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I'm trying last night's whole wheat and oatmeal bread. It's not very good. First of all, it's a pretty heavy and dense loaf. The crumb looks like a muffin again, and there's a slight taste of yeast. Then again, I am eating the heel. Maybe the interior is different.

As much as I like the idea of completely whole wheat, I don't think it makes a very good bread. I did add oatmeal, but oatmeal has no gluten, the magical protein that makes the spongy network that traps carbon dioxide the yeast make. There are pockets and holes, but they're so tiny.

I wonder if it could have benefited from a longer rest time. I took the dough out of the fridge and brought it together in one roundish mass. Then I did the "cloaking" trick the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book promotes: pulling the dough from side to the bottom on four sides, treating the dough ball like a square. (They promote this instead of kneading, though stirring the ingredients together with a wooden spoon was kinda like kneading anyway.) After that, I coated the outside with all-purpose flour so it wouldn't stick to me or the cutting board while it rests. I lightly stretched it out into an oblong shape so we could slice it better for sandwiches and toast. Then I let it sit in the kitchen for about 2 ½ hours. I lightly poked it to see how soft it was, and I thought it was ready to go in the oven.

I'm not really sure how I can improve this. I was making some pretty good oatmeal/whole wheat breads before I used this book. For that other recipe, I was adding some gluten flour -- 1 tbsp per cup of flour/oatmeal -- and there was no milk or honey. I'm not convinced the gluten flour added anything.

I'm not giving up on the whole wheat. This weekend, I'm going to make a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and spelt. I'm not sure if it should be in thirds with some all-purpose yet. I'll see how I feel. And in the meantime, we've got a dense loaf to choke down.

Edit: The slight taste of yeast might just be the usual flavors that come out when the dough ages in the fridge for a few days.