Spent Grain and Herb Whole-Wheat Bread Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade whole wheat bread so dense? ›

The reason why whole wheat loaves end up so dense is because whole wheat flour has very little gluten as compared to white all-purpose flour. Gluten is important for giving the dough – and final loaves – structure. Without it, loaves tend to end up flat and dense.

For one thing, bran and germ soak up water, which can dry out a loaf and make it crumbly–and largely for this reason, bakers cannot simply substitute whole grain for white. Rather, recipes must be entirely recomposed.

If you want to throw a little spent grain into a traditional recipe, replace no more than ¼ cup per cup of conventional flour and add ¼ more leavener (baking powder/baking soda, skip this for yeast).

“Refined flour lacks all of those wonderful nutrients and high-starch foods like white bread can quickly raise your blood sugar levels, putting you at risk for diseases like diabetes,” she says. “That's why you should consider nothing but the best: 100% whole wheat or whole-grain bread.”

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

This is a heavy whole grain dough, so it requires a good amount of kneading to help produce a more elastic structure. When kneading, avoid adding too much flour; a slightly tacky and soft dough is OK.

The lesser gluten and the more amount of fat and liquid in recipe, the softer it becomes. Making bread with cake flour (low gluten content) and increasing proportion of milk and butter at some degree are the way to archive its softness.

Because yeast has to work harder to make whole wheat flour rise, we'll use slightly more yeast in this dough compared to my regular pizza dough recipe. You need 1 Tablespoon (8.5g).

Dense or heavy bread can be caused by not kneading the dough enough, not letting the dough rise enough, or using too much flour. To fix this issue: try kneading the dough for longer or allowing it to rise for a longer period. You can also try adding a little more liquid to the dough or using a higher protein flour.

Place your sheet tray into a 200 °F (93 °C) oven and let the grain dry out over the course of the next 6–8 hours. Every hour or so I take the trays out of the oven and stir up the spent grain on the tray with a spatula to ensure it dries evenly. I also rotate my pans in the oven every time I stir the spent grains.

Does spent grain go bad? ›

A drawback to brewery spent grains is that they must be used quickly or they will go bad and lose their nutritional value. They will begin to smell after only a day of warm weather.

Spent grain is the solid fraction remaining after wort removal. It is nutritionally rich, composed of fibers—mainly hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin—proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals, and must be managed properly.

The healthiest bread money can buy is 100% whole grain bread, but truthfully, any bread can be part of a healthy diet. “It comes down to just looking at how it fits into what you're eating on a regular basis and what you're eating at that meal or snack,” says Jill Weisenberger, a registered dietitian nutritionist.

In fact, studies have proved that people who eat 8 to 12 slices of bread a day still lose weight as long as their total diet is low in calories. The trick is keeping yourself from slathering that hearty bread with butter or margarine. Use a little olive oil instead for a taste treat and your heart health.

“Whole wheat bread is healthier than multigrain bread. Because 100 per cent whole wheat bread has the whole grain which has nutrients like B vitamins, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and magnesium intact in every slice,” Dr Patel said.

Lack of gas and fermentation that makes the dough aerate results in dense and heavy bread. In these cases, it is either necessary to allow the dough to be proof longer or move it to the warmer room.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.