[caedmyn]

I've been trying to make 100% WW bread using my mom's bread recipe. Hers comes up light and fluffy, but mine won't rise very well on the second rise and ends up pretty dense. She does add extra gluten when she makes bread...is it really necessary, or am I just an inept breadmaker?

 

[cristeen]

It is necessary. You can try using White Whole Wheat Flour instead of regular WW, you may have better luck. But adding gluten will make a big difference.

 

[Evenstar]

Yup, I'd always leave out the extra gluten and end up with short, dense loaves, too. But I still liked it that way

 

[artemis33]

I'm not super experienced with bread baking yet, but my best loaves have been either half white/half whole wheat flour or all whole wheat with extra gluten added.

 

[avendesora]

How much gluten do you add per loaf?

Aven

 

[Kari_mom]

I don't add gluten, I don't like the way it changes the texture. I do knead ww bread a good long time in my KitchenAid to make sure that the gluten already present is developed properly. A good book that will describe when your bread is thoroughly kneaded is Laurel's Bread Book.

 

[SevenVeils]

It is not necessary. I have never added gluten, and I use stone ground 100% ww flour. I don't even own white flour or gluten.

My bread is not heavy or dense. I use the sponge method though, as it makes a big difference in my experience.

Basically, you mix the liquid ingredients and add just enough flour to make a cake-batter like consistency. Cover and let that rise until it is very holey. Stir it down, add the rest of the flour and proceed as usual.

Make sure that you don't overknead the dough.