Whole wheat flour

[troymeister]

Hi, I am new to this forum but have been making many different types of pizzas for about 5 or 6 years. Today was the first time I used  whole wheat flour to my dough recipe. (about 50% unenriched flour and 50% whole wheat) in addition to my  home made sourdough non whole wheat starter that I have been using for about 3 years.  I was amazed on how much easier the dough was to work with.  The texture of the dough initially seemed kind of rough.

I am from Chicago and  am very particular about how pizza crust should or should not be.


But at the end of the day the  crust was perfectly crispy on the top, crispy on the bottom yet  chewy in the middle and over all pretty smooth. I was very supprised.   

I am curious about anyone else's experience using whole wheat flour. I'm kind of mad at myself for not trying it earlier..lol

Your thoughts are most welcome.

Troymeister

[itsinthesauce]

Troy, also being from Chgo, I too am very particular. IWhen I use wheat, I use about 1/3rd wheat to 2/3rd AP. Works well as you describe.

[charbo]

Troy,

I have recently discovered white whole wheat and have had success making a thick-style pizza using all (hard) WWW by King Arthur.  I add 1 tbs vital wheat gluten per cup of flour.  Good hydration is important. 

I am trying to find the new Conagra Ultragrain or ADM Kansas Diamond flour, which is an extremely fine grind of hard WWW.

cb

[troymeister]

Cool.....Next time I will probably use 1/3 whole wheat and 2/3 regular...Mainly for color.

[itsinthesauce]

Yeah, goes easy at first. Your tastes are all that matters.

[Perk]

I use whole wheat flour once in a blue moon. I still have 3/4 of a bag left and I can't tell you how old it is.
Might be 2yrs old. May have to through it out. 

 my ratio is 1/4  whole wheat to my unbleached King Author Bread flour tops.

I don't like to use alot of wheat flour I only use it for a little texture.

I can't imagine a 50/50 that dough would be too tough for me.

[troymeister]

One would think that 50/50 mixture would be a tough crust but I was very supprised that it wasn't. It was actually very good in texture and flavor. I shared some of the pizza with some friends(one of whom is a very renowned chef) loved it. all they commented on was the crust. No mention of the homade sauce...lol

So....next big pizza making day ...I am going to try 1/4-3/4... 1/3-2/3 and 50/50 and see what the feedback is.....

Happy pizza........

troymeister

[Rebecca263]

Gee, guys, I make a whole wheat pizza at least once every couple of weeks! And...I don't use any other flour in that dough. I must be a doofus, because everyone thinks that it tastes great... Actually, my secret is to add a bit of honey to the dough. I get a very chewy thin crust!

[Lars]

I started making pizza dough this afternoon and then realized I did not have enough white bread flour.  I had already started the recipe and was only a cup short, and so I decided to add a cup of WW pastry flour to the bread flour.  Here's the recipe I normally use:

2-1/8 cups water (I start with 2 cups of water)
1-1/2 tsp malt powder (or 1 tsp sugar)
2 tbsp VWG (vital wheat gluten flour)
1 cup semolina flour
1-1/2 tsp IDY (instant dry yeast)
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3-1/2 cups  bread flour
1 tbsp salt

I always combine the first six ingredients first so that the semolina flour will have time to soak up the water.  Then I add the salt and bread flour.  The dough feels much coarser than usual, and I'm wondering if I should use the dough for something other than pizza.  From what I gather, I should have used more VWG to account for the WW flour.

[gschwim]

Rebecca,

Could you post your recipe for a 100% whole wheat pizza dough?  Also, which brand of flour did you use?  I would like to get as close to natural (i.e., high fiber) wheat as possible.

Does anyone else have a 100% whole wheat pizza dough recipe?

Don't get me wrong, I love traditional, white-flour pizza, but eating too many of them makes me fat!  So I need an alternative for those times when the number on my trusty ol' bathroom scale starts creeping up.   

[Pete-zza]

gschwim,

You might want to take a look at this thread: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1701.msg15272.html#msg15272.

And this one: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,623.msg5732.html#msg5732.

Peter

[enchant]

Charbo suggested the recipe in this thread.  In a PM, he revised the recipe slightly:

My recipe has evolved somewhat since the posting you referenced.  I no longer use sugar, which I had thought was necessary for a long cool rise.  I now use only 3/4 tsp ADY and cool the dough for 2.5 days.  I use an even 1/2 tsp of salt.  Various process changes mean that I typically only use about 1/4 cup of kneading flour, consequently I only use 3 tbs of VWG.

I have now found that, if kneading whole wheat by hand, one should knead at least 15 minutes.  You never get to a window pane.  I suppose kneading by machine could be done in less time.  Also, I now add the salt during kneading.

If using ADY, it should be hydrated 5-15 minutes at 105-110°F.  For a same-day pizza, heat all 10oz of water and use 2 tsp yeast.  For a long cool rise, only heat 2 of the 10oz of water and use less yeast.

I tried this pizza using KA white whole wheat flour, and it made a decent pizza.  I have to admit that I'm really not a fan of whole wheat flavor.  My wife likes the flavor, and she really liked that pizza.

[gschwim]

The Wolfgang Puck recipe looks pretty good, I'm going to try that one, first.  Thanks, everyone.

[Pete-zza]

I am trying to find the new Conagra Ultragrain or ADM Kansas Diamond flour, which is an extremely fine grind of hard WWW.

cb,

Maybe you have already found a source of the Conagra Ultragrain, but some source information is given at http://www.ultragrain.com/where_to_find.jsp.

Peter

[Bryan S]

For those of you that are Sam's Club members here you go you lucky dogs. http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=346558

[November]

Has anyone tried the Eagle Mills All-Purpose Flour with Ultragrain yet?  I picked up a bag a few weeks ago and have been using it to make cakes, but I haven't used it for breads or pizza crusts.  Based on the package nutrition facts, the protein content is hovering around 13% which should make it a nice flour for a strong dough.  It certainly flows more like a bread flour than a traditional whole wheat flour.  I have updated the Uncle Salmon Food Tools to include this flour in the menus, based on a series of volume-mass measurements and the nutrition data available.  If anyone has a more precise protein content value, please let me know.  Currently I have it listed as 13.3%.  I will probably be using this flour when I make pizzas on Wednesday.

- red.november

[November]

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6290.0.html

[Jackitup]

That crust looks awesome! I have a ConAgra Mill 5 blocks from my house and get Kyrol HG flour from them for about 8 bucks for a 50# bag. I'm going to have to call them and see if they have any samples of the Ultragrain flour I can try. Thanks for posting the info.
Jon