According to researchers, what happens on a microscopic level with whole grain breads is that the sharp edges in the bran cut the forming gluten chains, so you don't get a big gluten net to hold in air.

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grains Breads book has a number of 100% whole grain breads, but also a number of transition breads with increasing amounts of whole grain flours. The Broom Bread recipe in that book is 100% whole grain, it is excellent and rises fairly well, but it takes a long rise.

With whole grain breads you have to knead longer and allow extra rising time.

Another possibility is to add extra gluten by adding some vital gluten.

If gluten isn't your problem, you could also try some rye or barley flour recipes, they have some gluten but not as much as wheat flour. I found a 100% rye flour recipe online a few years ago, it takes some practice to not get a brick but it is still fairly dense, like a firm pumpernickel.

Welcome to My Nebraska Kitchen.

Welcome on board. This is a great group with a wealth of knowledge.

I've only made small forays into whole grain breads. I do add whole wheat flour to pizza dough and pancakes. I also add flax meal and more recently I've started adding chickpea flour. I'm going for more fiber and more protein for my kids.

I have a list of things to try with rye bread. It has a long rise, as Mike suggests, and while my loaves are far from being door stops they are not as light as what I can buy from local bakeries. Still I have a list of things to try and I will let you know my results.

I may also start working on whole wheat because I really need to have both those breads in my repertoire. I've tried a KAF whole wheat recipe that included orange juice to tame some of the WW bitterness and that part did work well.

I really recommend Laurel's Kitchen Bread Cookbook for all whole wheat recipes and advice on making those breads. I find it easier to make relatively flat breads like focaccio and English Muffins and baking flat quick breads like biscuits and scones, and cornbread in 8x8 and 9x9 pans.

Since the doughs are relatively heavier it helps to spread them out instead of forcing them to rise high. Also using eggs makes the dough rise better since beaten eggs add structure.

A light whole wheat bread requires greater care than a white flour bread, for example I find that scalding milk is optional for a white flour bread, but a whole wheat bread made with nonscalded milk doesn't rise as high as one made with scalded milk.

I'm not sure organic flours are any better than ones that aren't certified as organic.

My daughter-in-law had a problem with wheat that caused her to break out in rashes, but she can control it with medications. But when she's here I try to minimize cooking and baking with wheat flour. She doesn't have a problem with rye or barley.

Doctors used to label all the wheat allergies as Celiac disease, but there are at least five different types of allergies or reactions to wheat products, and wheat is also suspected as being a trigger food for children with ADHD.

Welcome Blanche wishing you success in your baking and glad you've joined in posting.We all love to cook and bake and enjoy the help and encouraging we receive from each other.We learn everyday!

Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart is well worth the price even if you never use a recipe from the book. Chapter 1, "What Is It About Bread" is a great read. Mr. Reinhart's story about winning James Beard National Bread Competition and then going to bake makes this book worthwhile. I've been given it as a gift several times. Perhaps next time I will exchange it for one of his whole grain books.

Another interesting baker who has changed the way we bake is Jim Lahey. He is a commercial baker in New York and is at the front of the no-knead movement. He has some great stories of studying sculpture and going to Italy to pursue that and coming back a bread baker in his book My Bread.

Blanche, sorry if I missed it but what sort of equipment are you using? As Mike notes he outgrew his bread machine to a KitchenAid. I used to use my KitchenAid for bread but I tend to make batches that are at least four pounds of dough and my 5 quart bowl is just too small to handle it. Also I make bread a couple of times a year with some middle schoolers and I received some comments from parents whose kids wanted to buy expensive stand mixers. So I started making the dough by hand and found it easier than using my too small mixer.

Now based on comments here I may try to go back to my mixer to increase the rise of my breads. Of course that means I will need to reduce the recipe sizes.