February 3, 2010

Vinegar - A Bread Secret?

I ran out of gluten about a month ago and haven't had a chance to visit the health food store and buy more. I decided to try the whole wheat bread recipe that I have been using but add a tablesopoon of vinegar to the dough instead of gluten. My mom's bun recipe inspired this idea. We are convinced that the vinegar in the bun recipe helps them puff up and turn out light and fluffy. Well, I have had beautiful results with the 100% whole wheat loaf too when vinegar is added! Gluten has become a short-lived ingredient in my household now. I probably won't invest in it again. I'd rather save the calories anyways. The calorie count is enormous when added to doughs!
The bread pictured above was made from Rogers course whole wheat flour. I haven't purchased this brand of flour before, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. It is very rustic and full of flavor. Yum!


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6 comments:

Becky Perez said...

I am and ameture bread maker. I tried my second pizza crust today. I used 3 1/2 cups of flour (half was 100% whole wheat), 1 packet of yeast, 1 cup of water, 2 tsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. It turned out pretty well after I had baked it, but before then it was so hard and it was difficult to get it to stick all together in one ball. Does that just mean it needs more water or is that normal?

Thanks!
becky

The Barbers said...

hi Becky, I think you have too much flour. My recipe is very similar except I only 2 1/2 Cups of white flour to 1 cup of water. So you would probably want to use even less if you are putting whole wheat in as well. I usually substitute 1 cup of white flour with 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is much coarser and will absorb a lot more water.

Amanda said...

I heard that you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar for whole wheat bread to add some fluffiness.

Becky: the dough shouldn't be really hard. Maybe there was too much flour. It's definitely easier to have someone show you what the texture should feel like so that you know what to aim for.

The Barbers said...

I have heard that about lemon juice too, Amanda. I tried it a long long time ago, but definitely had better results with the vinegar! Maybe I will try lemon juice again sometime.

Betty said...

I am going to try your vinegar trick! I have been making whole wheat using the white recipe, and just up the moisture content a little bit and find the loaves are a bit fluffier, but they still are heavier than I sometimes would like.

I have been following your blog for about a week, and am really enjoying it. Thanks!

Michael Eckert said...

ohh, I'm going to try that!