Lisa, bread baking is addictive although I don't do it as much anymore because we don't eat a ton of bread. Just wait until you decide you want to try a sourdough starter-I become completely obsessed and even asked my friend to "babysit" it when I went out of town. As far as baking it free form, I don't see any differences in instructions except scoring the loaf right before baking. There are instructions for hearth baking which include using a steam pan and baking stones/tiles. I don't have the patience for that so what I would probably do would be to place it on a baking stone covered with parchment and mist it lightly with water before baking. More experienced bakers will probably have better suggestions. Lisa, Instant yeast vs. regular yeast from the book: "instant yeast is recommended because it can be added directly to the dough. Active dry yeast will also work, but it must be hydrated in warm water before it is added." I believe instant yeast is the same thing as bread machine yeast. I buy my instant yeast in bulk packages from Sam's club. As for the water, I think the chlorine can be a factor so that's why they say to use spring or filtered water. Please let me know how yours turns out! It really was good bread-it's a little crumbly but not dry if that makes any sense and the flavor is awesome. No bitterness or heavy wheat taste. I don't know how much it affected the final flavor but I did use white wheat flour which is a lighter flour than traditional whole wheat. I really hope some of you guys try this and let us know how it turns out! Tracey

MacThayer - This is my first opportunity since Saturday to check in and I was so pleased to find this recipe. As it happens, I'm making Vermont Oatmeal Maple-Honey Bread from the KA cookbook as I write. I went out and bought a couple new bread pans before the weekend, and thought I ought to get right back to my bread baking attempts before I lost my enthusiasm. The recipe is an all-purpose/whole wheat combo with rolled oats. I've measured all my ingredients on a scale and tested my temps with a thermometer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.... The recipe you sent sounds wonderful, and thank you so much for the detailed tips. I will follow the recipe exactly and let you know how it turns out!

The crumb will be dense if you use a straight dough (aka direct dough) method for 100% whole wheat flour bread. This is the "modern" bread-making method designed for making bread quickly using processed bleached and unbleached flour, and is not a great choice for wholegrain breads. If this is your preferred method and you are making the bread by hand, make sure you do a good job mixing the flour into the liquid ingredients. I'd suggest a Danish Dough Whisk for this task, but a good wooden spoon will also work. Add the flour a little at a time and make sure it's mixed well before adding more flour. By mixing, I mean you beat it with the spoon 50 or more strokes before adding more flour. Add the flour until you don't have the strength to beat it anymore - you may have several hundred strokes invested in mixing. It's okay to take a rest during mixing. Letting the mixture sit will allow the dry ingredients to absorb moisture, so take a 5-minute rest if necessary. Taking care to mix the ingredients well will develop the gluten as well, and this is a step that is often rushed and done incorrectly. If you toss a shaggy mess of dough out to be kneaded, you haven't done a good job of mixing. You'll actually get better results with wholegrain flour if you use a sponge method. This is a method where the yeast, liquid and a portion of the flour are beaten together and allowed to sit anywhere from 30-minutes to overnight - experts say 2-1/2 hours is optimum. The bran has time to soften and soak up the liquid, and the gluten will also have time to develop without manipulation (kneading). Those sharp shards of bran will actually cut the gluten strands during kneading, resulting in short squatty loaves and dense crumb. There is also a substance in wheat germ called Glutathione that affects the gluten development. Adding an acid to the recipe (lemon juice, vinegar, ascorbic acid) will not only help prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down; but it will help repair gluten bonds. Soaking the flour in an acid medium (using whey, yogurt/kefir, buttermilk, vinegar or lemon juice) is another method. I suggest adding 1/8 t. ascorbic acid crystals per loaf of bread to the flour mixture (or half of a 250 mg vitamin C tablet crushed using two teaspoons, per 2-loaves). If you happen to have some Fruit Fresh on hand, you can use it as the acid ingredient. Only use an acid in bread made with baker's yeast, not naturally-leavened bread (those made with a starter - aka sourdough bread) because naturally-leavened breads are already acidic from fermentation. I've never found additional gluten necessary, even milling my own flour. The only time I added vital wheat gluten is if there was a very large percentage of low- or gluten-free flour in the recipe. I'd also suggest using a quality bread machine (and highly recommend a Zojirushi bread machine) for making dough. That's what they use in the King Arthur Test Kitchen for mixing and kneading bread dough, and they claim it's better than by-hand or with a stand mixer. Several years ago, King Arthur had pictures in their catalogue showing the difference between a 100% whole wheat recipe made in a stand mixer and the dough made in a Zojirushi Bread Machine and baked in a loaf pan. The one made in the Zo was about 1-inch taller than the same recipe made in a stand mixer. Stand mixers tend to aerate the dough, while the Zo does what it's designed to do, knead the dough. I'll include a link to Sue Greggs 2-Stage method, which includes more information. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Sue Gregg - 2-Stage Bread Method This post was edited by grainlady on Fri, Dec 6, 13 at 11:07

