whole wheat and that I should cut back on it. Tonight I tried one of my favorite white bread recipes, dill bread, but decided to try and give it some whole grain nutrition by substituting part of the bread flour with whole wheat. The recipe called for 3 cups of bread flour so I used 2.5 cups and added .5 cups of whole wheat flour. Alas, it did it to me again by not rising very much.
I know the yeast is good because I can make the recipe with no whole wheat flour but adding some wheat bran for added fiber and it rises and bakes into a beautiful, tender loaf. So I don't know what to do. I want to be able to make whole wheat bread since that's all I ever buy at the store. I'm open to any suggestions you may have. I do have a kitchenaid mixer with which I could create the dough and bake it in the oven but have never made bread that way. But, I'm game to try almost anything once.
I'm new to this discussion forum but not new to cooking and baking. However, I have been struggling with baking whole wheat bread and can't seem to find where the process is breaking down.
To start with, I have been using an old ChefMate bread machine for making bread. I know it's probably not the best method but I've gotten good results with any other types of bread.. except whole wheat. What I tend to wind up with when attempting this bread is a short, dense loaf that never rises nearly as much as a white bread.
The recipes I've started with tend to have a ratio of 1:1 of bread flour and whole wheat flour. One friend told me that was way too much whole wheat and that I should cut back on it. Tonight I tried one of my favorite white bread recipes, dill bread, but decided to try and give it some whole grain nutrition by substituting part of the bread flour with whole wheat. The recipe called for 3 cups of bread flour so I used 2.5 cups and added .5 cups of whole wheat flour. Alas, it did it to me again by not rising very much.
I know the yeast is good because I can make the recipe with no whole wheat flour but adding some wheat bran for added fiber and it rises and bakes into a beautiful, tender loaf. So I don't know what to do. I want to be able to make whole wheat bread since that's all I ever buy at the store. I'm open to any suggestions you may have. I do have a kitchenaid mixer with which I could create the dough and bake it in the oven but have never made bread that way. But, I'm game to try almost anything once.
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