I made a very hearty whole wheat bread with lots of rolled oats and sunflower seeds. I let it rise on a baking sheet. When inside the oven the dough spread instead of rising, and I got a terribly flat, not nice-looking loaf. I slashed it before baking, but the cut may have been too shallow as they were hardly noticeable on the finished loaf. Any suggestions on what I should do next time?

By momoreg on Monday, March 19, 2001 - 07:56 am: Edit

Did you notice any rise at all during the first proof? Maybe your yeast was dead.

What kind of flour were you using?

Have you done the recipe before with good results?

By mimi on Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 07:04 am: Edit

During the first proof the dough rose very well. I used half stone ground whole wheat flour and half unbleached flour. Today I baked the same recipe using a loaf pan and I got a good height. How do I ensure a good height without using a loaf pan?

By momoreg on Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 06:56 pm: Edit

I assume that your unbleached flour was bread flour or high gluten.. If not, that is what you should be using. Unbleached or not, all purpose flour is too weak to give the support that a hearty bread needs to rise. Also, make sure that you're not overloading it with seeds. That can flatten it as well.

By mimi on Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 10:09 pm: Edit

I did use Arrowhead all-purpose flour. Thanks for the info! Will look into that. Thanks so much. Would you know if Bob's unbleached flour is bread flour or all purpose?