This recipe was given to me by a dear friend, Mildred, from Arkansas. She got a similar recipe from Pleasant Hill Grain but wasn't happy with it, and together we "tweaked" it. This recipe is designed for a Zojirushi Bread Machine (make the dough only - not baked in the bread machine), but it will work if you want to make it by-hand. We call it "Mildred Bread" at our home, and there is a 3x5 recipe card with the ingredients safely taped to the bread machine. It's our everyday bread. I make loaves, dinner rolls, burger buns, hot dog buns, cinnamon rolls, etc. all from this same dough. Sometimes I'll make one 1-pound or 1-1/2-pound loaf and use the remaining amount of dough for rolls, cinnamon rolls, burger buns, etc.... This recipe is a bit wordy with explanations (that's the teacher in me from teaching so many bread classes ;-), but once you've made it, you'll be able to follow a 3x5 recipe card with the ingredients listed on it, like I do. CAUTION: Not all bread machines are capable of mixing 100% whole wheat bread dough, so check your user's manual. Enjoy, -Grainlady 100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD Sponge: The night before, remove the bread machine pan and add the ingredients: 3/4 c. warm buttermilk (I use homemade kefir) 3/4 c. warm water 2\-1/2 c. freshly milled hard wheat (red or white) flour 1/4 t. ascorbic acid (if you don't have, or can't find, ascorbic acid, use Fruit Fresh \- but the acid is important!!!) 2 t. SAF\-Instant Yeast (I suggest SAF\-Instant Yeast and have never used anything else for this recipe) Place the pan into the bread machine and set on the Quick Dough setting and allow the ingredients to mix together well for a few minutes (you may need to scrape down any dry particles with a spatula), then turn the bread machine off (at the button, don't pull the plug or you risk damaging your bread machine computer). Shut the lid, and allow this mixture to set overnight. (If you are in a hurry, let the ingredients sponge for 1\-1/2 hours and then finish making the bread.) \*\*If making the recipe by hand, mix the ingredients well using a Danish Dough Whisk or a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl (using a shower cap, a Quick Cover, or a sheet of plastic wrap) and allow to sit on your counter at room temperature. If you have a dough\-rising bucket, use it for mixing the dough as well as for rising. After mixing in a dough\-rising bucket, snap on the lid and allow the sponge to sit on your counter. The next day (or anytime after 1\-1/2\-hours), remove the bread machine pan and add these ingredients to the sponge: 2 T. coconut oil (melted \- or use vegetable oil or melted butter) 2 T. honey or agave nectar 1 egg (I also add 1/3\-1/2 c. of chia seed gel, but that's optional.) On top of these ingredients in the bread machine pan add: 2\-1/4 c. freshly\-milled whole wheat flour 2 t. salt Place the pan back into the bread machine. Set bread machine to Quick Dough Cycle and start the machine. After it has been working for 5\-minutes, or so, be sure to check the hydration of the dough. You want a nice soft ball that is slightly sticky to\-the\-touch. It's better to err on the side of a wet dough than a stiff dry dough, so adjust the dough by adding more flour, or adding more water, if necessary. As soon as the dough has completed the kneading cycle (don't allow the dough to rise in the bread machine), turn the machine off. Remove the pan from the bread machine and dump the dough out onto a SILPAT (no flour necessary). With oiled hands so the dough doesn't stick, pat the dough into a dough\-rising bucket (I use a 2\-quart plastic food storage container that has graduated measurements on the side. I got the container at the local restaurant supply store, but you can find dough\-rising buckets at King Arthur Flour and elsewhere on\-line. I have them in three sizes for different amounts of dough.) Snap the lid on the dough\-rising bucket and allow it to rise until just under "double". (If the dough comes up to the 1\-quart line, it will be double when it reaches the 2\-quart line.) Check the rise after 20\-25\-minutes. It rises quickly if your kitchen is warm, and slower if your kitchen is cool. \*\*If making the dough by\-hand, add the 2 t. salt, 2 T. agave nectar (or honey) and egg to the sponge mixture, and then add enough of the 2\-1/4 c. of whole wheat flour to make a nice soft dough (add more flour than 2\-1/4 c., if necessary). Add the flour gradually \- a little at a time, and beat each addition of flour into the mixture before adding more. A Danish Dough Whisk is the perfect tool for this process (as well as stirring all batters and doughs), but a wooden spoon will also work well. If you do a good job of mixing, you won't need to spend as much time kneading. When making bread dough by\-hand, you need to spend a good deal of time beating the dough with the spoon or Danish Dough Whisk. You develop the gluten during the mixing, as well as during kneading. When you don't have the strength to mix it with a spoon anymore, place the dough on an oiled counter top and knead until the gluten has developed (6\-10 minutes). If you use an oiled counter top you won't have to add flour to the dough. By doing a good job of mixing, you will need only a little additional flour \- or none at all. If your dough is a shaggy sticky glob, you didn't do a good job of mixing. Oil your hands so they don't stick to the dough while handling it. Place dough in a dough\-rising bucket, snap on the lid, and allow the dough to rise until it's just below "double". Follow the remaining instructions... \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- When the dough has doubled in bulk, you will need to take the lid off the dough\-rising bucket and punch it down. To do that, oil your hand and make a fist. GENTLY drive your fist through the center of the dough. Now grab the outer edge of the dough and pull it into the center hole. Do this all the way around. This moves the cooler outside dough to the inside (you have essentially turned the dough inside\-out.) This method degasses the dough and also redistributes the yeast throughout the dough. Place the dough out onto a SILPAT (a silicone mat). Handle the dough with oiled hands \- no flour necessary. If you are making more than one loaf from this dough, now is the time to scale it (weigh it on a kitchen scale), and divide the dough into equal portions. Round each portion. You round the dough by cupping both hands around the dough ball while it sits on the counter and gently pull the dough from the top to the bottom, moving it slightly each time you pull it down, until you have a nice, smooth ball of dough. A smooth ball of dough will get the gluten strands running in one direction and will hold in the gasses in. Cover the dough (I use a bowl or my dough rising bucket, or a sheet of plastic wrap) and allow it to rest for 10\-15\-minutes. This allows the gluten strands to relax. To form a loaf... With oiled hands, pat the dough out on the Silpat until it's about 1\-inch thick and the width of the pan you are going to use. Roll the dough up and pinch the seam closed. Tuck the ends under the bottom. Place the dough, seam side down, into a greased loaf pan/s and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to double in bulk. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 25\-minutes, or until it's between 195\-200\-degrees F when you check it with an instant read thermometer.