Baking Great Bread at HomeTwo Soft Loaves Built on a Seven Grain Soaker
BeginnerEveryday Multigrain SandwichBread
by Henry Hunter
The loaf that ends the store-bought habit
Fermentation
8 to 12 hours for the soaker, then about 3 hours of dough time
Bake Time
35 to 40 minutes
Yield
Two 9 by 5 inch loaves, about 16 slices each
- Tested by Henry Hunter
- Last updated July 30, 2026
- Yields Two 9 by 5 inch loaves, about 16 slices each
- 5 equipment items
Perfection is not required
"Perfection is not required. Progress is."— Henry Hunter
By Henry Hunter Jr., founder of Crust & Crumb Academy and Baking Great Bread at Home.
About HenryAuthentic Flavor
This is the loaf I hand people when they tell me they want to stop buying bread. One bag of hot cereal from the oatmeal aisle, one bowl of boiling water the night before, and you're done shopping for six different grains you'll use once. My kids grew up on this bread. It makes a real sandwich that holds up to mustard and doesn't fall apart in a lunchbox.
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
The Soaker (Night Before, or 1 Hour Ahead)
Two parts boiling water to one part cereal. The cereal drinks almost exactly that much, so it goes into the dough without stealing water from your flour.
The Dough
Everything else goes in at once. No preferment, no starter, no waiting on a levain.
The Top
Optional, but it's what makes the loaf look like it came from a bakery instead of your oven.
Pro Tip
Seven grain hot cereal is the whole trick here. One bag replaces six or eight separate grains, it costs a few dollars, and it lives in the hot cereal aisle right next to the oatmeal. Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain and 10 Grain both work. So does any bulk bin multigrain cereal blend, as long as it's raw and uncooked, not instant.
Night Before, or 1 Hour Ahead
Make the Soaker
This is the step people skip, and it's the step that decides whether you get a soft loaf or a heavy one. Dry grain in dough acts like a sponge and pulls water back out of your flour for hours. Soaked grain shows up already full and leaves the flour alone.
Click each step to mark complete
Combine and Stir
Put the cereal and salt in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water straight over the top and stir it well with a fork or a dough whisk until there are no dry pockets hiding at the bottom.
Cover and Wait
Cover the bowl and leave it on the counter. Overnight is best, 8 to 12 hours. One hour is the minimum if you're baking today. When it's ready it looks like thick, cooled porridge and holds its shape on a spoon.
⏱ Wait Time
1 to 12 hours
Pro Tip
That half teaspoon of salt is doing real work. Grain sitting in warm water for hours starts breaking its own starch down into sugar, and too much of that turns your crumb gummy. Salt slows those enzymes down. If your kitchen runs above 80F (27C), let the soaker cool on the counter and then move it to the fridge overnight.
The problem with dry grain
Toss dry grain or seed straight into dough and it behaves like a sponge in a puddle. It pulls water out of the flour over the next few hours, the gluten tightens, the loaf goes dense, and you get blamed for the recipe. Soaking first is not a nice extra step. It's the whole difference between a hearty loaf and a brick.
Measured absorption, by weight
These are the numbers I build soakers from, written as a percentage of the grain's dry weight. Cold water first, then boiling. Cracked wheat 178 and 225. Rolled oats 90 and 206. Steel cut oats 70 and 104. Coarse cornmeal 58 and 173. Rye chops 65 and 154. Wheat bran 96 and 168. Barley flakes 125 and 200. Flaxseed 130 and 136. Chia 237 and 276. Quinoa 78 and 104. Sunflower 80 either way. Sesame 58 and 68. Pumpkin seed 38 and 48. Millet 48 either way.
How to use it
Multiply the dry weight of each grain by its number. Add those up. That's the water your soaker needs to stop stealing from your dough. Add a little more than that and the extra becomes free water, so take the same amount back out of the dough liquid. Now you can build any grain blend you want and still land on the hydration you meant to hit.
Why boiling changes the number
Boiling water gelatinizes starch, which lets the grain hold far more water and hold onto it through the bake. That's why rolled oats jump from 90 to 206. Hard oily seeds like sunflower and millet barely move, because there's little starch to gelatinize. Those two only need softening, not cooking.
