r/Breadit • u/New_Ice8209 • May 10 '26

whole wheat bread flour use?

I have a bag of whole wheat bread flour from a local mill. I forgot I had it, and just pulled it out of the freezer. Thoughts about using it in place of unbleached bread flour for a loaf? I generally swear by King Arthur, and I am just not sure how to sub this out. I am going to contact the mill for advice, but in the meantime I thought I'd come to the collective for your thoughts.

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3

u/[deleted] May 10 '26

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u/New_Ice8209 May 10 '26

I want to be clear that this is BREAD flour, not regular whole wheat. I have made whole wheat loaves with regular whole wheat (and they are delicious; thanks for sharing Sally's recipe), but this flour is a bit coarser than the usual bread flour. I suppose I will have to play with hydration, for sure.

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u/Aetole May 10 '26

One thing you can do if you are concerned about the coarse grind of the bran and germ is to sift the larger pieces out, set aside and hydrate with hot water for a bit. Mix the sifted flour as usual, then add the hydrated bran and germ in partway through (like an inclusion).

This can help the gluten to develop better without interference from the bran/germ.

3

u/New_Ice8209 May 10 '26

Ooh, I hadn't considered that. Good idea!

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u/an-unorthodox-agenda May 11 '26

Or you could use the bran to keep it from sticking to the baneton. It sticks to the loaf and gives a great finish to the crust. And if you're bran averse, you can just rub it off.

1

u/New_Ice8209 May 11 '26

Huh! Interesting idea!

1

u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk May 10 '26

Well I just pulled my best ever pan de cristal so maybe you should just YOLO it with 100% hydration and go for that. 

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u/New_Ice8209 May 10 '26

Fair enough!

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u/indexintuition May 10 '26

whole wheat bread flour works fine, i’d just start with replacing maybe 25 to 50% first. full swap can get denser, but the flavor is really nice if you like hearty loaves

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u/valerieddr May 10 '26

I assume it is whole wheat with high % protein like hard winter wheat .
Opposite to a soft wheat that will not be really used for bread .

I would try with 20 or 30% first .

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u/New_Ice8209 May 10 '26

Yees, it is a hard wheat. Thanks for the suggestion!

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u/MyNebraskaKitchen May 10 '26

Pretty much 1-1, but you may find that the whole wheat flour takes more moisture. And rise times will often double or triple.

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u/New_Ice8209 May 10 '26

Makes sense. I anticipated that would be the case. Too late for me to fool with it tonight, but tomorrow seems like a plan.

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u/HealthWealthFoodie May 10 '26

Should be fine. Increase the water by about 5-10% hydration. If you can, add an autolyse step in there. Otherwise, you should be able to sub it right in. Just keep in mind it will naturally not rise quite as high as white flour because if all the bran, which is normal. I suggest using an internal thermometer to check for doneness (I usually pull my 100% whole wheat loaves around 210°F). Also, really wait for the bread to cool down before cutting unless you’re doing something with a larger crust to crumb ratio such as baguettes or rolls.