[Stoves] Bread Question

[Erin Rasmussen]

Hi, I worked as a baker for a while, and can address some of the bread
questions.

> One puzzle.  Whole wheat flour doesn't rise as well as white, so 
> typically I make 50/50 white.  Yet I should think it would have as much 
> gluten (makes the bubbles) as white.  Any comments?

Light fluffy bread depends on long chains of gluten, whole wheat, and hand
milled flours often have enough bran (and other texture) to disrupt the
gluten chains. Smaller chains equal less stretchy stuff to capture the
bubbles made by the yeast, which makes for less rise. 

If you are really testing a bread oven for folks that make their own grains
into flour, it's a good idea to test with whole wheat. Other flours can be
used too, just use slightly more water, and allow for a longer, cooler
rising time.

50-100lbs of bread is at least 50 loaves, and a whole lot of kneading, I
found a good institutional bread formula of about that size on the web:
http://www.caima.net/Recipes3.htm

I recommend testing with a smaller recipe -- I can send you a good 2 loaf
one if you'd like. I make it into wheat bread by hand every couple of weeks,
and it works pretty well. 

Also -- you Can make flat breads on a grill or grate - it works well but
only for 'loaves' that are a couple of inches thick. For thick round loaves,
it works better to use a stone, or some kind of ceramic surface usually
dusted with cornmeal or some other coarse meal so that the bread doesn't
stick. Also, making a round loaf is a lot easier than trying to dig bread
out of a ceramic jar (I speak from experience).

Erin Rasmussen
erin at trmiles.com