The Takeaway
Soak by the numbers, not by eye. Grain weight times its absorption rate equals the water it owes you.
Step 2
Mix the Dough
Everything goes in together, soaker included. The grain has a shearing effect on , so this dough takes a few extra minutes to come together than a plain white dough would. Give it the time and it gets there.
Click each step to mark complete
Combine Everything
In the mixer bowl, add both flours, the lukewarm milk, honey, salt, yeast, and the whole soaker. Mix on low with the dough hook for 2 minutes, just until there's no dry flour left. It looks rough and shaggy at this point. That's correct.
Rest 20 Minutes
Turn the mixer off, cover the bowl, and walk away for 20 minutes. This short lets the whole wheat bran soften and the flour finish drinking. The dough will be noticeably smoother when you come back, and you'll knead less for it.
Add the Butter
Add the softened butter in three or four pieces with the mixer on low. It'll look like the dough is coming apart. Keep going. It pulls back together within a minute or two.
Knead to Strength
Mix on medium-low for 7 to 9 minutes. You're looking for a dough that clears the sides of the bowl and pulls away from your fingers, soft but not sticky. Check the : stretch a piece thin enough to see light through it. With grain in the dough you'll see the seeds and bits interrupt the window. Look at the film between them, not the bits.
By Hand Instead
Mix with a dough whisk until shaggy, rest 20 minutes, work the butter in with your fingers, then on the counter for 8 to 10 minutes with two rests of 5 minutes in the middle. The rests do half the work for you.
Pro Tip
Target a finished dough temperature of 78F (26C). Take its temperature with your instant-read thermometer. Warmer than 82F (28C) and the bulk rise runs away from you. Cooler than 72F (22C) and you'll be waiting an extra hour.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Autolyse Rest
Knead
Step 3
Bulk Fermentation
One rise in the bowl. is where the flavor gets built, and with 1% yeast and a warm dough it moves along at a reasonable pace.
Click each step to mark complete
Round and Cover
Shape the dough into a loose ball, drop it into a lightly oiled bowl, and cover it.
Rise Until Nearly Doubled
Let it rise at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours, until it's grown by about three quarters and springs back slowly when you press it. Judge the dough, not the clock. A cold kitchen adds 30 to 45 minutes.
⏱ Wait Time
1½ to 2 hours
Pro Tip
Grain doughs hide their progress. All those bits break up the light and make it hard to read volume by eye. Use a clear straight-sided container and mark the starting height with a rubber band or a piece of tape. Then you're measuring, not guessing.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Bulk Rise
Step 4
Shape and Pan
Two loaves, rolled tight. The tighter the roll, the more even the crumb, and even crumb is the entire point of a sandwich loaf.
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Divide
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and divide it in two equal pieces. Weigh them. Each should land around 940g. Eyeballing it gives you one tall loaf and one short one every time.
Pat and Roll
Pat each piece into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and as long as your pan. Roll it up tightly from the short edge, pinching the seam closed as you go. Push out any big air pockets you feel under your palms.
Seam Down
Set each loaf seam side down in a greased 9 by 5 inch pan. Press the dough gently into the corners so it fills the pan evenly.
Pro Tip
If the dough fights you and springs back while you're rolling, it needs a . Cover it and give it 10 minutes, then try again. Fighting a tight dough tears the gluten you just spent nine minutes building.
Shaping
Shaping Options
This dough was built for a pan, but it'll take a couple of other shapes without any changes to the formula.
Two 9 by 5 Pan Loaves (Recommended)
The default. Even slices, good sandwich geometry, freezes well.
RecommendedClick each step to mark complete
Divide
Two equal pieces, about 940g each.
Roll Tight
Pat to a rectangle, roll from the short edge, pinch the seam.
Pan
Seam side down in greased 9 by 5 pans, pressed into the corners.
One Pullman Loaf Plus Rolls
Split the dough 1000g for a 9 by 4 Pullman pan and the rest into rolls. Square slices for sandwiches, rolls for dinner the same night.
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Divide
One 1000g piece, then divide what's left into 8 pieces of about 110g.
