Thursday, November 26, 2009

Sprouted Wheat Bread - Technology Demonstrator

(This is Part 2 in my effort to make sprouted wheat bread. See my previous post for sprouting the wheat.)

Nowhere did anyone say anything about the grinding part. This isn't funny.

The food processor was fruitless. The wheat kernels remained virtually intact, stuck to the sides of the workbowl, save for their little hairy stems that collected in a gooey mash on top. One appliance into the sink.

The blender did a better job, but only in batches of about 1 cup. It took about 2 to 3 minutes of blending per cup, lowest speed, with lots of stops to wipe down the sides. The motor heated up, as did the dough. This was advantageous since the wheat was still cold from the refrigerator and it will rise better warmed.


Here's what it looked like after a few pulses in the blender. A lot better than the food processor, but still not gloppy enough (I don't think):


Here's what I went with. This is just wheat, no other ingredients, not even water:


The clean up. Not funny.
________
Photos: Bix

20 comments:

Perovskia said...

Aww. Sorry about the tough cleanup.

Will you use this? Or is it supposed to be a different texture? Hmm, what about a hand-masher, like you'd use for potatoes. Or is the purpose to have a 'blended' consistency? ..if you get what I'm trying to say.

Anonymous said...

ugh- and now it is supposed to be part of the making of bread dough? Or is there another purpose to all this work?

Anonymous said...

Looks good Bix. Is there enough gluten present to keep it together? Looks like they add wheat gluten to the alvarado bread I mentioned earlier:

Ingredients:
Sprouted Organic Whole Wheat Berries, Filtered Water, Organic Dates, Wheat Gluten, Sea Salt, Organic Raisins, Fresh Yeast, Soy Based Lecithin, Cultured Wheat.

Ellie

Bix said...

Sorry for not writing sooner. Just sitting down now.

I was pleased with the consistency, P. Very much like bread dough, except coarser.

You're right, Ellie. I could have used some gluten ... or something. I can see there's a learning curve for this, and I'm sitting on a steep part of the curve. The aroma when it was baking was so good! And the taste! But it was just too gloppy to be usable. It was better after sitting for a day or two, but I'm still working on it. I think I let it sprout too long, about 66 hours, well over the 48 max. One site said, "if the spouts are too old the bread will be gooey and never bake out." That was mine.

Something else I'm trying ... making my own yeast. After reading about commercial yeast (and not being able to get my hands on any of this organic Rapunzel Rize) I'm making it from soaking raisins.

Thanks for this ingredient list. Once I get a decent product, I'll try adding things. I'm thinking of some sprouted barley and lentils. The dates and raisins are a good idea. (I did add salt, honey, and a dash of active dry yeast.)

I'm having fun.

Leo said...

It kind of looks like oatmeal. What are the benefits of this again Bix? It's better for you because it has no flour and and flour is bad because it's bleached, right? ;) peace

Bix said...

It does look like oatmeal, doesn't it.

Why am I doing this? It's a hobby. I love to cook.

Unknown said...

kitchenaid grain mill?

http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/product_detail.asp?HDR=attachments&T1=KTA+KGMA

Bix said...

It's a good idea!

I was going with what I had handy. I may try a food grinder next.

It makes me wonder how people ground this stuff before electricity.

Bryan - oz4caster said...

I'm not a bread making expert, but I think some people dehydrate the wheat sprouts for storage and then grind as needed to make flour. Also, if you make a sour dough bread, you might not need to add any gluten for rising. I've read that the healthiest sour dough must sit out at least about 12 hours before being baked.

Ruby said...

Bix, you could also check out one of those high power blenders. There are two popular brands: BlendTec (of the "Will it Blend" videos) and VitaMix.

I have one and use it for fruit smoothies--just dump in fruit & water, and blend. It pulverizes everything into a fine pulp. It's also good for grinding grains, making nut butters, etc. It would make quick work of your sprouted wheat.

Perovskia said...

...what about commercial yeast?

Bix said...

I have newfound admiration for commercial sprouted wheat breads.

Bix said...

Bryan, thanks for that 12-hour bit. I'm going to try that next. Overnight.

Bix said...

Commercial yeast ... think factory farming on a small scale, including the part where we select or manipulate for one set of desirable genes and then monoculture them. And feed them GMOs.

Anonymous said...

I have been through this quite a bit. I ended up buying a manual meat grinder and it works quite well, but takes time to clean.

I also add yeast and enough flour to make a workable dough.

Another thing that gives it a great flavor is to leave it out for a few hours, then refrigerate overnight, then take it out for a few hours. I do this several times and it develops a very nice sourdough flavor.

Bix said...

Appreciate that last comment. I've done this 4 times so far and yes, the food/meat grinder works best. It was an attachment on my mixer that I never used. I say it works best - for me. But the dough I got from the blender was still better, made a lighter bread (if this can ever be described as "light.") Commercial bread must use a blade attached to a jet engine.

Other lessons: Yes, refrigerating overnight gives better flavor. Yeast helps. My raisin yeast works great. Baking it covered for the 1st hour gives better rise and better crust. Line any baking pans with parchment.

The part that's most time consuming is the grinding. Other than that, this is a great food to eat regularly. It's more like a quick bread (say, a moist pumpkin bread) than a light, crusty French or Italian loaf.

Bix said...

To Anonymous up there who mentioned they made this before...

If you see this, wanted to ask ... What temp do you bake it? And for how long?

I've been experimenting with temps from about 300 to 350. Haven't settled on one yet.

virginia said...

"It makes me wonder how people ground this stuff before electricity."

Extra wives.

Unknown said...

mortar and pestle - is one of the ways. there are many other versions of the same type. the pestle differs - in the sense a longer pestle of 6 ft high and a 2.5 inch width if you have to grind grains into flour. but if you have to make a paste - the pestle is 1.5 feet in length and widens at the base - it is heavy that you cannot pick it up and pestle is in constant contact with the base just magnify what u have on your kitchen counter 10 times. they grind rice , lentils, wheat etc- that is what we did at home before we had a grinder/mixer ! there are other types too - it depends on the grain that one has to do - great exercise for the arms and the shoulders - and stone ground - increased flavor - but time consuming

Bix said...

A mortar and pestle. That's the ticket. Not that I'm going to give up the electric food grinder, but... Our electricity goes out maybe 6 times a year. I often wondered how I'd grind coffee.

A 6 foot pestle!