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Mitch Smith <smithm@mvp.net>
Sun, 2 Aug 1998 11:44:52 -0500
v098.n056.8
"Nancy A. Bedell" <nbedell@negia.net> wrote:

>I am new to the list and have been making my own bread for about 
>2 to 3 months.

>I just bought a 25# bag of bread flour from Sams and some Wheat 
>Germ. Can anyone tell me how much Wheat Germ I would put in for 
>a 1 1/2 # loaf of bread to make Whole Wheat bread? 

Looking at a wheat berry, about three-quarters of it is the starchy 
endosperm which makes up white flour and also contains the proteins
which allow gluten formation. The two other primary components of 
wheat are the germ (from which a new wheat plant would sprout) and 
the bran which is the outer hull of the berry and is the source of fiber.

To recreate a whole-wheat flour to make a whole-wheat bread, you 
would need to add both germ and bran back to the white flour. 
Roughly speaking, take a cup of flour and remove 4 tablespoons
of flour. Then add back about 2 tablespoons each of bran and germ 
to the cup. Repeat for each cup of flour in the recipe.

Keep in mind that whole wheat flour does not rise quite as well
as plain white flour (the bran interfers with gluten formation.)

My preference when I bake whole grain breads is to start with
a whole grain flour instead of trying to "recreate" the flour from
individual components. 

- Mitch