Shape
Roll the big piece for the Pullman. Round the rolls tight and set them on a lined sheet, 2 inches apart.
Bake
Pullman lidded for 35 minutes at 350F (175C). Rolls on their own sheet for 18 to 20 minutes.
Twelve Sandwich Rolls
The whole batch as twelve rolls of about 157g. This is the market-friendly version if you're selling.
Click each step to mark complete
Divide
Twelve pieces of about 157g each.
Round
Round each one on an unfloured spot on the counter so it grips and tightens.
Proof and Bake
Proof 45 to 55 minutes, then bake at 375F (190C) for 18 to 22 minutes to 195F (90C) internal.
Proof Test: Press the side of the loaf with a floured fingertip. Ready dough takes the dent and fills it back in slowly, most of the way but not all. Fast and complete spring back means it needs more time. A dent that stays put means bake it now.
Step 5
Final Proof
Watch the pan, not the clock. The rim of the pan is the most reliable measuring tool in your kitchen.
Click each step to mark complete
Proof Until Domed
Cover loosely and proof for 1 to 1¼ hours, until the highest point of the dough sits about 1 inch above the rim of the pan.
Check It
Use the . Press the side of the loaf gently with a floured finger. The dent should fill back in slowly and not quite all the way. If it springs back fast, give it 15 more minutes. If the dent stays put and the dough sighs, get it in the oven now.
Top It
Brush the tops gently with milk and scatter the rolled oats over them. Brush light. Pressing hard on a fully proofed loaf deflates it.
⏱ Wait Time
1 to 1¼ hours
Pro Tip
Start your oven preheat when the dough is about 20 minutes out. Overproofed multigrain collapses in a specific way: the top caves into a shallow saddle instead of doming. Once you've seen it once you'll never miss it again.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Final Proof
Step 6
Bake and Cool
Moderate heat and a thermometer. Honey browns fast, so this bakes cooler than a lean loaf would.
Step by Step
Bake
Bake at 350F (175C) on the lower-middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back at the 20 minute mark if your oven runs hot on one side.
Tent If Needed
If the tops are deep brown before 25 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over them and keep baking. Color on top doesn't mean done in the middle.
Check Internal Temperature
Done is 195F to 200F (90C to 93C) in the center. This is the one place I won't tell you to trust your eyes. A grain loaf can look finished and still be wet at the core.
Cool Completely
Turn the loaves out of the pans right away onto a wire rack. Let them cool at least 2 hours before you slice. Cutting warm multigrain bread gives you a gummy, compressed crumb and it's the number one reason people think they failed.
Bake
Cool
For a softer crust, brush the tops with a little butter the moment they come out of the pans. For a firmer, chewier crust, leave them alone.
Baking Methods
Two pans side by side on one rack, uncovered start to finish.
Equipment: Two 9 by 5 inch loaf pans, lower-middle rack
Preheat
Preheat to 350F (175C) for at least 20 minutes with the rack in the lower-middle position.
Bake
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pans front to back at 20 minutes.
Tent
Tent loosely with foil if the tops darken before 25 minutes.
Verify
Pull at 195F to 200F (90C to 93C) in the center.
Turn Out
Out of the pans immediately, onto a rack, cool 2 hours minimum.
"Bake to temperature, not to time. Every oven lies a little, and a grain loaf hides an underbaked center better than any other bread you'll make."
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 slice (about 47g) • 32 servings per recipe
* Values are estimates based on standard ingredients; actual values vary by brands and portion size.
Storage
Room Temperature
3 to 4 days in a sealed bread bag or a lidded box. Grain breads hold moisture better than plain white loaves because the soaked grain keeps giving water back to the crumb.
Refrigerated
Skip the fridge. Bread goes stale faster at refrigerator temperature than it does on the counter.
Frozen
Up to 3 months. Slice the whole loaf first, freeze in a bag with the air pressed out, then pull slices as you need them and toast straight from frozen.
Refresh
Sprinkle the loaf with water and warm it at 350F (175C) for 8 to 10 minutes. The crust crisps back up and the crumb softens.
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Troubleshooting
Baker's Notes
Common questions and solutions for perfect results
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