BT seeks whole grain challah teacher

Ashrei

Sun, Dec 13 2009, 8:36 pm

Raisin, can I have the specifics of your bread machine challah recipe (if it's spelt or whole wheat)?

I actually did ask our rav and I could technically make the dough in batches and then take challah, so it might work, but it might not come out as AMAZINGLY FABULOUS as the challah I'm thinking of.

I do like the "spongey" kind of texture, very soft, where if you pull the challah apart, it's like it has legs, not crumbs. Hard to explain.

I think someone mentioned a challah book, but no title. Does anyone know this challah book I could learn from?

In any case, you have to realize where I'm coming from, with hardly any experience whatsoever, so it's hard for me to understand a lot of your recommendations. I never saw it made, never had any kind of intro or class, and only tried to make it for the first time about 2 years ago. That's why I'm kind of looking for a real teacher.

I guess a whole wheat kallah is a future "crunchy mama."

HooRYou

Wed, Dec 16 2009, 5:19 pm

I bake 100% WW challahs and I also found that none of the recipes worked for me. WHat did was reading all the bread making tutorials on the King Arthur Flour site. The most important step is one that someone mentioned above where I mix the water, yeast and sugar and let it sit and then add only a third or so of the flour and let that sit afterward before adding the rest of the ingredients. The best part about it is that I can vary the recipe depending on what I have in the house and thew time of year.

Ronit

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 12:53 pm

I was asked to post the recipe- so here it is.

100% Whole Wheat Challah:

5lb 100% white whole wheat flour (company: best flour)
1 1/2 C gluten
3 1/2 Tb dry yeast
1 C sugar
1/4 - 1/2 C oil
2 Tb salt
3 eggs
5 1/2 - 5 3/4 C warm water

Place yeast, sugar, 2 C warm water in the mixer bowl.

Add the rest of the ing alternating wet & dry. Put in salt last, so that yeast & salt don't touch.

Mix in mixer for 20min on speed 1 (low speed).

Rise in mixer for 20min. Give one spin with the mixer to punch it down.

Rise in mixer for 40 min.

Make hafrashas challah & then transfrer to large cutting board.

Do not add flour when rolling out.

Cut into four equal parts. As you work - cut each one into two equal parts - it will yield 8 small- med challah.

When braiding each one- cut into six equal parts- I usually divide in 1/2 & then divide each one into three. Roll out each piece loosly & braid.

Once they are all braided, let it rise for an hour.

Egg wash with egg yolk & sugar. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 350 for 45 min.

If you are doing it by hand like we did this time, the directions are basicly the same besides the begining: Place sifted flour in a large bowl. Kind of dig a hole in the center & place the sugar, water, yeast there. Continue by alternating wet & dry ing. Knead it by hand for 20-25 min- keep on bringing e/t into the center of the dough.

Chana Miriam S

Sun, Jan 29 2012, 6:09 pm

if you want to learn the mitzvah of taking challah with me and also, how to bake it (first learn the mitzvah then bake in bulk) I will be happy to learn with you. I suggest rabbi jaeger's book and learning with someone who knows the mitzvah well. learning the mitzvah thoroughly (including various people's variations so you know they are out there and legit) really made a difference in the quality of my bread. sounds weird, yes, but it is true. and before I learned other than the basics, I was SELLING 40 odd a week from my home. I no longer sell challah unless you hire me as your caterer for a simcha but the learning was awesome and I have been able to transmit it to others in my volunteer cooking at our shul once a month where we make challah buns for 400 people. that is a LOT of challah taking.

and yes, I have amazing recipes too, but they are not the important part here. once you learn to play with dough, you will come up with your own spin on the recipes. I do have experience with spelt, white, and read whole wheat as well as white spelt.

I also can teach you the food science behind how bread baking works so that you know what you need to do to adapt a recipe and make it yours.

this would be distance learning- by phone or skype or whatever.
you can pm me if you are interested. no charge.

wereafamily

Mon, Jan 30 2012, 12:13 pm

Ronit wrote:

Thanks, going to try making challah for the first time (yay). Whats gluten? also, can I use fresh instead of dry?

Thanks again!

Mon, Jan 30 2012, 1:15 pm

Any whole grain recipe may be shaped into a challah.

A Blessing of Bread includes many 5-pound recipes with detailed instructions, but not many whole-wheat versions. I find using white whole-wheat flour as a substitution gives pretty good results.

I also recommend using a heavy-duty mixer (I use a Bosch) once you have room, if you plan to knead whole-grain dough regularly, especially in large batches. It is a wonderful invention.

