I was so pleased to finally produce a successful loaf of (almost) no-knead bread on new year's day that I decided to make another loaf during the weekend. I picked up a bag of King Arthur whole wheat flour at the grocery store on Saturday and I decided to make the wheat version of the Cook's Illustrated almost no-knead recipe. The wheat recipe is not 100% whole grain, but is one-third whole wheat flour and two-thirds white flour. The recipe also calls for a couple tablespoons of honey. The bread baking gods were smiling on me again, because I was able to produce a beautiful, tasty loaf with an amazing crust. You could definitely tell by the bread's taste and the color of the interior that this loaf included whole wheat flour, and it was particularly delicious with cherry preserves. Yum!
As I was opening up the new bag of whole wheat flour to mix up the almost no-knead dough, I couldn't help noticing a recipe printed on the back of the flour bag: No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It was so easy (put all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix at high speed for three minutes, let rise in a loaf pan for 90 minutes, bake) that I simply couldn't resist making a loaf of that as well. The recipe is supposed to be made in a 8 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, but my pans are slightly larger. As noted on the King Arthur Bakers' Banter blog entry on this recipe, the bread will not rise as high when baked in a larger pan.
I was a little skeptical when I scraped the messy pile of dough from the mixing bowl into the greased loaf pan to rise, because it just looked like a mess. After 90 minutes in the pan, the dough had risen significantly, but still looked horrible (unlike the pictures on the KA blog, my loaf had not smoothed out after rising). The version of the recipe printed on the flour bag says to bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes, until the bread has an internal temperature of 195 degrees. I checked the bread at 30 minutes and the internal temperature was only 137. I inserted a digital instant read thermometer with an alarm and let the bread bake until it reached 195 -- which took a total of 45 minutes. I wish I had read the online version of the recipe, which clearly (and correctly) states that you need to bake this bread for 40-45 minutes to reach 195.
This loaf looked pretty good, although I have to say that the taste was pretty blah. Tom called it hippie bread -- it tasted healthy and the flavor was completely flat. You can definitely tell that this bread is made from 100% whole grain, because it's dense. I think this bread is fine to use as a delivery system for dips or jam or peanut butter, but by itself, it's pretty bland and boring. I'm guessing that at the texture would be improved if I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour instead. However, I'm still going to put this one in the win column, because you just can't expect something fluffy and light with 100% whole grain. It was yeasted bread, it looked nice, and I made it. That's good enough for a beginning bread baker like me... At least for now!
Recipes:
As I was opening up the new bag of whole wheat flour to mix up the almost no-knead dough, I couldn't help noticing a recipe printed on the back of the flour bag: No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It was so easy (put all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix at high speed for three minutes, let rise in a loaf pan for 90 minutes, bake) that I simply couldn't resist making a loaf of that as well. The recipe is supposed to be made in a 8 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, but my pans are slightly larger. As noted on the King Arthur Bakers' Banter blog entry on this recipe, the bread will not rise as high when baked in a larger pan.I was a little skeptical when I scraped the messy pile of dough from the mixing bowl into the greased loaf pan to rise, because it just looked like a mess. After 90 minutes in the pan, the dough had risen significantly, but still looked horrible (unlike the pictures on the KA blog, my loaf had not smoothed out after rising). The version of the recipe printed on the flour bag says to bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes, until the bread has an internal temperature of 195 degrees. I checked the bread at 30 minutes and the internal temperature was only 137. I inserted a digital instant read thermometer with an alarm and let the bread bake until it reached 195 -- which took a total of 45 minutes. I wish I had read the online version of the recipe, which clearly (and correctly) states that you need to bake this bread for 40-45 minutes to reach 195.
This loaf looked pretty good, although I have to say that the taste was pretty blah. Tom called it hippie bread -- it tasted healthy and the flavor was completely flat. You can definitely tell that this bread is made from 100% whole grain, because it's dense. I think this bread is fine to use as a delivery system for dips or jam or peanut butter, but by itself, it's pretty bland and boring. I'm guessing that at the texture would be improved if I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour instead. However, I'm still going to put this one in the win column, because you just can't expect something fluffy and light with 100% whole grain. It was yeasted bread, it looked nice, and I made it. That's good enough for a beginning bread baker like me... At least for now!Recipes:
- "Almost No-Knead Bread" from the January/February 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated.
- "No-Knead 100% Whole Grain Bread" from King Arthur Flour.
- "2010: The Year of Yeasted Breads?," January 3, 2010.
- "The Third Time's the Charm, Sort Of," August 10, 2010.
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