Grandpa's Fresh Ground Whole Wheaat Bread

Total Ingredients 

6 cups kernel wheat

 2 tsp. instant dry yeast 

3 cups water 

1 tbsp salt 

¼ cup powdered milk 

½ cup olive or canola oil

 ½ cup raw sugar or molasses

 I grind the flour and make the poolish immediately. A poolish is a fermented dough that allows the enzymes to break out the sugars trapped in the starches and develop acidity to balance out the grassy flavor of the bran and germ.

 I measure the total flour by whole kernel wheat rather than cups of ground flour because a cup of flour varies greatly depending on how it is ground, packed, etc. I grind 6 cups of kernel wheat, measured carefully and consistently, which produces about 8.5 cups of ground flour. 

Poolish Put 4 cups flour in a 6-quart mixer bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of instant dry yeast. Sift remaining flour through a fine sieve, putting the sifted flour into sealable container and adding the bran and germ that doesn’t go through the sieve into the flour and yeast in the mixing bowl. Seal sifted flour and store at room temperature. 

Add 3 cups of luke-warm water to the mixing bowl, mix together enough to hydrate the flour. It should be a soft, coarse paste. Cover the bowl securely. (Allowing anything to enter from the room atmosphere will cause sourdough, which you don’t want.) Let sit at room temperature at least 4 hours. I often grind the flour and make the poolish in the evening leaving the poolish at room temperature overnight and finishing in the morning. 

Dough: Uncover the sifted flour and add ¼ cup powdered dry milk, 1 teaspoon of instant yeast and a tablespoon of salt. Uncover the poolish and add 1/2 cup oil (I prefer olive oil or canola oil), and 1/2 cup raw sugar (you can use an equal amount of molasses if you prefer, but I like raw sugar). Add flour mix to poolish and mix with dough hook just until all flour is wetted, scrapping down the sides to get all the flour. Dough should be sticky and show no inclination to ball.

 Let stand, covered, 10 minutes to allow new flour to completely absorb the moisture. Restart mixer and knead for 10 minutes. Dough should ball fairly quickly(within 2 or 3 minutes), but still be sticky. If it does not ball, it is too wet—add a few tablespoons of flour. If it isn’t sticky, it is too dry--carefully add a tablespoon plus or minus of water. Cover bowl and let dough rise to about double. 

While dough is rising, oil three (3), 1.1/2 pound loaf pans (8.1/2”x4.1/2”x2.5/8”), and oil counter space or board. After deflating, scrape dough from mixer bowl and divide into 3 equal pieces. I recommend using a good kitchen scale and measuring out 1 lb. 8 ounces per loaf. Hands must be oiled to handle dough. Shape dough and place in pans. Cover pans with flour-sack cloth or place in proofer and let rise. When the dough is cresting the lip of the pan, place in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. 

If you use dark, steel pans, reduce the temperature to 335 degrees. When removed from the pan, bread should be firm on all sides and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. Place on a rack and cool about 1 hour before cutting (If you can wait that long). Enjoy. Total Ingredients 6 cups kernel wheat 2 tsp. instant dry yeast 3 cups water 1 tbsp salt ¼ cup powdered milk ½ cup olive or canola oil ½ cup raw sugar or molasses