The Secret to Whole Wheat Italian Bread without Additives

While I munch on this most recent whole wheat, crusty Italian bread, I'm reflecting the secret to rustic Italian bread without the additives. Over the last few weeks, I've made in tons of Italian bread:

My Other Italian Bread Recipes

• 100% Fresh Milled Italian Bread (no yudane)
  https://justmillit.com/italian-bread-fresh-milled/

• 100% Spelt Italian Bread (no yudane)
  https://justmillit.com/100-spelt-italian-bread-fresh-milled/

• High Hydration Italian Bread (freshly milled)
  https://justmillit.com/high-hydration-italian-bread/

Vital Wheat Gluten

What these fresh milled, whole grain Italian bread loaves all have in common is the use of Vital Wheat Gluten. It's an additive I had pretty much eliminated from my baking since I decided to use lower amounts of yudane to get my bread soft, soft, and strong. And I was happy with that!

A few close friends expressed a strong desire for artisan Italian bread made from freshly milled, whole wheat flour. They envisioned a loaf with a crispy exterior, a tender interior, and generously-sized holes. Not only that, they preferred it not to be baked in a Dutch oven. Local bakeries achieve similar results by incorporating high-gluten flour and dough enhancers. Therefore, I developed a whole wheat Italian bread recipe utilizing vital wheat gluten to mimic these qualities.

No Additives Challenge

Once I posted my recipes, folks asked the same questions I usually have:

Can I make authentic fresh-milled Italian bread without the vital wheat gluten, and how?

Those folks inspired me to keep trying with the Italian bread without additives. I'm THRILLED to show you it CAN be done, and it can be GREAT! I nearly neglected the impact of reducing yudane in my soft sandwich loaves, which enabled me to omit vital wheat gluten and lecithin, still maintaining softness and pliability. I'm not sure WHY it didn't occur to me sooner to try it with this bread.

Thanks to some comments and support from my friend Monique at Lovely Bell Bakes, I was able to:

• use wire whips to incorporate more air into the Italian bread dough, getting excellent windowpane in minutes. This makes it great for KitchenAid and weaker mixer users

• incorporate a fridge rise

• change up the way I shape my Italian bread dough — her tips gave me encouragement to try again. Shaping open bakes (without a pan) has been a personal struggle

This rustic Italian bread recipe is perfect in every way — the texture of the crumb, how it holds it's height, and it's chewy yet crunchy crust. This is a daily loaf winner! I hope you enjoy this whole wheat Italian bread recipe as much as my family and friends do.