Whole wheat bread and rye bread are gaining popularity as healthy foods. Due to the difficulty in milling, white bread was more beloved. In Europe, it was said that dark, coarse whole wheat bread was eaten by commoners, while white, soft white bread was consumed by the aristocracy. However, now the fortunes of the two breads have reversed. Whole wheat bread, which contains fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and iron, is now more loved than refined carbohydrate white bread.

 

However, finding delicious whole wheat bread despite its popularity is not an easy task. I try every one I find online, but they generally feel like chewing on cardboard. Why is that? Because the technical difficulty of making whole wheat bread is much higher than that of white bread. The grain of wheat consists of the outer shell called the bran, the germ, and the endosperm that supplies nutrients to the germ.

The body of the grain is the bran, and white flour is made by milling away the husk and chaff, leaving only the bran. In contrast, whole wheat flour is produced by milling both the husk and chaff together with the bran, which makes fermentation—the key process in bread-making—more difficult. The larger particles of husk and chaff physically and chemically interfere with the development of gluten, the protein responsible for the characteristic chewy texture of bread, by hindering enzymatic activity and gluten formation.

 

Meanwhile, whole wheat flour absorbs more water than white flour, making the dough much softer yet crumbly. To overcome this difficulty, natural leavening agents are especially necessary for whole wheat bread. The principle is to increase the acidity of the dough to establish a chemical defense system. The night before baking, the dough is prepared and rested to ensure the whole wheat flour absorbs enough water. Since the dough has a high moisture content, the baking temperature must be higher and the baking time longer.

 

Even with much more effort than with white wheat flour and careful baking, the results can be disappointing. It tends to be much stiffer and more crumbly compared to white wheat bread, and the strong aroma characteristic of whole wheat may not suit everyone's taste. Rye bread faces similar issues. Its gluten content is lower than that of wheat, making the dough less cohesive, and the enzyme amylase, which causes rising, also hinders the process.

 

Therefore, rye bread is also baked with a high-moisture dough using natural fermentation starters, which can result in a stiff texture and a very strong aroma, making it less easy to handle. As a result, approaching whole wheat bread and rye bread simply by substituting ingredients from white bread can be problematic. They should be considered entirely different types of bread, but bread sold in markets, especially on online open markets, often does not give that impression.

 

==============

These days, whole wheat bread is very popular.

Certainly, the taste is always very different from the bread you eat regularly.

Eating slowly, it tastes nutty and delicious.

 

Mixed grain rice, haha, just think of it as eating.