30% Whole Grain Bread- Sorghum, Oat, Millet

Hello loyal follower(s)


    Sorghum flour! what can be done with it? It is High in antioxidants; Slowly digestible, meaning it keeps you feeling full longer.  To make gluten free bread for his son (William),  Mr Nut purchased  sorghum flour along with several other common ingredients used in gluten-free bread.  Without doing research Mr Nut proceeded to create a recipe for yeast based sorghum bread.  the results were not as satisfactory as expected.  The bread was lacking in taste and did not rise enough. 
      After the fact, he did some research  (hindsight is always better) and found that verified that sorghum yields a rather bland tasting bread.  Also there was too much non wheat flour to yield a good rise.  During the research, Mr Nut  found an intriguing gluten free recipe. He  will try the recipe next week.  However, according the author of the recipe, "It really doesn’t hold up that well overnight".  But what is not eaten can be frozen (sliced). 

    It's time to look at what Mr Nut  did, and afterwards the changes in the recipe will be discussed and made to the recipe, to yield a good loaf.

If you look carefully at the picture you can see the Millet in the dough.  There was too much Millet.

Dough at start of fermentation.

After about 40 minutes of baking, the loaf was done enough to be placed directly on the shelf.  Most of the cooking of the loaf takes place in he Dutch Oven with the lid on.  the crisping of the crust occurs with the lid off.

Top of finished loaf,  color good, no burning.

Bottom of loaf, no burning, good result.

Most of the larger air pocket were confined to the top of the loaf.  Also, since the gluten network was over burdened with too much non-wheat flour, the gluten network was weak.

The following changes in the recipe were made: 

4 cups bread flour increase to 5 cups 

2 cups sorghum was reduced to 1 1/2 cups.

1 cup millet was reduced to 1/4 cup.

1 cup oat flour was reduced to 1/2 cup.

teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary was added.

À bientôt,

Mr Nut

Recipe follows:

31%  Whole Grain Artisan Bread
Blog April 16, 2011 updated June 6, 2011

Sorghum, Oat and Millet

European style: (Crisp-crust; large air spaces)

Inspired by Jim Lahey’s My Bread and 

Modified for a Cuisinart stand mixer, with speeds from 1 to 12

           This recipe provides the ultimate freedom of choice with timing and techniques.   It is possible to start this bread anytime of the day and modify the fermentation time to meet your schedule.  

    Bread flour is wheat flour minus the germ the bran leaving only the endosperm. The endosperm contains the two proteins needed for making gluten. Vital Wheat Gluten needs to be added to help compensate for the lack of gluten-forming proteins in the Sorghum, Oat flour and Millet.  Oat flour is added to increase the moisture and softness of the bread.  Millet give the bread crunch.   Since sorghum yields a bland tasting bread, rosemary was added. 

        The following (optional) natural healthful ingredients are added to improve bread volume or taste. 

Salt: Sea Salt, which contains additional minerals for better gluten development.

Dough Enhancer: self explanatory (see blog from April 5, 2011). 

 Long fermentation at room temperature eliminates kneading and allows for the yeast to work its magic.

5 cups (25 oz, 700 g) flour bread flour

1 1/2 cups (12.5 oz, 210g) Sorghum flour

1/4 cup ( 2.5 oz, 35g) Millet

1/2 cup ( 2.5 oz, 70g) Oat flour

1/4 cup Vital Wheat Gluten

3/8 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon Sea Salt

3/8 cup Dough Enhancer

1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

3 cups warm water at 110-115℉

3/8 cup Canola oil

oil spray for coating dough

Stick Crisco for greasing the pans

1. In the mixer bowl using the Chef’s Whisk at speed one, mix the blue ingredients.  Keep mixing to a minimum. 
2. Change to the Flat Paddle Blade on speed 2 and mix the Red ingredients into the Blue ingredients.  Should yield a slightly sticky dough.
3. Delayed fermentation: (optional but worth the effort) Move the dough to another bowl (so the mixer bowl can be cleaned).   Spray the top of the dough with oil, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate  the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Make the time fit your time schedule. 
4. First fermentation  at room temperature (72℉) for 12 to 18 hours. If convenient, vigorously stir the dough about halfway through the rise. Again, make the time fit your time schedule, even 12 hours is workable.
5. First fermentation  at room temperature (72℉) for 12 to 18 hours. If convenient, vigorously stir the dough about halfway through the rise. Again, make the time fit your time schedule, even 12 hours is workable.
6. Deflate dough:  Gently press down on center of dough to deflate. Holding edge of dough with fingertips, fold dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Add more flour if the dough is sticky, aim for a stiff dough. Turn bowl quarter turn; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough 6 more times (maximum of 8 folds).
7. Second Fermentation: Set out a 15-inch square of baking parchment paper. Spray it with nonstick spray, then generously dust it with  flour. Invert the dough into the center of the parchment. Generously dust the dough with more  flour. Smooth out and round the surface to form a round shaped, domed loaf; it may be sticky, so flour your hands, and sprinkle more flour over the top as needed. Using the parchment paper as a sling, transfer the loaf to a skillet or  bowl just slightly smaller in diameter than the dutch oven to be used. Tent the bowl with nonstick spray-coated foil.  Let it ferment for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the dough doubles from the deflated size.
8. Prepare Oven: 30 minutes before baking time, put a rack in the middle of the oven with the dutch oven; preheat to 450°F. If you have a pizza stone place it near the bottom of the oven it will act as a heat sink. 
9. Final Dough preparation:  Using well-oiled serrated knife or razor, cut a 1/2-inch-deep, 3-inch diameter circular slash in the dough center. Using the parchment paper as a sling, carefully lift the dough into the pot; take care not to touch the hot pot. Immediately top the pot with its lid.  NOTE: If you are using cast Iron pots you may want to adjust the temperature up to 450℉, and maybe increase the baking time.   This recipe is based on using a hard-anodized aluminum Dutch Oven.  Bread pans are dark non-stick pans.
10. Baking: Reduce the heat to 425°F. Bake on the lower rack for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid. Using the parchment paper, lift the loaf from the pot and place on a piece of aluminum foil. Pull the parchment away from the loaf sides so they are exposed. (If the top is well browned, cover it with foil.) Bake for 25 to 35 minutes longer, until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few crumbs on the tip (or until the center registers 195 to 200°F on an instant-read thermometer). Then bake for 5 minutes longer to ensure the center is baked through. Note: the appearance of the loaf is more important in determining the doneness of the loaf than the internal temperature (from Cook's illustrated magazine, May-June 2011 page 31).  Cool  thoroughly on a wire rack.