Why is the wholemeal bread I bake, alot more dense than the white?

Question

I have recently been baking my own bread,the white turns out fluffy and light. but the wholemeal is heavy and dense?? any suggestions.

Answer 1

Wholemeal flour has a higher proportion of bran than white flour. The bran hinders the development of the gluten which is why wholemeal bread is denser.

Try susbstituting some of the wholemeal flour with some white, I make my bread with half white and half wholemeal, but you could adjust then proportions to your liking. I use Canadian very strong wholemeal flour (available from Waitrose) which has a higher protein and gluten content and produces a lighter loaf. Homemade bread will never be light and spongy like the supermarket bread because of all the added chemical.

Answer 2

Here's the right answer. As you know whole wheat bread contains bran which is the tough indigestible outer coating of the wheat kernel. What happens is that during the milling process the bran gets physically broken apart and ends up in very small pieces with very sharp edges.
During the kneading process you develop gluten which you may or may not know are these long elastic protein strands. The gluten forms a structure that allows gases often in the form of CO2 to be trapped.
Bran physically cuts into those protein strands and reduces their ability to form the big webs needed for light lofty bread. And that is the truth.

Answer 3

White flour has more gluten to build stronger structures. You can buy small bags of gluten in some grocery stores to add to whole wheat and especially rye breads. Never use more than 40% rye when making whole grain breads. Personally, I like the denser breads. Here is my recipe, it makes two loaves:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rye flour
3/4 cup filtered or purified water
2 cups whole wheat sourdough starter
4 tbsp olive or canola oil
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp caraway seeds
1 1/2 tsp yeast (optional)

Make the sourdough starter one week in advance by mixing two cups of whole wheat flour and two cups of purified water in a bowl and cover loosely. Keep the bowl at room temperature mixing daily. The natural yeasts that are in the air are the best tasting, although they take twice as long to rise.

After the one week, add two cups of the starter to a large mixing bowl. [if you chose to use yeast, add it to the warmed filtered water with the honey and let sit until frothy]Add all ingredients except the whole wheat flour and mix until all ingredients are blended together. Add the whole wheat flour one cup at a time until you get a dough. Dump the dough out on a floured table and kneed 5 to 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and roll into a tsp of oil that's in the bottom of a clean bowl. Cover with Saran Wrap and let double (about 2 1/2 hours). Dump the dough back on the floured table and divide into two equal portions. form into loafs and place into nonstick or greased loaf pans. Cover the pans and let double. during the last 10 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 425 F. reduce temperature to 365 F. Just before placing the pans in the oven, spray the sides of the oven with water and close the door for 10 seconds to create steam. Place the pans in the middle rack and bake at 365 F for 45 minutes. During the first 10 minutes of baking, spray the sides of the oven again to keep the humidity high for the bread to rise the final time.

Answer 4

The bakeries use Ascorbic acid which is found in "improver"Your bread is probably denser as it is undermixed .or the flour you are using is low in gluten.Try adding more gluten and mixing it longer.

Answer 5

it is different ,the kind of flour you use is full of goodness and is good for you. for white bread the flour is ground more,
for brown bread the wheat germ is left in.

Answer 6

It is more dense because it is whole grain flour, it is also nutrient dense and better for you.

Answer 7

have you tried vitamin c tablets crush and add to the flour
this is what bakerys use