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re: flavorful salt

enkidu@mail.utexas.edu (Enkidu)
Sun, 9 Feb 1997 07:49:07 -0600
v097.n012.2
>I have been having trouble getting some of my whole wheat loaves to rise
<other antics with salt snipped>

Yes, I've had my own experiences (so what if they weren't deliberate?) with
getting all that "unnecessary" salt out of the dough. It's hardly the only
variable you can modify, though. Your problem might be weak/decrepit yeast.
If you're using the little foil tri-packs, check the expiration date. If
it's in a jar, have you been refrigerating it between uses? Perhaps all
your next loaf wants for a better rise is an additional half-teaspoon.
Alternately, you can play with the flour/water ratio. When being mixed in
the machine, the dough should form a fairly smooth, cohesive ball after a
few minutes. If it appears too sticky or sloshes around like a batter, you
should add a few tablespoons of flour. Even if there are no visible texture
problems, actually, taking out a few tablespoons of water or adding a
little flour will, within reasonable limits, improve your rising. Finally,
there's the problem that whole wheat flour just doesn't _want_ to rise as
much. Try replacing some of the wheat flour with white flour and seeing
which point yields a suitable texture / rise combination, or add some wheat
gluten at about a tablespoon per cup of flour for a much higher and
springier loaf. If you're worn out with experimentation, in fact, this
might be the single best idea.

As for your machinery question, I have less to spout, but I suspect that
different models do cause different rises, simply because of variations in
the length of various cycles and possibly in the mixing dynamic as well.
Most of the time when an individual _machine_ makes very unusual loaves
it's due to a miscalibrated thermostat or wonky timer, and the results put
it squarely in the territory of a bug and not a feature.

Good luck, and I hope my informaiton manages to be useful but not patronizing.

Omar