I’ve been making home baked bread for my family for at least 15 years (yes, I supply ALL the bread, but I have helpers too!) I started baking our bread at home for a few reasons – curiosity, nutrition, economy and self sufficiency. It is the perfect time right now to learn how to bake bread at home.
The idea of knowing exactly what was going into our bread, the superior taste and the cheapness of making it has made baking our own a priority.
Around 4 years ago, I bought a Hawos Billy 100 grain mill after wanting one for 10 years (I’m very patient š). It sits out on the kitchen bench as it’s in constant use. The first time we set up the mill and ground some wheat, I tasted some on it’s own and was immediately hooked. I had bought commercial wholemeal flour from the supermarket, but grinding it fresh is really next level.
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I buy my wheat from Simply No Knead and have it delivered. If you’re in the U.S. and looking for some wheat to grind , you can get hard white wheat berries here. If you’re wondering about the differences between red and white wheat, check out this helpful article.
Milling our own grain is a huge blessing at this time when currently there is no commercial flour available to buy due to coronavirus related panic buying. I bulk buy my wheat in 20 kg bags and have plenty of it, I’m so thankful.
I’ve always wanted to share with you all how I make bread. Over the many years of baking for my family, I’ve devised my own methods to make the process faster, easier and more achievable. My methods are no knead, low mess, low ingredients and very straightforward. I’ve tweaked my methods to streamline the process and am very happy to share this with you!
Now, if you have flour and wish to use that, go ahead! This recipe is very adaptable and has the same basic components of flour, yeast, salt, water and oil. You can use white or wholemeal flour, or a combination, they all work. You may have to adjust your liquid amounts slightly, as wholemeal flour takes up more water.
If you prefer your bread on the sweet side, you may want to add in two tablespoons of cane sugar or two tablespoons of honey. I do this occasionally as an extra treat for the kids.
Then you will just need a large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, 2 bread tins, and you’re ready to bake some delicious bread! If you are going to make bread a lot, you will want a good bread knife, it will take the headache out of slicing. My husband gifted me this Mundial Serrated Knife right at the beginning of my bread baking journey and I use it every single day. Alright, let’s check out the recipe!
Let’s just go over some measurements first so that we’re clear on amounts. If you don’t know how much grain to mill to get the required amount of flour, 5.5 cups of whole wheat grains grinds up to 7.5 cups of flour. This amount of grain and flour also equals 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). 1 litre of water is equivalent to 1.05 quarts.
No Knead Wholewheat bread
Ingredients
- 7.5 cups Wholewheat flour (I use freshly milled)
- 1.5 tsp Instant dried yeast
- 2.5 tsp Salt
- 1 litre Warm water (Around 1 quart)
- 3 tbsp Sunflower oil
Instructions
- Weigh and mill your whole wheat grain, if using. Otherwise, measure out your commercial wholewheat flour into a large bowl.
- Add yeast and salt to flour and mix through with a wooden spoon.
- Mix the warm water and oil together in a jug.
- Make a well in the middle of your flour and pour all of the liquid in.
- With a wooden spoon, mix gently to begin combining the wet and dry ingredients.
- When the water is no longer "sloshy", use a chopping action with the wooden spoon to bring ingredients together. You want to eliminate any dry flour spots.
- Once combined and completely wet, let the dough sit in the bowl for 3 – 5 minutes.
- Using the folding technique shown in the video, fold the dough whilst turning the bowl slightly. Fold it around 5 times. Then allow dough to sit for 3 – 5 minutes again.
- Repeat the folding technique 2 more times for a total of 3 times. You will notice the dough begin to change and become elastic.
- Sprinkle with flour, cover with a cloth and allow to sit until approximately doubled. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, this could be 1 – 2 hours. My dough took around an hour to double in a warmish kitchen.
- Oil or flour your bench surface and tip the dough out. It will be stretchy and airy.
- Fold the dough in on itself on each side. Cut in half with a sharp knife.
- Shape the two pieces of dough into loaves according to the video instructions. Place in prepared loaf tins.
- Sprinkle with flour and cover with cloths to rest for around 30 minutes. Begin to preheat your oven to 225 degrees celsius (437 farenheit).
- Score your risen loaves with a sharp knife and place in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and tins and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before cutting open.
Did I tell you that this bread freezes well? I make up a batch of 4 loaves at a time, the maximum amount my oven will hold. I usually keep one loaf out for the next couple of days (if it lasts that long, often it does not) and put the rest in individual freezer bags, tie them up well and freeze until needed.
You will want to watch the video I’ve put together in order to learn the techniques I use, as these are crucial to the success of your loaves.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and bake some bread for your family! Please leave any questions in the comments section, let me know if you are going to give it a try, or if you already have. I’d love to hear from you!
Until next time…
Happy baking!
Hi Kelly. Iām making this bread right now. Itās sitting in the bowl for the 30 minute ride. I added a little flour each time I did the 3-5 minute test because I thought it was a little sticky. Iāve made fresh milled no knead breads for a while but like that I can put this together quickly and pop it in the oven so soon rather than let the dough sit for hours because that can be inconvenient for me. I also like this shape of baking it in a bread pan for a change rather than a Dutch oven! I will be delicious Iām sure. Thank you so much!
