Best Stone Ground Whole Wheat Bread Poolish Soaker Recipes

STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Steps:

• Stir together yeast, water, oil, and honey in a bowl to dissolve the yeast.
• Next add salt and whole wheat flour.
• Mix well, then add white flour.
• Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic (you can never'over-knead' the dough, sometimes I even punch the dough; it helps relieve stress!).
• Cover with a towel and let raise 20 minutes.
• Punch down and shape into a round loaf, place on greased cookie sheet, cover, and let raise until double (about 1 hour).
• Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Enjoy!

WHOLE-WHEAT BREAD

Steps:

• The day before making the bread, make the soaker and the poolish. For the soaker, mix together the coarse whole-wheat flour and the water in a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and leave it at room temperature until the next day. For the poolish, mix together the whole-wheat flour and yeast, then stir in the water to make a thick paste. Stir only until all the flour is hydrated, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, or until it just begins to bubble. Then put it in the refrigerator overnight.
• The next day remove the poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough to take off the chill. In a mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), stir together the whole-wheat flour, salt, and yeast. Then add the poolish and the soaker, as well as the honey, oil, and egg. Stir with a large metal spoon (or mix on low speed for about 1 minute with the paddle attachment) until the dough forms a ball, adding more water or flour if needed.
• Sprinkle whole-wheat flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Add flour if necessary and knead until the dough forms a firm, supple dough. This will take 10 to 15 minutes by hand, slightly less by machine. The dough should be tacky but not sticky. It should pass the windowpane test (page 58) and register 77° to 81°F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (they should weigh about 18 ounces each). Shape them into sandwich loaves, as shown on page 81. Lightly oil two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans and place the loaves in the pans. Mist the tops with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
• Proof at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough nearly doubles in size and is cresting above the lip of the pans.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Just before baking, you may choose to garnish the loaves by misting the tops with water and sprinkling on sesame seeds.
• Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes, then rotate them 180 degrees, if necessary, for even baking. Continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes longer. The finished bread should register between 185° and 190°F at the center and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. The loaves should be golden brown all around and firm on the sides as well as on the top and bottom. If they are soft and squishy on the sides, return them to the pans and continue baking until done.
• When the loaves have finished baking, remove them immediately from the pans and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before slicing or serving.
• BREAD PROFILE
• Enriched, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast
• DAYS TO MAKE: 2
• Day 1: 2 to 4 hours soaker and poolish
• Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill poolish; 15 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 45 to 60 minutes baking
• Commentary
• Coarse flour weighs slightly less per cup than regular grind flour because it doesn't pack as tightly and contains more air. This explains why the coarse flour is only 4.25 ounces, while the regular whole-wheat flour used in the rest of the formula weighs 4.5 ounces per cup.
• The bread will develop a more open crumb if the flour is high in protein. The strongest flour comes from hard spring wheat, which can often be found at natural food markets that offer a variety of flours (see also Resources, page 291). You may also substitute regular whole-wheat flour from the supermarket.
• The use of oil and/or egg is offered as an option to tenderize the bread. If you use either of them, you will need to add additional flour during the final mixing. Let the dough determine how much flour to add, as you knead it to a firm, slightly tacky consistency. Another way to tenderize the dough is to use milk or buttermilk instead of water when making the poolish.
• BAKER'S PERCENTAGE FORMULA
• Whole-Wheat Bread %
• (Soaker)
• Whole-wheat flour: 100%
• Water: 141%
• Total: 241%
• WHOLE-WHEAT POOLISH
• Whole-wheat flour: 100%
• Instant yeast: .41%
• Water: 88.9%
• Total: 189.3%
• (Dough)
• Soaker: 114%
• Whole-wheat poolish: 142%
• Whole-wheat flour: 100%
• Salt: 3.7%
• Instant yeast: 1.2%
• Honey: 16.7%
• Vegetable oil: 5.6%
• Egg: 18.3%
• Total: 401.5%

STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT BREAD - POOLISH & SOAKER RECIPE

Steps:

• %{color: red}The night before making bread, make the soaker and poolish% *1.* SOAKER * Mix together the coarse grains and water in bowl. * Cover with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature until the next day. POOLISH * Mix together the whole-wheat flour and yeast, then stir in water to make a thick paste. Stir only until the flour is hydrated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. Then refrigerate overnight. *2.* The next day remove Poolish from refrigerate one hour before making the dough. *3.* * In Cuisinart bowl, wisk together the ** whole-wheat flour ** salt ** dry milk powder ** gluten flour ** and yeast. * Then add the poolish and the soaker, honey and oil. * With the paddle attachment blend until the dough forms a ball, adding more water or flour if needed. * Change to the dough hook. Start out slow, but use speed 4.5 for most of the blending time. * Blend for 12 - 15 minutes, until dough passes the windowpane test and reaches 77⁰ to 81⁰F. * Lightly oil a large bowl, roll the dough to coat, cover with cloth. *4.* Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until double. _A simple way to test if your dough has risen enough is to lightly press two fingertips about one-half inch into the dough.The dough is ready if an indention remains when fingertips are removed._ Use Proofing Box in colder weather, place a cup of very hot water in box.(watch carefully) *5.* Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Lightly oil two 11cm x 25cm loaf pans and place loaves in pans. Mist tops with pam spray and loosley cover with cloth. *6.* Proof at room temperature for about 90 minutes. Use Proffing Box in colder weather, place a cup of very hot water in box.(watch carefully) *7.* Preheat upper oven to convection 350⁰F. Just before baking, you may garnish the loaves by misting the tops with water and sprinkling on sesame seeds. *8.* Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes. Bread should be 185⁰ to 190⁰F at the center and should sound hollow. *9.* Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack for 1 hour before serving.