Simple FOod: The Follow Up...week one

Just a few simple ingredients: my yeast start, water, salt, coconut oil and freshly ground wheat...

Possessed by the bread-making fever, I got crazy ambitious, and decided to try making bread right out of the blocks instead of the waffles or pancakes recommended for wild yeast beginners. I figured I was a whole wheat bread maker with advanced experience...so this shouldn't be THAT much more difficult...right? I was humbled. 

For starters, I thought I knew this before, but I know it better now: with natural yeast, timing is EVERYTHING. 

* I should have probably given my yeast start more time to get established before I asked it to do the kind of heavy lifting needed to leaven bread. Whole wheat bread. 

* I should have started earlier in the day giving the dough time to rise. Because after the 6-12 hours required  for "proofing" (rising/gluten digesting), it was like 11:00 at night, and I was too tired to put bread in the oven to bake for an hour. So I told Mike to just put the pans in the fridge over night. In the morning they looked sad and unpromising, but I decided I had come too far to not even attempt to bake them. In they went. And, to my surprise, they perked up a little in the baking process. (Way to go, yeast!)

* I realized that without instant yeast, kneading dough long enough to develop the gluten is more important than ever. And doing it the "right" way for long enough takes patience...and muscle. (I am bumping the Bosch I have always wanted up to the top of my wish list...in case you are reading this, Mitch-darling.)

Anyway...here's the finished product.  The loaves turned out a little more dense (and sour) than I had hoped. But I think I know how to remedy those issues...and we have been eating away at these first loaves. Not bad. I also whipped up some beautiful yeast waffles this weekend with my starter. They were DEE-licious!

Not too shabby for my first go. I am hoping for even better results next time.