How To Make Whole-Wheat Bread

Today I am going to show you how to make whole wheat bread step by step. If you can make bread you can survive almost any disaster. On Saturday, I went to get my haircut at a local hair salon. I love it when Jennifer is available to cut my hair because she lives in Hurricane, Utah and I will tell you one thing for sure, that town is prepared for any disaster. Let’s learn how to make whole-wheat bread, together!

How To Make Whole Wheat Bread

There is a large group of people who meet monthly, and I was lucky to be invited to one of their meetings several years ago. They had doctors come and show us how to suture cuts with different-sized suture tools. We did deep cuts and shallow cuts on pieces of rawhide-type material. The original plan was to some pigskin after a pig was slaughtered, but one of the doctors had a family emergency and was not able to bring the pig pieces.

Well, Jennifer asked me how my book sales were doing: Prepare Your Family for Survival. I told her I was blessed that the book sales were doing well. Then she mentioned her husband had been in New York when the terrorist attacks of 9-11 occurred. He was staying in a hotel when it happened.

As you remember, all the airlines were shut down and it was hard to get a rental car. Of course, communications were minimal, to say the least. The hotel where he was staying was totally out of food in three days and the people staying in the hotel were told they could help themselves to anything they could scrounge in the kitchen.

The roads were shut down for days. Jennifer said everyone needs to read my book to learn to be prepared for a disaster or an unforeseen emergency before it happens. Today, not next week.

After I drove home from the salon I decided I would make my whole wheat bread and take pictures to show the world step-by-step how to make it. I typically grind my wheat for a month ahead of time because then it takes me only 15 minutes to whip up a batch of bread dough using my Bosch bread mixer: Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine.

Whole Wheat Bread

Here’s my recipe if you need it: Whole-Wheat-Bread Recipe or my recipe for two people: Whole-Wheat-Bread-For-Two Recipe

I store my wheat in the freezer until I am ready to make bread. We store the dough enhancer, wheat gluten, salt, instant milk, and SAF instant yeast in the container shown above. The jars are half-pint regular mouth mason jars: Ball Canning Regular Mouth Half Pint Canning Jar 8 oz. 12-Count I store my lemon juice in the refrigerator as well.

The olive oil and honey I store in my pantry. All you need is a tablespoon, a 2/3 cup measuring cup, and a one-cup measuring cup as well. Turn the kitchen faucet on to get six cups of warm water and dump it in my Bosch bread mixer. I use these ingredients to make my eight loaves. I dump everything in order into the Bosch bread mixer.

My Whole Wheat Bread Ingredients

Please use fresh ingredients, my motto is when in doubt throw it out.

• 6 cups Warm Water
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons dough enhancer  L’Equip Dough Enhancer  I buy six at a time, typically, and store them in my freezer.
• 2 tablespoons wheat gluten  L’Equip Wheat Gluten  I buy six at a time too and store them in my freezer.
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons dry instant milk
• 2 tablespoons Saf Instant yeast Saf Instant Yeast, 1 Pound Pouch  I buy six at a time and store them in my freezer.
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

14 cups whole wheat flour (I start with 7 cups then I add the other 7 cups) I had to use 16 cups of whole wheat flour in Flagstaff, AZ. because of the altitude when I stayed with my daughter and her family and I made this bread recipe.

Instructions

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

I add the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Here again, if I need to add an additional 1/2 cup or so of whole wheat flour I add it until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Let the bread dough mix for ten minutes.

Please don’t leave your mixer unattended. Trust me, they have jumped off a counter at a class I taught. I had asked my helper to watch the mixer while I was getting the pans ready to bake and she didn’t realize I really meant to watch the mixer. I still get the giggles thinking about that class. Not the chipped bowl though.

This isn’t the fourth step, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to clean your Bosch mixer parts. I clean as I go with my bread making. Use hot water and a kitchen sprayer so you don’t find bread dough in the washing machine from using a wash rag to clean up the bread-making tools.

Fourth Step:

I tip the bread mixing bowl and use my hands to bring the dough onto my greased countertop. Use vegetable spray on the counter. Punch the bread dough down turn the edges into the center and push it around, I guess you could say. I flip the mound over and get ready to cut the dough.

Step Five:

I learned this trick at one of the stores where I used to teach how to make bread. No more pulling bread dough to make a loaf. Just giving you the heads-up here. I use this as a dough scraper: OXO Good Grips Multi-purpose stainless steel scraper & chopper I basically take the chunks I have cut and spray a little more vegetable on the counter to mold the dough pieces into a loaf shape with the smooth side up in the pans

Step Six:

I do not weigh my loaves, but I do try to make them equal in size. I use what turns out to be close to one-pound loaves. I cannot buy these stainless steel pans anywhere. These are taller on the sides than the ones I see at kitchen stores these days. I have had these pans for years. The closest pan I can find as far as the size is this one: Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Bread Pan, 7.75 Inch x 3.75 Inch x 2.75 Inch

Step Seven:

cover the pans with greased plastic wrap and let the loaves rise until they double the original size, give or take. You can use the thumbprint test if it stays down the bread is ready to bake.

Now you wait.

Step Eight:

is to remove the plastic and place the loaves in a preheated oven at (350°F) = 176°C) degrees for 38-30 minutes or until golden brown. It sounds like it takes forever to make bread, but it doesn’t, it takes me 15-20 minutes to assemble, mix for 10 minutes, and mold the loaves to let rise. After I bake my bread I use a baggie to cover my hand to spread butter over the hot loaves. Life is good if you can make bread.

How many loaves of bread does this recipe make?

This whole wheat bread recipe will make 8 loaves of bread. Each loaf weighs one pound.

Two (one-pound) Loaves Recipes

How should I freeze whole wheat bread?

I freeze my freshly ground wheat in these bags: L’Equip Zip Bags. I highly recommend the Komo Medium Mill from Pleasant Hill Grain. (It’s out of stock right now) It’s by far the best electric wheat/grain mill I have tried, and I have tried over a dozen electric brands. I have had a wheat grinder my entire married life.

Some are hand-crank models (my parents gave me one for Christmas one year). I have the GrainMaker hand crank and a few other electric ones. If you can grind wheat you can make bread with commercial yeast or natural yeast. I mixed my bread by hand in a very large silver bowl for years.

Can I eat this bread if I’m gluten-free?

If you have gluten issues you need a mill that will work with the grains your family can tolerate. I suggest you get a mill and then a bread maker. You can always mix bread by hand, I did for years. I learned it from my mother.

I have given all four of my daughters wheat grinders and bread mixers. The wheat grinders and bread makers last for years, so save the money you need for the ones with the quality and features you really want.

My daughter tried making whole wheat bread with a Kitchen Aid mixer and it died from overheating. I think if you only made one or two loaves in the largest 6-quart model it may work, but be careful. I only use my Kitchen Aid 6-quart mixer for cookies, cakes, etc.

I have taught classes for years on how to make bread and I have used 99.9% of all the electric bread mixers out there and the Bosch is my mixer of choice. So, let’s get started with my step-by-step pictures on how to make whole wheat bread.

Final Word