I had so much fun making yogurt that I decided to try making 100% whole wheat bread in my Zojirushi bread maker. So far, my results have been sort of mediocre. The bread is dense, heavy, sour (not in a good way) and flat tasting. Yesterday, I went to a health food store and bought lecithin and vitamin C crystals to use as dough conditioners. We'll see....

So, have any of you been sucessful with the whole grain bread? Clue me in!

How cool would it be to make our own yogurt and ww bread?

I always find make 100% whole grain breads difficult. They are by nature denser than white bread. I usually add some unbleached white flour and vital wheat gluten flour to help condition the dough. But I've never had it turn sour or flat tasting. Did you add a little salt? I don't own a bread maker and usually do it by hand or use my mixer with dough hook for just a couple/three loaves. Whole wheat bread requires a longer kneading than white. The lecithin and VC should help some.

Yes, I use gluten and salt. I don't have a mixer that will work dough.

My gosh, I just noticed that you are the same as I am, statistically! I even did some substitute teaching, in my time.

try the king arthur flour whole wheat or 100% white whole wheat. They sell it in a lot of stores now.

You might need to let it rise longer too

My most recent bread was a cracked wheat oatmeal bread, in which I used whole wheat flour and added wheat gluten. I might break down and use half whole wheat / half white next time, but overall it was a good loaf. I never finish bread in the bread machine. Especially with multi-grain bread, you usually need to let them rise longer. I tend to use just the dough cycle and then let it rise longer (for both rises).

Ha, ha, I wish my ticker was the same as yours. Can't wait to get down a few more pounds. Maybe kneading bread by hand can be counted as a good workout.

I started my journey in January 2007. Not exactly a speed record, but living proof that I could stick with something for this long.

I just took a loaf of ww bread out of my machine. It looks and smells wonderful and it is gigantic. If it tastes good and is repeatable, I will post the recipe. I used gluten, Vitamin C, and Lecithin. The particular recipe I used called for a lot of salt and 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar along with the other usual ingredients.

I make 100% ww bread at home all the time! I use a good quality stone ground flour and I add 2T of vital wheat gluten per loaf. My bread always turns out nice and fluffy. I don't use dough conditioners. I've never needed them.

I mix my bread in either my kitchenaid or by hand. If I do it by hand I make sure and knead the dough (at least) 10 minutes (sometimes longer.)

I wonder if maybe you had bad yeast or rancid flour for your bread to have bad sour taste? But then lots of other factors come into play when working with yeast doughs. Altitude, humidity, and quality of ingredients can all contribute to success or failure. Some of my best recipes that work great where I live now (dry area, 1500-ish feet), failed miserably when I lived in a humid area that was at sea level. Depending on your circumstances, recipes might need to be tweaked.

I'm not saying this is true in your case, but I find that people in general are so used to store bought bread that they don't know what homemade bread should taste like. You can't expect it to turn out like store bought. I think homemade bread tastes much better and you have the benefit of not having all the preservatives.

Have fun making bread! I think it's a lot of fun!

The loaf I made last night was really good. I have done a fair amount of bread making, but I never tried the 100% whole wheat before. Probably I only needed the gluten and not the dough conditioners.

Next time, I am going to divide the recipe into two pieces and make two small loaves. The one I made following the recipe was really, really big. I like the look of the bread made by hand better than the machine, but if I am pressed for time the machine is great.

I just don't know what made my last couple of efforts taste so sour. Maybe it was the flour. I opened a new bag last night. I am also working with a recently purchased bag of yeast. I wasn't expecting it to taste like Roman Meal Bread (my DH's favorite). I like a fairly heavy bread and I really like knowing what is in it!

Now I need to strain some of my homemade yogurt and spread it on my ww bread. I actually spread a little real butter on my warm bread last night, but that must not become a habit. I can count on half a hand the number of times I have used butter in the last year.

Mmmmm, your bread sounds delicious. I love homemade bread and I've been making it for years. It's only been the last couple of years that my bread making has become spasmodic. I used to make 12 loaves at a time when the boys were younger and I was working. I'd freeze it and have enough for two or three weeks, depending on what went in the school lunches. I think I'll make some this week end.

That's a good idea about freezing the bread. I freeze everything else, so why not my bread?

Oh yeah my whole wheat is yummy yummy and not dense at all. I dont even have to use the whole wheat setting on my bread machine and it rises plenty.

Base recipe

13 oz water
3.75 cups stoneground whole wheat flour
2 T dry milk
1.5t salt
2T oil
2 T sugar
1.5 T Gluten
1T honey
3t yeast

I found the base recipe a little ...boring but I wanted to make sure it rose well first. Now I have been adding

1/2 cup steel cut oats (uncooked) to the flour.

then 1/2 way through the first knead cycle I add 1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds (not roasted or salted)
yumm

and most recent loaf added 1/4 cup whole flaxseeds with the sunflower seeds.

yumm yumm yummm

tooo yummmm

The most recent loaf was 1.5 slices shorter than the base recipe so I might use the whole wheat setting with that next time for a little extra rise, or add a touch more gluten.

Thanks, Ennay. I was wondering about adding sunflower seeds, so now I know. I like that "Masters Best" bread that you buy in the store for over $4 for a small loaf. It has seeds in it and on it.

When you add the steel cut oats, do you cut back on the flour? I have a bag of flax seed meal. Do you think I could add some of that along with the oats?

I managed to slice and freeze the rest of the loaf I made the other night. I just can't leave it alone. Ordinarily, I don't eat or crave a lot of bread. It is just the novelty of making it myself, I guess.

Gail - I did not cut back the flour with the oats. The bread gets a little more dense, which is why you want to make sure your base recipe rises well. But steel cut oats wont soften completely during baking, they add some little nutty texture bits. I think the oats and the seeds add a sweetness to the bread that plain whole wheat just doesnt have.

Mmmm...freshed baked bread sounds heavenly. I'll have to give it a try some day. I read somewhere (I forget where) that if you use some of the whey from your yogurt and add it to your bread dough it adds extra protein which will make it fluffier. Just a thought for you yogurt AND bread makers =)