Winter

A peek through every window reveals winter lace... and the crabapple looks like a dusty cobweb in a corner of the attic:

Another Hawk...

What kind is it?  Using the Peterson Field Guide, it looks most like an immature Northern Goshawk.  This hawk was quite a character, fluffing his feathers and twisting his head to look all around!

Soaked Wheat Bread

After trying several recipes, I was able to put together the best combination of ingredients and techniques for a good soaked wheat bread.  The recipe is:

4 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups white flour (plus extra for kneading)
2 tsp. salt
1 crushed vitamin C tablet
3 cups water
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup warm water
2 T. sugar
1 T. dry active yeast
olive or coconut oil (for oiling bowls)
butter (for greasing bread pans)

The method:

Sift together the 8 cups of flour, salt and crushed vitamin C tablet.  Stir together the apple cider vinegar and the 3 cups of water, then add to the sifted flour mix.  Stir well and get your hands in there if necessary to knead it all together.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl and seal tightly with plastic wrap.  Allow the mixture to soak for 7-30 hours.

After soaking, proof the yeast by mixing it with sugar and 1/4 cup warm water and allowing it to start foaming (about 5 minutes).  Add the yeast to the soaked wheat dough.  (This is very messy!  The best way is to put it all in a bowl large enough to get your hands in there and start kneading the mess together in the bowl.)  Once it is well-mixed, place the dough in an oiled bowl to rise.

Prepare glass bread pans by thoroughly buttering.  It's important to get butter in all the corners of the bread pans!

After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured surface to knead.  At this point, you may find yourself kneading in up to another cup of white flour until the texture of the dough is soft, but not stiff.  Divide the dough in half.  Either roll out or flatten each dough with your hands until they are approximately 9x12 rectangles.  Roll into the shape of a loaf and place in bread pan.  Leave uncovered and allow to rise until doubled (after it has risen for about half an hour, preheat your oven so it will be ready).

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove from pans and allow to cool completely before cutting.

NOTES:

You can see from the picture above that soaked wheat bread isn't always the prettiest.  It's hard to produce a perfectly rounded top because the dough is very moist (and you can see I didn't divide my dough perfectly because one loaf is smaller than the other!)

The combination of white with whole wheat may render the bread less nutritious, but in my experience produces a better textured and shaped loaf. 

To sift the dry ingredients together, simply stir them well with a wire whisk.

If apple cider vinegar is unavailable, any acid medium will do:  a different vinegar, lemon juice, or perhaps kefir or yogurt.

The purpose of the vitamin C tablet is to condition the dough so the texture is less crumbly.

Instead of soaking the dough in a bowl, I use my own version of a "proofer."  It is a large, clear acrylic container with a top that completely seals.  When using my proofer to rise dough, I use a wipe-erase marker to mark where the dough was initially and where it should be when doubled, so I don't have to guess.

When soaking the dough between 7 and 30 hours, if you will not be able to finish processing the dough before the 30 hours expires, just put the bowl of soaking dough in the fridge.  When you are ready to process, bring it back out and let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before continuing with the recipe.

The darker dough that results on top after soaking is absolutely fine and normal.

To test if the rising loaves are ready to be popped in the oven, gently press the surface with your finger:  if the dough springs back, let it rise a bit longer, if it doesn't spring back, pop them in!

The extra loaf can be placed in the freezer until needed.

Treat Your Wheat

WHY

Why treat grain:  because there is phytic acid in the bran portion of grain.  Phytic acid prevents nutrients from being available in our digestive systems.  By soaking or sprouting grain, the phytic acid can be significantly reduced.

HOW

How to reduce phytic acid:  by either soaking or sprouting grain.

By soaking the grain in an acidic medium (such as apple cider vinegar and water, kefir, yogurt or buttermilk), the phytic acid is greatly reduced.  A rule of thumb is to soak for at least 7 but never more than 30 hours.  (At least 7 hours is needed to reduce the phytic acid significantly, but more than 30 hours can encourage bad bacteria to grow.)  Using sourdough is advantageous, because that grain in the sourdough is soaked.

In sprouting, providing the necessary water and light will begin sprouting a new little plant from the grain seed.  That changes the chemical composition...it is now a vegetable!  Before it grows too much vegetation, the sprouts are dried, then ground into flour.

WHEN

When to use the soaking or sprouting method:  always when using whole grains, but not absolutely necessary when using white grain. 

The benefit of using whole grains is the germ and bran of the grain which contain the nutrients have not been removed.  The downfall is the bran contains phytic acid which blocks nutrients.  So, it is necessary to soak or sprout any time you use whole grains.  (One exception:  oats.  You can cook those whole oats up for breakfast without any fuss.)

White grain is great for quick breads, cookies, or whenever there isn't enough time to soak or sprout (such as sprinkling flour on the counter to knead your bread).  Keep in mind that white grain doesn't have the nutrients, though! 

NOTES

I have not tried sprouting my own wheat because it appears time consuming.  So, I use the soaking method.  If I can't finish my recipe before the dough has soaked for 30 hours, I put it in the fridge until I can get to it.  (It has to sit at room temperature for an hour before proceeding with the recipe.)  In a pinch, when you need to pick up a loaf of bread or you're eating out, there's little advantage to wheat over white if it isn't sprouted, soaked or sour dough.  White doesn't have significant nutrients and whole has the nutrient-blocking phytic acid.  For that reason alone, the importance of treating your wheat for good nutrition is obvious!

P.S. -- Always, always look for organic and/or "non-GMO!"