100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread / Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Its my long time wish to try a Sandwich bread and finally it happened today :) I all excited to see my own homemade 100% whole wheat bread fresh & hot out to oven. Thanks to Aparna for choosing 100% whole wheat Sandwich Bread for this month's We Knead to Bake recipe. We usually buy whole wheat bread and recently stopped buying it because of it preservatives, but now i will not worry for store bought ones since i got one fool proof recipe. The bread tasted so soft and my kids loved it. I am going to try some sandwich or Bread Upma tomorrow.

This bread is soft and very lightly dense than other whole wheat bread and also easy to make except it need lot of time. The soaker and Biga should be made ahead and totally it takes more than 24 hrs excluding bread baking time.

Original Recipe from  Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads.
Recipe Adapted from Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients
For Soaker

1. Whole wheat flour    1 3/4 cup
2. Salt     1/2 tsp
3. Water      3/4 - 1 cup (room temperature)
4. Vinegar     1 tbsp (plain or apple cider, i used lemon juice)

For Biga / Sponge

1. Whole wheat flour - 1 3/4 cup
2. Yeast       1/4 tsp (instant yeast)
3. Milk         3/4 cup (may need more)
4. Vinegar     1 tbsp (plain or apple cider)

For Final Dough

1. Vital wheat gluten   1 1/2 tsp (optional)
2. Salt       1/2 tsp
3. Whole wheat flour      1/3 cup (and few tbsp more if required)
4. Yeast     2 tsp
5. Oil        2 tbsp (butter can also be used instead, i used oil)
6. Honey     2 tbsp

Method

For making soaker:
Mix all the ingredients given for soaker together in a bowl until all the flour gets well mixed, soaker will be somewhat like firm bread.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
For making Biga/Sponge:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, knead slowly to form a soft ball.
Cover it and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. (Biga can stay prefect for 3 days in fridge if you are not planning to make your bread.)
Two hours before you plan to make the bread dough, remove the biga from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
Make small pieces about 12 pieces using a sharp knife with the soaker and biga.
Put them in food processor and knead it for few minute, add the remaining ingredients and knead for 3 minutes.(i did this with hand, really its very hard, too sticky dough..processor or stand mixer makes it easier)
Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the flour and knead for few more minutes.
Your dough should come away from the sides of the bowl.
Arrange the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise for about 1 and 1/2 hours. Turn out the dough to a lightly floured surface, pat the dough and roll it as a loaf, check the video.
Preheat the oven at 350 F..
Place the loaf in a greased loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 F until the top gets a nice brown colour and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Let it cool (min 2 hours)completely before slicing.

Notes:

Adding Vital Wheat gluten is optional, i did not add it. If you using please add it in the final dough.

Don;t add more flour to the final dough, its a kind of sticky dough.

I used lemon juice instead vinegar and felt little sour taste in the bread but i only felt it my kids and Hubby did not say anything. I don't know sour taste is due to lemon juice or long resting period or because of both. But there's not much sour taste.
And also after first rising i kept it in refrigerator overnight and baked the bread next day. If so, have to bring the dough to room temperature and then shape it and allow for second rise.

Linking this to Bake Fest #24 hosted by Pallavi and  Aparna's We Knead to Bake and to Priya's Healthy Diet - Fat Free Recipes Event @ My Sri Lankan Recipes