There's different kinds of wheat. Some have more gluten and are more suited to making bread. Can't help much more than that. Maybe some searching
"High gluten or bread flour is a white flour with a high protein content, used to increase the stretch in white and mixed flour breads."

Does anyone have a GREAT recipe for making bread from home ground wheat berries without adding commercial flour? I've tried numerous attempts with poor to moderate success. Help please.

JAB

I haven't tried with ground wheat berries but I do bake with gluten free breads. In some cases I have to add xantham gum to help with the rising. If there is too much gluten the bread will not rise either. You could try adding a bit of rice or potato flour.

To follow up on what old school said, there is a way to do a rough test of the gluten content of your flour. Make a stiff dough with just water and flour and knead it half to death. Next, take your ball of dough and start washing it under running water. Keep working the dough under the running water. Everything will wash away except the gluten. Keep pinching and manipulating the dough until the water runs clean. If you have roughly 50% of your original dough left, your flour has a decent gluten content and should work for bread. The gluten will look kind of weird and stringy.

Now that you have done this little test, use a towel to dry your gluten blob and then cut it up into little thumbnail sized bits. Heat some oil or yummy pig fat and deep fry the pieces. They will puff up. You now have chinese gluten balls. I like to cook them up with dried shitake mushrooms (soak them and and use the water) along with a little dab of oyster sauce, but you can dump them into any savoury sauce and they will soak up the flavor like sponges.

Maybe your best bet now is to get some proper bread wheat and try mixing at various ratios till you get something you like.
Found this:
Wheat Berries
Submitted by Anonymous
I have always used hard white wheat, because it makes a lighter, fluffier loaf. Hard red is the traditional bread flour, because of the higher protein (gluten) content, but it makes a denser, heavier loaf. I would suggest trying the two different types and choosing from there. For an even higher, fluffier loaf, I will sometimes use up to 1/3 spelt when milling. More than that and it starts getting heavier instead of lighter. If using spelt berries, I would store them in the freezer. Spelt is very difficult to thresh and the berries are usually broken during threshing, so they are susceptible to going rancid. Regular wheat (spelt is related to wheat) will not go rancid in normal conditions because the berries are not usually broken open in threshing.

I just picked up some red fife wheat. Supposed to be high gluten and protein content. Will let you know how it goes.

Up until last year, I baked up to 40 loaves of whole wheat, hand-thrown loaves a week for farmer's market. I used organic hard red wheat, stone-ground with my Retsel MilRite mill. I did this for about seven years, and, in doing so,I've learned a few things about making whole wheat bread!

First, if you're looking for that fluffy, wonder-bread-type loaf, forget it. It's not going to happen. Light, commercial bread is probably the worst thing for your health, even the "whole wheat" variety, and comparing it to hand-thrown, artisan loaves from home-milled wheat is like comparing apples to goats -- not even close.

First of all, whole wheat flour. The home-ground stuff is the real stuff. "Whole wheat" flour that you buy in bags in the grocery store is white flour with bran and other stuff added -- which is why some people can make those "fluffy" loaves with it so successfully. Don't -- it's horrible for you. Empty, simple carbs which go directly to blood sugar.

There are two or three ways to make a successful whole wheat loaf from home-milled flour that I have experience of. First, buy "vital wheat gluten" and add a heaping tablespoon per cup of flour to your recipe. I have done this, but don't like to. Vital wheat gluten is highly processed, and I try to stay as far away from anything commercially-processed as possible.

The way I have found the most success is to simply treat the dough differently. You can't make WW bread in the same way you would make white bread. It takes different conditions to bring the best out of the flour. As general guidelines, WW home-milled flour likes a longer, cooler, WETTER rise. You need to keep your ratios to the point where the dough is just barely kneadable, and really, really sticky. I use bowl scraper and a big, flat wooden bowl to knead my bread. Keep it wet and sticky, and cool. NEVER rise WW dough with "added" heat, such as in the oven with the light turned on, or over a radiator. Sit it on your counter top or kitchen table, in a big, deep bowl, and covered with a damp towel. Ignore "times" as given by recipe books, and watch your dough. It's ready for each step when it has doubled in size, and not before. Don't move on until the dough has indicated it's ready.

I have had some success, as well, with "refrigerator" dough using WW. I make the dough the night before, place it in big tubs, cover it tightly with the tub lids, and store in the fridge. The next morning, I shape my loaves, give it about 4 hours to rise, then bake.

Longer, cooler, wetter and a lot more patience, and you'll have lovely loaves. I promise 🙂

Thanks for the tips! My first few loaves of home ground ww bread did not rise really at all because I was so used to the consistency of store bought flour. It was delicious mind you. I want to keep bread making as simple and unprocessed as possible - not adding all purpose flour . I will try the cooler, wetter and longer rises.
I heard you should grind the flour at least a week in advanced - not sure why. But I will experiment.

I grind my own hard wheat that I get from Bulk Barn.
I use Peter Reinhart's whole grain breads book as my guide...and I also use Bertinet's books. I make 100% whole wheat and 100% whole grain multi-grain breads using recipes from both books and have turned out fabulous loaves. I don't add gluten at all.

