100% WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD

This year as we continue to be sequestered in our home as new varients of COVID emerge, I decided to read and bake through Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor. There are more than 55 recipes in his book, but not all are for bread. He has recipes for crackers, bagels, pitas, focaccias, and more. But our 2021 focus will be to perfect his bread recipes for our higher altitude (4500 feet / 1370 meters).

I will try each bread recipe and record my findings on this blog. If I get around to his other non-bread recipes, that will be a bonus for later in the year. It is the new techniques Reinhart and his volunteer team of home bakers have uncovered to release more flavor, that is this post’s main subject.

NOTE: And by the way, many of you will have noticed that most of the posts from Abigail’s Oven Blog have been moved to this site where we share recipes, work to understand the Science of Sourdough, discover baking tools, best practices, and learn new techniques. The continued focus of the abigailsoven.com site is the sales for our Real Sourdough Bread and other products.

This first recipe includes some new and unusual steps that Reinhart and his volunteer testers developed to release more flavor from whole wheat flour in bread recipes. He does this using a variety of pre-doughs that include sourdough starters, mashes, soakers, and bigas.

This foundational recipe, as Reinhart calls it, used both a soaker and a biga. And since he uses this recipe as a template for the other 100% whole grain breads in his book, it will be important to learn and use his methods before moving on to future recipes. But you can read more about his methods in greater detail as the master formula found in chapter 3 of Whole Grain Breads. However, the essentials, he says are listed here so that once you’re comfortable with this recipe you will be able to understand the process for future ones.

He says this recipe:

It is an enriched, medium soft bread dough, that uses delayed fermentation and will take at least two days to make. And because he says that “you can substitute an equal amount of wild yeast starter for the biga,” this recipe leavened with just active sourdough starter for . Because we focus on sourdough on this site, our biga will not use baker’s yeast and we will add more flour to Reinhart’s final dough recipe, to accommodate the 100% hydration in our sourdough starter.

Active Sourdough Starter Directions

1. Mix ¼ cup / 57 g of sourdough starter with
2. ½ cup +3 Tbsps / 165 g of spring water until dissolved
3. Then mix in 1½ cups +1 Tbsp / 200 g of whole wheat flour until well combined
4. Allow to rise for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days

Final Dough Ingredients

• Use all the soaker (15.14 ounces/ 429 grams)
• Use 1¾ cups / 398 g of active sourdough starter
• 7 tablespoons / 56.5 grams whole wheat flour
• ⅝ teaspoon / 5 grams salt
• 2¼ tablespoons / 42.5 grams) honey or agave nectar
  or 3 tablespoons /42.5 grams) sugar or brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon / 14 grams) unsalted butter, melted,
  or vegetable oil
  extra whole wheat flour for adjustments

Final Dough Directions

1. Using a metal dough scraper, Reinhart explains, “chop the soaker and the biga into 12 smaller pieces.:
2. “Sprinkle each with some of the extra flour to keep the pieces from sticking back to each other,” when they are placed into your mixing bowl
3. “If mixing by hand, combine the soaker and biga pieces,” explains Reinhart, “in a bowl with all of the other ingredients except the extra flour and stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for about 2 minutes, until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed and integrated into the dough. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky; if not, add some of the extra flour or more water as needed.
   OR
   “If you are using a stand mixer, start with the paddle attachment until the pre-dough pieces and all of the other ingredients (except the extra flour) have been well combined. Mix on slow speed for 1 minute to bring the ingredients together into a ball, adding some of the extra flour or add water as needed until soft and slightly sticky.
   “Switch to the dough hook [and] increase the speed to medium-low, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes; you may have to scrape down the bowl a couple of times with a rubber spatula or plastic pastry scraper. The pieces of soaker and starter should become cohesive and assimilated into each other… The dough hook doesn’t always grab the entire mass of dough, so additional mixing time is necessary to ensure that the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, with no dry or lumpy spots.”
4. Dust a work surface with flour, then toss the dough in the flour to coat. Knead by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes while you prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
5. Resume kneading the dough for 1 minute to strengthen the gluten and make any final flour or water adjustments. The dough should have strength and pass the windowpane test, yet still feel soft, supple, and very tacky. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl, rolling to coat with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, until it is about 1½ times its original size.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form it into either a loaf pan shape or a freestanding bâtard (see Techniques for Forming Traditional Bread Shapes for shaping instructions). For loaf pan bread, place the dough in a greased 4 by 8½ -inch bread pan. For a bâtard, place it on a proofing cloth or on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and, if you like, dust it with flour. Mist the top of the dough with pan spray (optional), cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, until it is about 1½ times its original size.
7. Reinhart suggests that we, “Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C), and, if baking a freestanding loaf, prepare the oven for hearth baking, including a steam pan (steaming is optional for a sandwich loaf). When the dough is ready to bake, place it in the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C), and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is a rich brown on all sides, sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and registers at least 195°F (91°C) in the center.”
   But even after the additional 30 minutes of baking time, by bread was only 180°F internally. Because of our higher altitude, when I bake again, I will keep the oven at 465°F for the first 20 minutes and 425°F for the following 20 minutes, and then let the bread “cure” in the oven as it cools.
8. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 1 hour before serving.