Hi Debbie,
Hi Rise's Corn Bread is a really tricky recipe to analyze from a
baker's percentage standpoint, because both the corn meal and whole
corn throw the analysis off. The cornmeal absorbs water at a
different rate than flour, and the whole kernel corn gives off a lot
of water. On the face of it, it appears to contain a total of 49%
water, but the corn adds lots of moisture, so the real statistic is
probably closer to 65%. It is not really a high hydration recipe.
That said, none of this really makes much difference for your
problem, unless you are changing the water amounts in the recipe. I
make great whole wheat breads. The trick is the flour! It's hard
for home bakers to find really exceptional whole wheat flour for
bread baking. The flour either seems to have too much protein, 14%
and over (which might be 5 g protein per 33 g serving), or too
little, meaning under 12% (3 g protein per serving and
under). Ideally the flour will be about 13-14% protein per serving,
and a hard winter wheat. The hard springs can be too strong, and the
soft winters can be too weak.
Whole wheat flour needs to be freshly ground to taste good, so be
sure to buy from a source with good turnover. Also I always tell my
students to look at the recipes on the flour package if they don't
want to bother with all the math. If the recipes are for quick
breads, pancakes, muffins, etc., the flour is not meant for bread
baking. Look for flour with bread recipes on the package!
The King Arthur whole wheat flour is fine, as is their white whole
wheat flour. You can also mail order flour from mills, and I
especially recommend Heartland Mill (www.heartlandmill.com) for
organic stone ground flours. Guisto's has been one of the best flour
sources for artisan bakers in Northern California, and they now offer
their products to home bakers. Go to <http://www.giustos.com/>
(which will redirect you to
<http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/giustos/home.d2w/report>).
I never recommend using vital wheat gluten, just better flour.
For this recipe, this is what I would recommend. Make your poolish
with whole wheat flour instead of bread flour, to allow it to fully
hydrate, and use about 2 tablespoons more water. Then proceed with
the normal recipe. If that works out for you, and you want to
increase the whole wheat flour, use whole wheat in the poolish, then
use 1 cup whole wheat in the dough (135 g), and the rest bread flour.
I hope this helps!
Maggie Glezer