Whole Wheat Reproduction

Last week's whole wheat loaf was perfect.  The only problem was that it took a lot of adjustments along the way to get there.  This weeks goal is to reproduce that success in a more hands-off manner.  Last week's beginning recipe was

Whole Wheat, Take 5
Remove 4 oz. of starter from the fridge.  Add 4 oz. of white flour and 4 oz. of water.  Set in a warm place for about 6-8 hours until it doubles in size.  Then, add
Water	5 oz.
Whole wheat flour	2 cups
White flour	½ cup
Vital Gluten	1 Tbl
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	2 Tbl
Honey	¼ cup

I forgot to add the vital gluten, then I added ¼ cup of whole wheat flour and ¼ cup of white flour twice plus some more white flour to get the dough to the right consistency.

This week, I am eliminating the vital gluten on purpose, adding more flour and slightly less water to start.  My new recipe is

Whole Wheat, Take 6
Remove 4 oz. of starter from the fridge.  Add 4 oz. of white flour and 4 oz. of water.  Set in a warm place for about 6-8 hours until it doubles in size.  Then, add
Water	4 oz.
Whole wheat flour	2 ¼ cups
White flour	1  cup
Vital Gluten	none
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	2 Tbl
Honey	¼ cup

The dough ball looks pretty good during the first mixing process.  It is just a little bit sticky, but not so much that it gets stuck in the corner while the paddle is trying to knead it.

I peeked in a half an hour later and the dough had started to take on the blob shape that had me worried last week.  I tried pinching it, and it felt OK, so I'm not going to tinker with it.

After the second kneading cycle, it looked more like a ball.  I think it's going to work out.

It came out pretty well, but it seems to be yielding to peer pressure from the rye breads and donning the pompadour hairdo.