July 12, 2017 - 6:25am
"Fine" whole grain spelt flour?
I have a recipe from a book which calls for "fine" whole grain spelt flour. What does this mean? Does it mean that the biggest pieces have been sifted out, or that it is 100% of the grain, but with a fine grind. Quite confused! The whole grain spelt I have access to is specifically listed as "coarse", and the fine one is mentioned as the biggest pieces being sifted out.
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I have heard of...
Wholegrain Spelt
White Spelt, and...
Light Spelt; which is with some of the bran removed.
Do they mean light spelt or something else?
... they mean finely milled - wholegrain is the whole grain.
If you were ti sift some of the bran out of the stuff you have you'd get a finer flour, but it would be lacking some of the bran - would that make a difference? Who knows - try it and see :)
I've been milling my own spelt recentl - and find that the finest ground is making the breads I prefer, but a little coarser is OK too.
-Gordon
My whole grain fine stone milled spelt flour has per 100g: 8.8g fibre, 14g protein, 60g carbohydrate
A sifted out spelt flour will have lower protein and fibre with more carbohydrates.
Hope that helps.
Just checked and the sifted one is 12g protein / 62g carb, but the non-sifted whole grain one also have the same characteristics.. so I guess it doesn't tell that much!
thats kind of an oxymoron is it not? a fine wholegrain...?
While there is a relationship between the two, grind and extraction are dissimilar.
http://www.shipton-mill.com/flour-direct/very-fine-ground-organic-100-wholemeal-pastry-flour-203.htm
The flour can be milled fine from whole berries. It just takes longer (time is money) and the temps must stay low.
My bag of spelt also gives tips about using more water and more time to let the fibre soak up the moisture and soften. Also suggest using more yeast or baking powder than regular all purpose wheat flour for a better rise.
Whole flours should have longer wet times (moist from the moment of hydration to the bake) to reduce the plants natural "repellant" and soften fibre.
i stand corrected. you learn something new everyday. thats good to know as im often looking for the flavour of wholegrain but need a fine grind.
M