Use The Food - Crusty Whole Wheat Italian Bread

What can I say but my wheat flours have languished in the bottom of my freezer too long. Basically since I first worked with spelt that is pretty much all I have used. It is so much easier on my digestion that I have been supremely unmotivated to work with wheat. As these things go when you are using lots and lots of a certain type of flour you tend to run low. Normally I would just reorder at this point but since I still have a whole lot of wheat sitting there I decided that it must get used first.

You will also notice this one uses commercial yeast rather than sourdough. Again it's an ingredient that has been sitting in the freezer way toooooooo long. Honestly this can of yeast is definitely over 3 years old and probably closer to 4. Keeping yeast in the freezer extends it's life but if it doesn't get used soon that yeast is going to be food waste.

The reason the yeast has been allowed to sit this long is twofold. I have a mental block about commercial yeast. I started cooking bread with commercial yeast and due to the fact I was a noob with no knowledgeable backup my results where inconsistent to say the least. I won't say I produced bricks because it was all edible but let's just say that the results were toward the dense side. I moved to sourdough, learned a lot about bread and the way it works from a group of highly knowledgeable people and my results improved massively... so although I know it isn't rational part of me doesn't like working with commercial yeast. The second reason is although it's not a huge issue commercial yeast isn't the greatest for my digestion.

The thing is that in a pinch I don't hesitate to buy wheat breads with commercial yeast. It all of a sudden became clear to me that by and large it was just excuses. Since using commercial yeast takes the start to finish bread making process to around 2 hrs it didn't make sense to be buying something that I really should have been making myself when I didn't have time to make sourdough.

I am not going to say this bread was a revelation for me, it wasn't. Commercial yeast breads are only ever likely to be a compromise for me in terms of taste, but I did it. The result was as good as the expensive brands I buy from the store so I guess I will get to the bottom of that can of yeast eventually.

Crusty Whole Wheat Italian Bread

1 C water
2 tsp raw sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
210g white wheat flour
210g whole wheat flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
2tsp olive oil (optional but useful if you need the bread to keep for more than a few hours)

• In body temperature water put yeast, sugar and ginger. Stand for 5 min until yeast is foamy (this is extremely important if you are working with older yeast that may or may not be still active)
• In your mixer bowl add your flours and salt then your wet mix. Allow the mixer to kneed for 5 minutes, or until satiny and smooth.
• Put your dough into an oiled bowl and leave to rise until doubled in bulk, aprox 1 hr
• Hand kneed down dough, and halve.
• Shape each loaf.
• Place on baking sheet seam side down and leave to rise for another 45min (until doubled)
• Heat oven to 250C.
  
• When oven is at temperature slash loves, spray with water then sprinkle with some whole wheat flour.
• Put loaves in the oven and reduce temperature to 200C cook for 15-20min or until loaves are browned and crisp