Jack, those look absolutely perfect to me, good job! Nothing quite like homemade bread, is there?

Annie

They're BEAUTEOUS!!! Give me an end, still warm, with plenty of butter!!

Breads look great to me Jack, well done! I'm sure they taste as good as they look. I'll take a slice, toasted with apricot jam. MMMM NancyLouise

Beautiful! I need to get some started, but I still have some of Annt's baggette dough in the fridge, left over from making pizza the other day. I'll get some whole wheat going tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration.

Sally

Well done! But my eye for judging foods at County and State Fairs sees a little room for improvement.

The break in the crust top of the upper loaf means it probably wasn't prepared properly for the pan. There was probably a tear in the dough, or just below the surface of the dough, when you formed the loaf, and that caused it to shred during rising. There was an absence of a swirl to the crumb, meaning you didn't roll the dough before placing it in the pan. It didn't shred much on the sides, and that's a good thing, showing it wasn't under- or over-proofed. Very nice.

The dough was "tight" if you didn't allow it to rest before forming the loaves.

-After you punch the dough down, scale it (weigh on a kitchen scale) into equal portions.

-Round each portion. This is done by holding the ball of dough in both hands on a flat surface (bread board or counter - I form dough on my Silpat so no bench flour is necessary and clean-up is quick and easy) and gently pull the dough down from the top to the bottom, then move the dough each time (a quick motion once you get the hang of "rounding" dough), until you have smoothed the dough all around the ball.

This helps the gluten strands go in one direction forming a nice tight ball which will help hold in the gasses. A jagged edge where the dough was cut is going to allow the gasses to escape.

-Cover each portion (I use my dough-rising bucket, but plastic wrap or a bowl will also work) and allow the dough to rest for 10-15 minutes before forming into a loaf. This allows the gluten strands to relax. Now the dough won't spring back (be tight) when you form your loaf.

-To form a loaf: With oiled hands, pat the dough out on the Silpat, or floured bread board, or a floured or oiled counter. You can also use a rolling pin, but that's one more thing you have to wash.... This will help expel air bubbles (which was probably the reason for the crust separation in the lower loaf). Now roll it up in a tight roll and pinch the seam shut. Turn the roll seam-side down and tuck the ends under. This link has a pretty good tutorial - http://breadbaking.about.com/od/beginnerbasics/ss/makeloaf.htm

Try pre-warming (not pre-heating) your oven by turning on the oven light ONLY, instead of lighting the oven. Just turn the light on before you start to make your bread. Now it will maintain a constant temperature. If you pre-heat your oven for a few minutes, the temperature will quickly fall because the oven never got warm enough to maintain that temperature (the metal sides cool quickly). I have to sit my dough as far from the light as possible for optimal temperature - it's too hot close to the light. Optimal rising temperature is around 80-95-degrees F., but there is nothing wrong with a long, cool rise either. You develop more flavor if the temperature is cooler - it just takes a little longer to rise.

Rule of thumb: The dough ball accounts for approximately 1/3 of the finished size of the loaf. You allow the dough to nearly double (just under double is best for 100% whole wheat bread dough since it doesn't have the extensibility unbleached/bleached flour does) and that accounts for approximately 2/3 of the finished size. The dough will continue to rise (oven-spring) in the oven until the yeast begins to die off when it reaches 140-degrees F., and that accounts for the last 1/3 of the loaf size.

The starches begin to gelatinize when the internal temperature reaches between 140-160-degrees F. The loaf is baked to an internal temperature between 195-210-degrees F.

Cool to an internal temperature of 90-100-degrees F; and then wrap it in plastic wrap or a plastic bread bag (bag sized for loaves). The bread will dry out quickly if you cool it below 90-100-degrees F.

I use this same recipe for making cinnamon rolls, burger and hot dog buns and dinner/sandwich rolls.

-Grainlady

I'm re-posting the link to an excellent video showing how to form bread into loaves very quickly on just your work surface. This is the method I use now for forming bread that will go into loaf pans or baguettes/boules, which I make less frequently.

Teresa

Here is a link that might be useful: Bread Shaping from The Back Home Bakery

Beautiful bread!!
Love making homemade bread.

Linda

Thanks all for the comments, encouragements, suggestions, etc. I knew there was room for improvement and everyone on this forum is so helpful. I have been lurking here for sometime but I am retired now and have time to try some new adventures. I love bread but have not had much success except for basic white from time to time. Thanks again.

Jack

Beautiful loaves Festus!

Teresa NC, I came across that sites tutorials this morning. He's amazing.

He no longer posts his recipes, as he sells the breads now.

I agree with the others, The loaves look really good. I've used grainlady's whole wheat bread recipe several times, and It makes really tasty bread. I think it's the overnight soak that makes a difference -- the whole wheat tastes good and the texture is wonderful.

Granilady & Teresa, thanks for the info & links regarding shaping dough for panned breads. I make so many rolls, buns, and free-form breadstuffs that I don't have much practice with panned breads. The link and info will give me a future resource, so thanks again.

The weather here is going to be beastly cold here for the next couple of days...good bread-baking weather. Please someone, post the recipe.

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.

Thanks for posting that recipe, Grainlady. I was thinking of asking for it, but cilantro beat me to it. Thanks for that too, Cilantro.

Sally

I am about to try another batch of whole wheat bread but I am the only one who eats it so it takes me awhile to eat 2 loaves. Is there a stage where I can freeze half of the dough for a week or so or is it better to bake both loaves and then freeze one of those?

The link to bread shaping that Teresa posted was very informative and it appears they don't roll out the dough as grainlady does but it appears the result is about the same. More or less turning the dough inside out.

Practice, practice, practice.

I bake 2-4 loaves of bread each time. My honey whole wheat recipe makes 2 loaves, and my white bread recipe makes 4.

I always bake them, cool completely. slice and freeze. I snap off whatever slices I want while frozen, then put it back in the freezer again.

Thank you for posting the recipe, Grainlady. I ended up taking down the Christmas tree today; tomorrow is supposed to be another cold one so I'll prolly make bread. (The pupsters & parrots are very happy to have the tree out of the way so they can have 'their' window back.)

Heh, Sally. I knew I couldn't the only one wanting GL's recipe. :)

I was happy to see this thread.

I love all things bread! I am going to try this recipe today.
I love the detailed steps and the reason behind them.