Taking the HEAVY out of bread!

A long time ago, I promised to share some of my bread baking secrets! This blog has been sorely neglected and I was recently asked how to make a "fluffy" loaf of bread with freshly milled wheat flour. To seasoned bread bakers, these tips may not be anything new. But, they have really helped me have more success in baking bread, especially with freshly milled wheat flour. I should mention that I finally got myself a mill! An electric Nutri-Mill for now. One day I would still like to have a stone mill.

-First, I use this recipe most often for my bread (whether white or whole wheat). I have adapted it just a little. I use honey (1/3 cup) instead of white sugar as much as I can. And, I usually double the recipe and freeze 2 shaped dough loaves (before the second rise) so that I can thaw and bake them within a couple of days.
-I add 1/4 cup of gluten flour to give my fresh milled whole wheat flour bread more RISING POWER.
-I never use as much flour as the recipe calls for. My dough is never stiff. It's usually a little flimsy. But, this makes my fresh milled whole wheat bread more fluffy.
-I knead my dough a little after the first rise to shape my loaves. If I roll out the dough and then roll up the dough into a "loaf" shape, I find that this takes the "umph" out of the second rise...but more so when baking with fresh milled flour.
-I give my dough plenty of rising time (both times around). I make sure there are no drafts. However, the opposite is true. If it's too warm, I find this exhausts the yeast. I read about a tip in one of my cook books. To rise your dough, place a bowl of hot steaming water on the bottom rack of your oven (make sure your oven is turned OFF) and place your bowl with the dough (covered with a cloth) on the top rack. It creates optimal rising conditions both for the dough and the loaves. However, I find the dough rises MUCH faster and again, if I leave it too long, my yeast becomes exhausted or worse, my loaves end up collapsing.

I hope this helps! If anyone is actually visiting this semi-dormant blog (sorry) and has more tips on getting a fluffy loaf of fresh milled whole wheat bread, please post a comment.

Thanks!