Bread from wheat intended for beer

In the world of bread we baker types like to use 1/4 whole wheat flour for our whole wheat loaves. This is because all of those other elements in whole wheat cause the gluten to not form so well from its precursor molecules and then those other elements, the husks, tend to cut the gluten molecules that do form like tiny microscopic knives. They form, cut, form, cut, form, cut a million times so the dough cannot develop the elasticity as usual.

That's why homemade 100% whole wheat loaves bake like bricks.

But that is for raw whole wheat flour.

Malting is a process that wheat is put through for beer. It develops the flavor of wheat grains that play a large part in the flavor of beer. Here is what happens, as you know had you ever toured a beer brewery.

Whole wheat berries are brought in and spread out on a large concrete floor and sprayed with water. The wheat berries are wheat seeds, basically, they are allowed to germinate as if the intention is to grow wheat micro greens. But before that, the instant they begin germination they are roasted to kill the activity.

And now the wheat berries are like coffee beans in the way they are handled. The degree of roasting varies from light to intense nearly burned, extremely dark berries with a burnt taste.

The malt flavor and the roasting and the provenance of the wheat plant determine the character of the grain used to make beer.

There is a brewery directly below my apartment on the street level that teaches people how to make beer. Their selection of grains their clients can use for any given recipe is awesome. I've never seen anything like it.

Is that mind blowing or what?

The type of grain that I chose to mill here at home is a lightly roasted white wheat variety grown in America used to make light colored ale. 

The grain is already baked so it behaves differently than raw wheat berries do. It mills differently. It forms dough differently. And of course it is baked twice when turned into bread.

Because of its properties, because it does not snip the gluten molecules, I can increase the percentage of malted whole wheat in my (imaginary) recipe. This bread is 50% whole wheat that is malted, so its flavor is just miraculous. 

I wish I could give you a slice, or make you a sandwich to watch you go. 

GODDAMNIT! I DIDN'T KNOW BREAD CAN BE THIS F'K'N GOOD!!11!!111!11ELEVENTEEN MILLION !!1!!111!!1

Obviously all of the elasticity comes from the 50% all purpose flour. I don't think the roasted whole wheat forms gluten. But I never tried it all by itself.

The smell is incredible. 

The taste is out of this world.

And I don't know why this idea isn't famous. The wheat berries themselves make excellent tea. Just steeped in hot water that's not even boiling. That is how beer is made. Beer is fermented wheat tea. It also has hops and yeast added after the wheat tea is brewed, but it doesn't taste so good as tea after those two things are added.

 

There is nothing in the world like this sandwich. Behold. Something unique under the sun.