Re: whole wheat breads

[Guest guest]

> From my bread-making days, I believe you need a little white flour to

> lighten up the whole wheat or rye.

I learned a lot when I got my first bread machine, and one of those things

was to add one tablespoon of vital wheat gluten for every cup of whole wheat

flour, because that flour *doesn't* have the gluten, the stuff that lightens

the loaf up. Making the bread half white, half ww would help some, but I

found the gluten really does make the loaf almost as fluffy as white bread.

But for muffins and other baked goods, I agree that it's best for lightness

to use about half and half, but many people can't tolerate even that little

bit of white flour and have to bake with only whole wheat flours, like those

on diets that follow the glycemic index (Atkins, Sugar Busters, South Beach,

for example) and those who insist on only whole grains, like Ornish,

McDougall, and Pritkin.

Oh, how I miss light and fluffy banana muffins! Last week I was tempted to

make up a batch of the peanut butter and jelly muffins I used to make. Oh,

they were so good, but so sugary!

Sue in NJ

who's going far enough off plan tonight with a delivery pizza

[Guest guest]

Sue,

Where do you get vital wheat gluten? I'm tempted to try your pizza dough

recipe. I don't have a bread maker but I have the dough hooks for my mixer.

Ann

[Guest guest]

> Where do you get vital wheat gluten?

I buy it in bulk by mail order, because it's the same stuff I make my deitan

out of, but I see the small boxes of it in the bakery product aisle by the

baking powder, soda, and canned powdered buttermilk.

I'm tempted to try your pizza dough

> recipe. I don't have a bread maker but I have the dough hooks for my

mixer.

I've made it that way, too, when I had something else in my breadmaker. If

you like a flatter crust, you can skip the gluten, but Ed and I like a nice

puffy crust, I think some places call it Sicilian style, so I like to use

the gluten for the extra loft.

Sue in NJ

pizza-hound

[Guest guest]

Thanks Sue. Can you give me some tips to make it without a bread maker?

Knead it with mixer, put it bowl to let rise, punch it down, let rise again,

put on pan? I've made bread just a few times with my great aunt. She died

22 years ago so you get an idea of my bread making prowess. What about

the semolina flour? What is it. I know that pasta is made from semolina

but I've never made pasta. I'm still not convinced that it's ok for Sugar

Busters.

Ann