gluten

Should you always add gluten to whole wheat bread flour when subbing for white bread flour? I did, just assuming it is a good idea.

If it's whole wheat bread flour, then it probably has enough gluten in it, although adding some won't hurt. I have only seen whole wheat bread flour at the bulk food store, which I only go to every four months or so. The other markets sell only the regular whole wheat flour, which does need a boost.

I think it's a good idea to add it. But let experience be your guide. There is no need to change what you are doing if you like the results you are getting. Keep in mind that protein levels can vary from different brands of flours.

It worked great I was making Cinnamon Sunrise (Bread Machine). It is very tasty. Besides adding the gluten I went to three teaspoons of cinnamon and a little more brown sugar. I think next time I will increase the cinnamon to 4 teaspoons and more brown sugar. My wife likes the cinnamon taste and so do I.

Be careful on the sugar, it feeds the yeast and too much can cause the top crust to over rise and separate from the loaf.

Also be careful with too much cinnamon. Cinnamon is a yeast inhibitor and the more you add, the less high your bread will rise. I would recommend that you try a cinnamon swirl to get your cinnamon fix. Roll out the dough as for cinnamon rolls, spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar and a ton of cinnamon, roll up and place the roll into a bread pan to rise and bake. I don't ice mine because I like to toast my slices before eating, but you can do an egg white wash and then sprinkle with coarse raw sugar for a nice topping.

I also have a question about vital gluten and whole wheat flour. I'm making a 100% whole wheat bread batch from a recipe in "artisan bread in 5 minutes a day." This is a relatively new method and book yet the book doesn't have vital gluten in any of its recipes. I added 1.5 teaspoons of gluten per cup of whole wheat flour.

I bought white whole wheat flour thinking I was buying whole wheat flour. Is there any problem that you know of substituting this for regular whole wheat in a recipe?

Red Apple Guy

I would say that the addition of the gluten will be a good choice. I have not made any of these no knead breads in a pot, so can not say from experience.

I use white whole wheat exclusively and never buy the red whole wheat anymore. I much prefer the white wheat. Try it and see what you think. Everyone has different tastes. It is a milder flavor. It can be used interchangeably for the red whole wheat.

The very long rise of the no kneads is supposed to help develop gluten, ,but I cannot see that the gluten could hurt. I have used the white whole wheat in any number of recipes that call for whole wheat and have not noticed that I needed to make any changes. I like it.

Thanks ladies. I have a loaf rising now.

Bread newbie question. Do you reduce the amount of flour by the amount of the VWG you use?

No - you don't add enough to make a difference.