Description

Americas Test Kitchen. Uses a biga or bread starter to help the bread. Use bread flour in the biga because it helps create gluten and structure which the wheat flour does not do as well. So the bread is really a mix of white / wheat.

Recommended whole wheat flour.
#1 King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour
#2 Hodgson Mills

Ingredients

Biga (left overnight)
2 cups bread flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp instant/rapid rise yeast

Soaker (left overnight)
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup wheat germ

Bread
Prepared Biga and Soaker
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp instant/rapid rise yeast
4 tsp table salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions

The Biga and soaker can sit for 8 to 24 hours.

Mix ingredients of the biga together. Make sure all the flour is nicely incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap. It will sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Usually made the day before you want to make the loaf of bread.

To make the soaker, whisk together ingredients and allow to soak and soften. This softens the whole wheat flour so it does not cut the gluten in the biga. Once mixed, knead it to make sure that all the wheat flour is fully combined. You can lightly flour the kneading surface if the dough to prevent the dough from sticking. Once kneaded, place back in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours.

The biga stays at room temperature while the soaker is in the refrigerator.

After the waiting period, add the soaker into a stand mixer. It helps since it is cold to break the dough into 1 inch pieces when putting it into the mixer. Add the biga which can just all be put in since it is softer. Add the rest of the bread ingredients. Mix on low for two minutes until it nice and combined and then mix on medium till its a nice and smooth round ball which can take about 8 minutes.

Remove from mixer onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand just a little bit to make sure its fully incorporated. Form it into a round ball and place into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 45 minutes.

Press down in the middle of the dough to deflate it. Then take your hand down one side of the bowl and pull the dough from one side to the other, this is called turning the dough. Continue this going around the bowl and a total of 8 times. Recover and let it rise for another 45 minutes.

Pull dough onto a well floured surface. Cut the dough as evenly as possible into two halves and press each into an 8x17 inch rectangle. Then roll the dough into a tight roll brushing off any flour as you roll it up. Pinch the seam closed when fully rolled up and place dough into loaf pan and press into corners. Cover the pans and let rise until they double in size which can take 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a baking stone in the middle rack. Have an empty pan below the stone that will hold 2 cups of boiling water which you will pour in right before putting the bread in the oven.

Remove cover and cut about a 1/4 inch slash down the tops. Place bread on stone and turn oven down to 350 for baking. They will bake for about 45 minutes and they should be swapped and rotated about halfway through baking. When done they should measure about 200 degrees with a thermometer.

Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan then remove and let cool completely for about 2 hours.