Vermont Whole Wheat Oat Bread

So my bread adventure continues. I attempted this bread earlier in the week and, though not a complete failure, it did not rise all that much and came out very dense.

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I went back to the drawing board so to speak and started reading the comments after the recipe on the KAF site and especially the responses of the staff trying to help with issues. They also have a blog at KAF and I found a bunch of tips on yeast breads. After some reading, I took some tips to heart and tried again.

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Though not perfect, it came out a lot better. See all the air bubbles? ooooooh. There is one air bubble that was a bit too big, But, otherwise not bad.

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I did stray from the original recipe with some items:

- We did not have any maple sugar, so I used light brown sugar.

- Nor did we have any honey. (I know how can we not have honey? Somebody has to take a ride up island and get some.) Anywho, I substituted B grade real maple syrup. This provided the maple taste that was missing because of the lack of maple sugar. B grade maple syrup is the best for baking. It’s the darkest and most flavorful.  I also use it on pancakes and waffles too because I like the strong flavor.

- Substituted 2 cups of bread flour for 2 cups of the all purpose flour. I thought this may help somehow. The first loaf had 4 cups all purpose.

- I could not find “instant yeast” on this island anywhere. So, I used quick yeast and let it proof for a while in the liquids before I added the flour. I also did not do this in the first loaf, I added the yeast and dry goods all together.

- I doubled the rising times and used the folding method to make the loaf, instead of the playdoh type mash and make a log method.

I hope my trials and tribulations help others to find the perfect loaf.The adventure continues…

Comments

  1. I use to have problems getting my bread to rise. I went to work at a Bakery and found out they use a moisture box. I found out I could use my oven as one. All you have to do is boil a pan of water. Pour it into a baking dish. Place in your oven on bottom rack, Then put your bread in the oven . Shut the door and let rise for an hour to an hour and 15 min. Use your oven light to check. Then bring it out knead again, then put in bread pan to rise in your oven a second time. With a new pan of boiling water. After it rises just take the pan of water out and turn oven on and cook. Starting with a cold oven will help it rise a little more as the oven heats up . The oven is a little warn any way due to the boiling water. Make sure to have a layer of four between your salt and yeast as you put it in the bowl. Salt right on top of the yeast will kill it.

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  2. I can smell that bread from here! We have been making bread too from the KAF site but I forgot the name of it. It is the one that can stay in the fridge for a week and you take sections of it when you want to bake it. That is a good and very forgiving recipe.

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  3. Beautiful! I love the look of the bread and am hungry right now! I am a new follower of yours and please visit me at Hibiscus House anytime. I love your chickens and everything!

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  4. Thanks for visiting.

    Michelle- That's great advice! I will definately try it next time and share my results.
    Cake Chick-That sounds like the super easy white bread. I tried that one last week and liked it alot.
    Hibiscuse House- Welcome! The bread toasted up nice and I have a feeling would make great french toast.

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