Talk to me about bread...

[Faither]

Hey everyone. I'm a very very newbie to the whole traditional/real food thing. I am currently about halfway through Real Food: What to Eat and Why. I have a couple of bread related questions. (I'm probably just not up to that part yet.)

What is the difference between sprouted wheat and whole wheat flour? And if you were looking for whole wheat flour with the germ and all, what brand would you purchase?

If anyone else can enlighten me to a good bread recipe, I'd appreciate it. I currently make a sour dough with a homemade starter, but there's something about having to aid oil to it that makes me uncomfortable. Any tips for what I can use instead?

TIA!

[Magelet]

Sprouted wheat flour is flour where the wheat berries are sprouted (like you might sprout beans, alfalfa seeds, etc), then dried, and ground into flour. Vs whole wheat flour where the wheatberries are ground into flour without sprouting.

To be perfectly honest, we rarely make sourdough or sprouted bread.  We do a lot of other stuff, and I think it's quite important, but it's just not about to happen right now, too much work or money, and so we focus on other things.

That said, to me, the best best best flour around (that I can get) is King Arthur. We often just get flour from the bulk bin, or bob's red mill to save money though.

[Lirazel]

I make sourdough bread and call it a day.  I feel the sourdough process soaks and ferments it enough that I don't also use sprouted or pre-soaked grains.  I do have a grain grinder, so I try to grind my wheat fresh when I can, but I don't always even do that.

[Brown Lioness]

Yea, ive been doing the sprouted flour thing (bought, not sprouting myself), but i think im gonna switch over to just sourdough and call it a day.

[jenniepaige]

Originally Posted by Lirazel 

I make sourdough bread and call it a day.  I feel the sourdough process soaks and ferments it enough that I don't also use sprouted or pre-soaked grains.  I do have a grain grinder, so I try to grind my wheat fresh when I can, but I don't always even do that.

From what I have read, sourdough is the best anyways. I also soak my flour and do a little home sprouting as well. The sprouted flour turns out mostly like white flour in the consistency and it's nice to have if you don't have time to soak or do the sourdough thing. I am getting my first sourdough starter from a friend and I've never done it before but I'm really looking forward to starting. I just LOVE the taste of sourdough. It's my favorite.
 

[Faither]

ok so then do you use the Sourdough recipe from Nourishing Traditions? I started the starter over the weekend but I'm a little intimidated by it. I already have a sour dough starter (uses yeast ). It uses oil. I noticed that the NT one doesn't. I substituted olive oil for veggie oil recently and that seems ok. But it's very dense. Does anyone have any suggestions for a different substitute? or a different recipe altogether?

[Lirazel]

I think just a basic flour and water starter is all you need.  Doesn't have to be NT if you don't like it (mine isn't).  My favorite sourdough bead recipe is this one.  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/whole-wheat-sourdough-sandwich-bread It makes a simple, tasty, soft loaf. 

[kitchensqueen]

There is nothing better than home made bread! I really struggled with bread baking until I got the River Cottage Bread Handbook. Now I can make almost any type of bread, with consistent results. Reading this book is like having your own personal artisan bread baker standing right next to you in the kitchen. I really recommend it to beginners especially, but also more advanced bakers - it's got something for everyone. The info and methodology in this book really clicked for me in a way that other books hadn't before.

And I agree on the enthusiasm for sourdough - that tangy flavor just can't be beat. Has anyone tried a potato starch sourdough starter? I've used bread flour and water in the past, but it wasn't quite what I was after.

[ltlmrs]

Originally Posted by Lirazel 

I think just a basic flour and water starter is all you need.  Doesn't have to be NT if you don't like it (mine isn't).  My favorite sourdough bead recipe is this one.  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/whole-wheat-sourdough-sandwich-bread It makes a simple, tasty, soft loaf. 

Thank you thank you for this recipe!  I've been using JMonkey's hearth bread recipe (adapted by someone else on the FreshLoaf for 100% spelt), but per DH's request was looking for a sandwich bread and this looks perfect. 
 

To the OP and Magelet, there is nothing easier than a no-knead whole wheat sourdough.  I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat for the moment (waiting for my grain mill to be back in stock!).  There are plenty of tutorials online, my favorite are the video tutorials on breadtopia.com and the instructions on the Fresh Loaf (which Lirazel linked to).  It takes a little bit of time to get the hang of it the first couple of times you bake the bread, but after that you'll be able to bake the bread in your sleep.