Wonderful! š
I can not wait to try this bread recipe! We just bought some wheat berries and I do have a Vitamix! I just love your towel by the way!
Unfortunately, wheat has doubled in price here in Australia, plus I can’t buy it locally so have to have it shipped. It’s making my home made loaves much more expensive, but I still love to bake them every week and my family loves to eat home made bread, so I’ll keep going!
Hi Kelly! I’m just beginning to look into baking whole wheat, fresh milled flour bread using the no-knead method. Like one of your other commentors I made No-Knead breads up to this point using Steve No-Knead Aritsan breads on YouTube…though not with fresh milled floiur. I have three kinds of wheat berries/gain types…hard red winter wheat grains, hard white wheat grains and soft white wheat grains. In this recipe what kind of wheat grains are you using? The finished loaves…..beautiful…appear dark so I’m guessing you are using hard red winter wheat grains. Do you use different varieties? If so, do you notice a difference in them during the mixing stage? I would appreciate any suggestions or observations you have time to offer.
Thank you!
anita
Hi Anita,
I always get my wheat from the same place, it’s actually kind of difficult to get wheat here, which is strange considering so much of it is grown in Australia. It is a hard wheat, that is all I know about it. It has become very expensive to buy and because we live rurally I have to have it shipped to me, making it almost $100AUD for a 20kg bag.
Anyway, that’s not relevant to your question! I think the no knead method would be great for whole wheat bread, the flavour would develop really well and it wouldn’t be dry at all.
Hope yours turns out well š
Thank you Kelly! Sorry for the hardship of scarcity and and HIGH shipping costs. But good bread is worth lots! Blessings on all the help you give us! anita
Well done! I began making bread starting in my local 4-H club as a young teen more than 50 years ago. I stopped but began again about 10 years ago with the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day, and two other similar recipes. The bread has a crunchy/chewy crust and large holes in the interior. It, too is a no-knead procedure. With your recipe, I wonder if the inside of the bread is dense or more airy. It looks as if I could knead it if so desired. I sort of miss getting my hands in there. Thanks for a concise and easy to follow vid.
You can get your hands in there if you want to, for sure! This is a sandwich bread textures. Sometimes I make a no knead crockpot bread that is more similar to your crunchy crust and large interior holes.
Tried it todaythink my dough was a little too wet. It tastes fine and rose well. Did half quantities for first attempt. Thanks
Yes, you really do have to play around with the liquid quantities, it can be tricky. The only downside to a too wet dough is that it’s difficult to shape and handle, but it doesn’t usually detract from the finished product.
Looks great, will try it.Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful, I hope you do!
Hi Kelly,
What a beautiful bread! Thank you for the recipe. I have been making No Knead bread for years and I will share that I have a number of wonderful recipes from No Knead Baking with Steve on You Tube. Try them out- theyāre great!
I do hope you share more because your bread is lovely and looks totally delicious!
Here is my question. I donāt have a grain mill like yours and yes, flour is scarce here, too, but Iām sure Iād be able to get wheat berries at the local market. I have the grain grinding piece for my Vitamix. Do you think that wheat berries would be ground well in this?
I want to try your bread and maybe even try doing 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white bread flour
What do you think?
Best to you and your family,
Barbara
I don’t know much about the Vitamix, one of the reasons I chose a stone grinding machine is that it doesn’t heat up the wheat as much when it grinds as some other, say metal machines. So, the stone grinding is supposedly more nutritious. But, if you want to just give it a go, definitely do!
Iāve started out with the vitamix grain mill pitcher but I was afraid Iād wear the machine out. It took longer to mill than my wonderful new grain mill.
I can smell the bread from here! Will definitely give this a try. Thank you
Yes, the aroma is truly wonderful ā¤ļø
Thank you, Kelly for your kindness, compassion and generosity. Youāve been a delight and an inspiration for me since I first found your YouTube channel. I will definitely try your wonderful bread recipe. I donāt have a home mill but Iāll give it a go with some commercial flour and report back on the results. I expect it will be wonderful. ššš·š„°-Donna from Texas, USA
I hope it turns out well!
I did it! Theyāre beautiful! I donāt think Iām able to post a photo in this comment section. You can imagine though. And I made sure to use a special hand woven towel to cover them š„°
Thank you again for sharing this special recipe with us. The video made it very understandable.
That is wonderful to hear! Thank you for the 5 stars too š
Great video! I used to bake bread more bread from scratch but have gotten away from it in the last couple of years, and now when I need and want to bake bread I am unable to get the supplies! There has been NO flour or yeast on the grocery store shelves for weeks now. But this has rekindled my desire to start baking my own bread again and to even get a grain mill too! Thanks for your great video’s of all kinds and yes I would love to see more of this type of video because I also love to be self-sufficient.
Great to hear Susan. The pandemic has been a huge reminder for me of the importance of being resourceful and as self sufficient as possible.