Very Best 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Submitted by Chef TanyaW

"Every time I share it people ask for this recipe! The hands on time is about 35 minutes including cleanup. The time to make start to finish is about 2 1/2 hours. Enjoy! It is very close to Recipe #181106, with the addition of vital wheat gluten and dough enhancer which make it have better texture and cut-ability. I have adapted the other recipe for about 3 years now... but every now and then I get distracted and forget my additions since they aren't written in the recipe... so I'm adding this recipe for that reason. I did a thorough search and this recipe is unique even though close to a couple other recipes."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 11mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Yields: 4 loaves

ingredients

• 5 1⁄3 cups water, warm
• 1⁄4 cup yeast, scant
• 2⁄3 cup oil, may use coconut, olive, canola, vegetable
• 2⁄3 cup honey
• 1⁄4 cup molasses, may substitue 3T brown sugar with 1T water
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons salt, I use Real Salt
• 3 tablespoons dough enhancer
• 1⁄3 cup vital wheat gluten
• 15 cups whole wheat flour, much better if you grind your own wheat

directions

1. Mix water, yeast, oil, honey, and molasses.
2. While yeast is proofing (if not instant), grind flour.
3. I start adding 10 cups flour, salt, dough enhancer, and wheat gluten, while yeast is proofing (no wait necessary if using instant yeast). Mix until even consistency.
4. Add remaining flour minus about 2 cups.
5. Mix until the consistency is some what even. Then continue to slowly add flour 1/2 Cup at a time until the dough quits sticking to the sides of the bowl. It should be tacky to the touch. The trick is to have enough consistency to stand up with the least amount of flour so the bread will be fluffy. It will most likely be around 15 cups (I believe it may be less if you are in a lower altitude area). If the dough mixture isn't "cleaning" the sides of the mixer, it is too wet. I sometimes add up to one additional cup -- I think altitude and humidity influence how much is needed, as well as how packed the flour is (if I get my mill full and "packed" the recipe takes less flour -- hence the need to add a l/2 cup at the end of the ingredient addition process.
6. Mix on medium speed 5-7 minutes in Bosch or other heavy duty mixer.
7. Put dough in a greased bowl to rise for 30 minutes (will get about about double in size).
8. Shape loaves and put into 4 greased loaf pans, let rise another 30 minutes (I use a kitchen scale and my loaves are very close to 2 pounds each).
9. Put loaves in preheated 350 degree oven and bake 36 minutes.
10. I let it cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then 20 minutes on a rack.
11. I wrap in plastic wrap then store in a bread bag. We eat a lot of bread (toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch -- family of 6) so I am able to keep a couple of loaves out and a couple in the freezer. It's gone in a week. Enjoy!