Whole Grain Sour Dough Bread

[hog warden]

It has taken a while, but I'm getting better at this.





I measure all the ingredients out by weight, but it's about 1/3 whole wheat (sometimes with some whole rye flour), plus some whole grain in the form of steel cut oats and/or cracked wheat. You could also include something like 5 grain cereals. Other than that, it's just flour, water and salt. From start to finish, it's about a 24 hour fermentation process. I've been taking some of these to family gatherings. They go fast.

For you diabetics who have had to give up bread, you might take a look at this. Sour dough of this type has a low glycemic index and doesn't seem to have the affect on blood sugar as most yeast breads do. Partially, because the yeast and bacteria in the sour dough starter break down a lot of the starch in the flour. There is no extra sugar for them to live on.

Thanks for looking.

[Fishawn]

Beautiful Bread Work

[Slanted88]

Nice...real nice! Love the smell of bread in the oven!

[Texas-Hunter]

Dammit, thats nice looking bread.. Looks very dense.. But I bet it's lite.

[hog warden]

Yup.......full of holes and is very light, moist and springy. Even a sharp serrated bread knife will bounce around on top of that firm, chewy crust. You just saw back and forth and eventually, it breaks through and lops off a slice.

I slice it about 2 to 3 hours out of the oven, then freeze it. Pull out a slice when you want a piece. No more store bought for me.

[WALLE]

HW - very nice bread! Love the spiral design you put on the one on the right.

Hey - thanks for the tip for diabetics. My mom is dealing with that, so I'm going to pass this on to her - appreciate that.

ON EDIT

Did a quick search and found this http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/lo-fi/t-29968.html

No wonder Bassman is such a tough o'l cuss!

[hog warden]

The benefits from the sour dough fermentation process are two fold.

First, with nothing for the yeast and bacteria to live on but flour, the bacteria start breaking down the starches in the flour into sugar, which the yeasts process into alcohol and CO2 (the leavening process). Essentially, the two mine a lot of the carbohydrate out of the flour.

Second, it is suspected that a lot of the remaining starches are fundamentally changed so that they are not easily digested. A long, slow digestion process takes place, if any. This is fundamentally different than yeasted breads, which are fed sugar in the recipe, so the remaining flour and sugar carbs are still present.

The additional benefit is that the byproducts of the fermentation process....the lactic acids produced by the bacteria, are what give the bread its sour flavor. So.....not only is it better for you, but tastes way better and has a much nicer texture. Put a loaf of that in front of a group of people with some fresh cracked black pepper over olive oil and its gone in nothing flat.

The whole grain flour in this bread were fresh ground whole wheat from a local grocery store. I put the sack under the grinder and grind it myself. It is not processed to remove the germ and bran like a sack of whole wheat flour is. Anything good the wheat came with is still in there. With a little extra bran coating the outside for good measure.

[Bassman]

That's some fine looking sourdough, HW. Thanks for the pics.

[Mark R]

The whole grain flour in this bread were fresh ground whole wheat from a local grocery store. I put the sack under the grinder and grind it myself. It is not processed to remove the germ and bran like a sack of whole wheat flour is. Anything good the wheat came with is still in there. With a little extra bran coating the outside for good measure.

I wish I could get flour like that here. What is the store? Is it a chain or local?
The best I can get is from a whole foods store or health food store.

[hog warden]

The chain is HyVee, which is based out of Iowa, and operates in the midwest. Check with any of your high end grocery stores. The ginder setup is located in the bulk foods / health foods / organic foods section of the store. If you just looked in the flour section of the regular store, you would never know it's there.

If you are hard core, buy yourself a grinder and do it at home. Ground fresh each time you need it.