Peter Reinhart’s 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread


Even though I had failed at my last attempt at 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, I was sold on the idea of a sponge, or at least of a slower, longer fermentation period in making whole wheat bread. The King Arthur method of orange juice and potato breads seemed like short cuts and gimmicks, which I personally would rather avoid. To me, the extra effort and time are worth it when the end product is of superior quality. So I continued my search for a whole wheat-baking book that was not only dedicated to whole wheat but was extensive in its instructions and methods. Eventually I stumbled upon Peter Reinhart’s book. Though daunting I found the detailed explanation of both his history (including successes and failures in baking) and the basic science and methodology of baking informative and reassuring, even enjoyable. And after studying this recipe over and over, deciding on the options that I would follow and which paths I would take, I set off on my first attempt at his version of whole wheat sandwich bread utilizing his “delayed fermentation” method.

The method takes 2 days to complete; the initial day is used preparing two pre-doughs. One is simply flour, a dairy product and salt; the other is either a starter (similar to a sourdough starter) or a biga (he defines this as basically flour water and yeast). These pre-doughs then sit over night and are used in the final mix the next day (and finally baked that day as well). This two-day method was developed from his experiences with a French baker who makes, arguably, the best baguettes in Paris… so needless to say I trusted it. For my loaf, I used the biga instead of a starter, seeing as I haven’t made a starter yet. To compensate for the loss of sourness I used yogurt in my soaker as suggested in the directions. The only major variation from the directions was my use of Active Dry Yeast instead of Instant. But it was this variation that became my undoing. Stupidly I forgot to account for the excess water that I added in the final mixing stage when I activated the yeast. Since I was generous with the water, I over saturated the two pre-doughs and additional flour and had to add double the amount of flour as prescribed for the final day (about 7 Tablespoons more). Though this may not sound like a lot, it did throw off the proportionality of all other ingredients.

Surprisingly, or not, the final result was still very good. Though dense (I am blaming the excess flour) it still had the texture of sandwich bread. On top of this, it tasted good, mild in flavor but still hardy and full, again what you would expect from sandwich bread. And it did make excellent sandwiches when sliced to a thickness comparable to rye bread. All in all, I was very pleased with the outcome and am looking forward to my next attempt at this bread.

Difficulty: average.

from: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor.

Tips:
1) If using active dry yeast, be careful with the amount of water you are adding
2) Read the first few chapters before attempting the bread, the process will make a lot more sense if you do so.
3) Make sure you plan out 2 days you can work on this, they don’t have to be consecutive, but it is a multi day process.

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