Wok Grokking 101

Previously, I've posted about how best to make use of a second hand store find. My WOK! Large, stainless steel, fairly light and large enough to make a portable kitchen out of it should the need arise.

Well, as promised, I am continuing the Grok the Wok series with a simple European Whole Wheat Loaf. Think about it, just because you have to survive in less than ideal circumstances, why should you go without your daily bread?

Here's a simple recipe using only three ingredients that I've borrowed from Ask Jackie at Backwoods Home Magazine www.backwoodshome.com Backwoods Home is a print magazine based in the US with a GREAT website supporting self reliant living with tons of great information. I DID write and ask to link to their site, but sadly, never heard back. C'est la vie - so hopefully they won't mind that I'm spreading their good work without proper authorization.

Here's the recipe:
Warm Water
Whole Wheat Flour
Yeast
Nope, nothing else.

The method is pretty simple.

Put 2 and 1/2 cups of warm water into a fairly large bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of yeast over the warm water and let it stand for about 10 minutes to soften. Stir to dissolve the yeast.
Mix in 3 to 4 cups of the whole wheat flour and mix well. The result at this point should look like a THICK batter. Cover and set in a warm place for about an hour. It should double in bulk.

Now add (one cup at a time) 3 to 4 more cups of flour, mixing well between cups. Do this until a nice ball is formed that is NOT sticky (but not too stiff either). If this is too much mucking about with a spoon, then get your hands in there. You can flop it out onto a large floured surface and knead it for a few minutes. Return to bowl (or just cover it) and let rise again (about an hour).

Knead down into a workable size ball and divide the dough in half. Work each piece into a ball (or loaf like affair) and place in a greased pan. Cover again and let rise a bit longer. You can cut slashes across the top of each loaf for effect. It gives your loaves a nice look.

Under normal baking circumstances the recipe now calls to bake the loaf at 350 deg. for about an hour, or until it's golden brown and hollow sounding when thumped with your finger.

Here's the method with the wok...

Set your steaming rack and spacer dish and put the lid on the wok. Set the heat source to medium (the 4 setting on my electric stove, or a med-low flame on gas/propane) and let the unit heat up for about 30 - 40 minutes. You can preheat your wok while working through the last rising step.

The wok has reached a workable temperature when you can spritz a bit of water at it (flick with your fingers or use a spray bottle) and it sizzles and evaporates immediately. Quickly remove the lid and place your first loaf centered on the spacer pan. Use caution - you WILL get a face full heat, so be careful. Replace the lid and set a timer (or just keep track) of about an hour.

For this experiment I used two different types of baking pans. No. 1 is a solid little pan (the bottom of a BBQ chicken roaster set). No. 2 is a steamer basket from a three piece stainless pasta pot set that I have.

I wanted to compare the two and see what happened.

No. 1

Using pan No. 1 (the solid chicken roaster dish) resulted in a rather nifty loaf.

Somewhat jagged, with a heavy top crust, nice consistency throughout the loaf and a rather heavy (thick) bottom crust. The bottom crust is a little heavy for my taste, however, the dog didn't put up a stink over the left overs.


No. 2
This little pan proved to be ideal! I suspect the steam holes in it have everything to do with the thinner crust and less jagged edges. Not too sure exactly how this would have happened, but I think the steam escaping through the little holes produced a smoother top crust and a thinner (more crispy than chewy) bottom crust. The dog was not entirely happy about NOT getting any leftovers.

All in all, I declare Wok Grokking 101 a complete success! I wrapped and froze the steamer basket loaf and will let you know how well it keeps. The No. 1 loaf is already gone (the kids were visiting this afternoon.

So, conclusions...
1. Dry yeast has a great shelf life, make SURE there is a decent sized jar (or two) in your stocks. If you have limited space, buy the envelopes of yeast - same stuff, just smaller packaging.
2. This recipe was completed using the least expensive variety of whole wheat flour I could find. I will try a batch with white flour to see if the TYPE of flour makes much difference.
3. Next project....buttermilk biscuits!

I find that many people I talk to about baking in anything other than a standard oven look at me like I've sprouted two heads. Why is it so difficult to think that less than perfect circumstances could possibly result in success? Attitude, perhaps? **wink**
Rational, Positive, Creative (in ALL things)
Tabby