Hemp Whole Wheat Loaf

Another Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, with Cracked Hemp.

Last time I made this, I thought I should decrease the hydration a bit.  This time, I decreased the hydration, but it didn't improve the rise of the dough.  The water still oozed out of the dough, made the proofing basket sticky, and then gave me some trouble when I transferred the dough to the hot Dutch Oven.  Overall, not a major improvement.  And it didn't even really make the dough easier to work with.  It is still way too tight to develop the gluten well.

Results
But the crumb is very moist, and the bread tastes good.  I will still play with hemp in bread, it is very interesting.  But I haven't mastered it.

Some of my recent posts have been overlong, and I'm a few breads behind.

Who Owns the Land
I said last time that my concerns over the conglomerates who put additives in our food, and who buy up land to control resources, led me to question who owns our land, who grows our food.

It turns out that the research has already been done.  I am reading a book that deals with that subject: Pearce, Fred (2012) The Land Grabbers: the new fight over who owns the earth. Beacon Press.

The first line grabbed my attention:

"Soaring grain prices and fears about future food supplies are triggering a global land grab."  

Pearce's second chapter is no less interesting.  He succinctly and methodically explains how the recent failure in the banking infrastructure left investors looking at commodity futures.  The problem with this is, it destabilized the price of food.  It made millions of people hungry, and put millions more at risk of starvation.

And I talk on about my bread, and giving the stale pieces to my chickens.  It makes me sick.

I recommend this book.  Pearce is an excellent writer, with important things to say.  Important things for me to hear.

'Nuf said for now.

Notes to Myself

• As usual, links to Amazon are not an endorsement of their service.  There are no ads here.  It is just convenient for me to put their link here so interested people can find out more info.
• This bread lasted great, remained moist, but it ultimately stales like any other bread. 
• Try giving away a loaf of bread for every bread you make -- not just to your friend, but to someone who needs it.  Perhaps the food bank.  Would they take it? 
• Here's what I'd try next time, with hemp:
•  ww flour 80% 
• ground hemp 20% 
• wheat germ 5%
• water 65% - increase to 70% at the salt add, if you dare.
• salt 1.8%