I use "instant" yeast (SAF red label), available by the pound from King Arthur Flour (and elsewhere as well, I'm sure). Personally, I don't care for gluten (the protein formed by kneaded dough) added to a bread dough; I find it stiff. Some people feel it's necessary in whole-grain recipes to allow bread to rise nicely, but I haven't found that to be the case.

realeez

Mon, Jan 30 2012, 1:35 pm

Raisin wrote:

I used to use my bread machine to make challa...I would make 3 batches one after the other and keep the dough in the fridge till I had enough. It made excellent challa, so I would definately try that route.

I did that too before I got my bosch. After a while I started leaving it for the initial 20 minutes o high speed mixing instead of the entire dough cycle. Was totally fine! Plus while I was measuring ingredients, I would do it in small containers for the others All at once (didn't put flour or yeast) so it didn't take as much time later!

ra_mom

Mon, Jan 30 2012, 4:00 pm

wereafamily wrote:

Ronit wrote:

Thanks, going to try making challah for the first time (yay). Whats gluten? also, can I use fresh instead of dry?

Thanks again!

It's called Vital Wheat Gluten. You can find it at any health food store.

You can use fresh yeast if you prefer. Make sure you know the right substitution measurements, and that you proof the yeast before starting, which is a must with fresh yeast.

wereafamily

Wed, Feb 01 2012, 4:30 pm

ra_mom wrote:

wereafamily wrote:

Ronit wrote:

Thanks, going to try making challah for the first time (yay). Whats gluten? also, can I use fresh instead of dry?

Thanks again!

can I skip the gluten in the recipe?

ra_mom

Wed, Feb 01 2012, 5:17 pm

wereafamily wrote:

ra_mom wrote:

wereafamily wrote:

Ronit wrote:

Thanks, going to try making challah for the first time (yay). Whats gluten? also, can I use fresh instead of dry?

Thanks again!

can I skip the gluten in the recipe?

No, not this recipe.
You need the gluten to give the challah a great texture, so that it's not dry and crumbly.

Chana Miriam S

Mon, Feb 06 2012, 8:34 pm

2 1/4 c. water
5/8 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
2 1/2 tbsp. yeast
6 c. whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. millet
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
Combine water, oil, honey. Stir in yeast and let rise to surface. Add 3 1/4 cups flour; let rest 20 minutes. Stir in salt, oats, millet and seeds. Add remaining flour. Knead 10 minutes. Return to bowl, oil crust. Cover and let rise until double. Knead 5 minutes. Shape into 2 loaves. Place in greased pans. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Amount 2 loaves.

Mevater

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 11:00 am

BinahYeteirah wrote:

I'm also in a very small apartment. I have about 4 feet of counter space, but only one sink. My mixer takes up a whole cabinet of prime real estate. I don't blame you for not wanting to do the same! I would use the bread machine (as a mixer, not to bake the challah, obviously), if I were you, but, no, it is not enough for a bracha. You can perfect you recipe using smaller amounts, though, and work up to making enough for the bracha. It is a shame, as you say, to waste so much flour if you don't like your results.

I remember when I got married, every week my husband would start to cut into the challah and I would be so embarrassed because it sounded like he was sawing through wood. LOL

Then I got a bread maker and I started making amazing bread. I only recently got a mixer, but I used to make challah every week in my bread machine (never made a bracha). Maybe that is not your issue, though, so it is hard to say.

For me, I feel I learned from watching the dough mixing in the bread machine what the consistency of the dough should be. I used a basic recipe from my bread machine recipe book. I used to have it memorized, since I used it every week. Just water, ww flour, salt, olive oil, sugar, and yeast. I didn't even put in eggs, although I use eggs in my current recipe.

My current ingredients are:
2 oz or 4 tbsp yeast
3 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 sugar or honey
1 1/2 tbsp salt
13-15 cups ww flour
8 eggs
1 cup olive oil

I don't do anything special. I dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the sugar or honey, the salt, and about half the flour. Then I add the eggs and oil. Then I add flour by the cup until it starts to get to the right consistency. Then I add small amounts just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You could do this in the bread machine (with a 1/3 or 1/4 recipe), or try it by hand.

Actually, now I am trying to get back into making sourdough challah. I haven't made sourdough since I moved, so I just made my first batch in the US this past week.

Do you have any ideas about where you are going wrong? Describe what you do now, maybe I will "see" something wrong in your method.

Smile

Ive been making Challah for a while and I suspect that my measuring cup isnt accurate, because I often get too tough dough.

Ive been figuring out lately that I should add the last cup or two of flour and stop adding flour as soon as the dough "pulls away" from the bowl. Ive never seen this in a recipe.