Reinhart's book uses delayed fermentation techniques with gives wonderful texture to whole grain breads... http://www.amazon.ca/Peter-Reinharts-Whole-Grain-Breads/dp/1580087590/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364251825&sr=1-4

Bertinet's ... http://www.amazon.ca/Crust-Sourdough-Spelt-Rye-Bread/dp/1906868816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364251940&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.ca/Dough-Simple-Contemporary-Richard-Bertinet/dp/1904920209/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364251940&sr=1-3

Ratdogmom, I would love it if you would post your most delicious 100% Whole wheat bread recipe here!
Thanks for the links too.

This is about as easy as it gets. Perfect for a first time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0

This is about as easy as it gets. Perfect for a first time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0

The only problem with this recipe...the high heat baking takes a toll on your heating element in an electric oven.
That's the only complaint I've found on multiple bread bakers/artisan bread forums about the recipe though

This is from Bertinet's book "Dough"
Makes 2 loaves and takes a few hours start to finish...measurements are by weight...you could use dried yeast but you'd have to look up the conversion from fresh online for proportions.

Poolish...whisk together 1/6 oz fresh yeast into 9 oz of lukewarm water (just over 1 cup) and then add 9 oz of whole wheat flour (about 2 cups)
Cover and let rest 3 hours and no more than 5 hrs max.

Add 9 more ounces of flour into which your have rubbed in another 1/6 oz of fresh yeast, 2 tsp of fine grained salt and 3 oz ( about 1/3 cup) of water. Work the dough using Bertinet's slap and stretch method to build the gluten (here you can see him work it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOjSp5_YiF0 )
Work until supple and no longer sticks to our hands/counter...this takes some work and don't go overboard adding flour, the slap/fold method works, be patient.

Shape dough into a ball and rest it in a lightly floured bowel covered with a towel and let rest 15 minutes.

Use a dough scraper turn the dough out onto the table and divide into two balls. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes.

Mold the two balls into two loaves and place in greased bread pans and let rise until doubled (1 hr or so)
About 15 minutes before you check the dough for doubling, preheat your oven to 475F.
Spray the inside of the oven with water before you put the loaves in and then bake for 30-35 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

*My old oven I had to turn the heat down to abut 375F after putting the bread in...my new oven I just got, I haven't used this recipe in yet.
I suggest hitting the library for the books I mentioned...heck, I recommend just buying them I love them that much. If you're not close to a library you can try Amazon.ca for used copies.

Thank you!

I have several recipes for Maori bread. one is the traditional recipe and other one is fried bread. Its a favorite of most New Zealand Maori's

Floaters (Fried Maori Bread)
Ingredients

5 Cups of standard white flour
5 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Cups of luke warm water
Cooking Oil
An electric frying pan or a deep pot
Instructions

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Make a well in the middle and gradually add the water. Stir together with a knife.

When the mixture starts looking like dough tip it onto a floured bench.

Knead the dough just a little until the dough develops a smooth texture. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 6cm. Cut into slices, much like scones, pricking each one with a fork.

Heat a pot of oil or fat. Olive oil or grape seed oil is fine, and a lot less fattening.

For best results deep fry the bread in very hot oil. Add the cut dough shapes, turning as they brown. N.B. If the oil is not really hot then the floaters will not raise very well.

Great with lots of jam and/or Golden Syrup.

Rēwena Bread

To make Rēwena Bread, you need to start by making a ‘bug’ or starter – the rēwena (leaven). I’ve heard that in some whānau, these starters have been passed down through generations, feeding hundreds of people along the way. I like the idea of that ‘accumulated culinary history.’ Every cook has their own favourite recipe but here’s an easy one to kick off.

Boil 2 peeled potatoes in unsalted water, Strain, remove potatoes and save the water. It is the potato cooking water that is required. When the water is lukewarm, whisk in 1 cup of plain flour until it is a smooth batter. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave 1.5-2hrs in a warm place (a hot water cupboard is always good) to start the fermentation process.

When you come to make the bread, split the dough in two, saving half for the next loaf of bread. The reserved dough can be kept in a sealed container in a warm, dark cupboard. To keep it ‘active’, feed it with half a teaspoon of sugar the night before the next batch of bread is needed. I suspect there are as many versions of this as there are Rēwena bakers - some people for instance, boiled the potatoes to mashing consistency and leave the soft potato in the starter mix – but this one should get you started, then you can experiment further.

To make the bread, combine 4cups plain flour with 1tsp salt and 1tsp baking soda. Make a well in the centre and add the rēwena bug. Mix until it forms a dough and then knead lightly for 10 minutes. Place in a buttered tin, cover and leave to double in size in a warm place (possibly overnight if the temperature is cooler).

It’s easy to bake in loaf tins at 200degC (reducing heat to 150degC after 10 minutes) for 1-2hrs, depending on your over and the load size. Test with a skewer to see if it’s cooked. When done, turn it out of the tin and cover with a damp tea towel. This creates steam and softens the crust. Happy Baking!