I’m having enough fun with this wheat bread recipe I see it kind of like the training wheels of bread-baking. I just finished my third try, and, as usual, there were problems. But each time I learn something new and I play around with what I’ve got.
The original recipe calls for two cups of all-purpose flour and yeast, then warming up 1 3/4 cups of water with a third of a cup of brown sugar, two teaspoons of salt, and three tablespoons of shortening (for which I substitute olive oil). You warm that mixture to about 120 degrees, add it to the flour, and beat with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Then add two cups of wheat flour and as much of a cup and a half of all-purpose flour as you can manage with a spoon until you can turn it out and knead it.
Well, I’ve been doing some reading. And I’m not sure I want to lug out that electric mixer every time (and the beaters are hard to clean anyway), so I figure, why not just do it all in a single bowl. And on top of that, I kind of like honey. Why use the brown sugar when I can use honey?
So I go with the single bowl. And I decide to dissolve my honey, oil, and salt into the water anyway before adding it to the flour and yeast. And I bought some strong flour at the Korean market instead of the commissary’s all-purpose stuff. So I figure it’s gonna be a bit different.
And to tell you the truth, it was a bit frustrating getting the flour and water right. I expected a bit of stickiness, but this was ridiculous. I think some of it was the honey — I mean, I basically added an extra quarter cup of liquid, so I had to compensate with more flour.
But the result was passable as far as the first rise. It was still a little hard to work with once I punched it down, but it made it into the pan and then into the oven an hour later. The second rise was a little anemic if you ask me, but once it got into the oven, it actually filled in a bit more.
Now…my oven is still a little tricky, even after I figured out that a convection oven runs hotter than a conventional. The thing is, there’s a heating element in the ceiling of the oven, and the bottom rotates beneath that. I’ve always hated that, because if you bake something large enough, there’s a portion that sits under that element most of the time while the rest of what you’re baking comes around under it every rotation. It makes for one big hotspot, and so you must be mindful.
Unfortunately, I thought covering the loaf at 20 minutes of a 45-minute bake was good enough. At about 15 minutes, Micha tells me the top is burnt. I can’t believe it, but she was right. The top was already a dark, dark brown (not solid black, but dark enough to call overdone). So I covered it in foil and let it go to 45 minutes, then gave it an extra 5 when it didn’t sound done. And in the end, the top didn’t get any darker, but it was still probably 5 minutes short on the baking time. I speculate that using the honey may have changed things a bit. We’ll see next time. Also, doing a single loaf means it sits higher…and closer to that element. Anyway, I’ve got ideas…
As to the taste? Well, this time I was patient enough to let it cool…most of the way. I’ve seen that this is supposed to complete the baking process and allow the steam that’s within the loaf to dissipate. And I truly believe the resulting loaf is actually better. As far as structure, nominally so. Softness? Lighter and softer. Taste? Better. The dough was a bit wetter, which I think made for a steamier bake. And I used a touch more salt too, which may have helped. It was delicious with peanut butter and honey. And the overall crust was softer too. Which isn’t necessarily what Micha likes, but it’s what I’m looking for right now.
Still didn’t come out looking that good, but the taste is improving. Next time I’m going to try a couple more different things, and then the training wheels can come off…
