November 16, 2011 - 2:34pm
whole grain spelt flour
It seems to me that Joyfulbaker had a posting about using whole grain spelt flour which is what I am trying to work with now in conjunction with rye flour. I'd appreciate any pertinent information available on what specifically has to be done in order to get a good loaf of bread. Many thanks.
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I don't have a great deal of experience with spelt but I did actually make one today. I used a wholemeal spelt flour with a hydration of 60%, it was a little stiff but I was making a cottage loaf shape and it needed to be able to hold its shape through proofing. As you can see in the second picture, the one behind at 66% didn't hold it's shape nearly so well, i think though that I would have been ok with this shape at about 62-63%. If your planning on using a tin you i would say you would probably ok with around 70-75% hydration, this may be ok for a banneton as well but i would maybe be more cautious and use 66-70%, this is just guess work though as I have not actually done it yet. As for salt and yeast i used 2% and 1.3% (compressed yeast). The spelt itself is very easy to work with, it requires very little kneading comes together pretty much by itself, I would say that just mix all your ingredients, maybe give it a little knead for a minute or two and then just give it a nice stretch and fold 3 or 4 times every twenty to thirty minutes or so. Bake it at around 220˚C. I would love to show you a crumb shot and tell you how it tastes but I have not cut into it yet, so maybe tomorrow. I have no experience of rye and spelt combined yet but I am sure I will sometime. Let me know how your bake go's I will be interested to see. Hope this was of some help
My little cottage loaf ready for proofing
fresh from the oven
removed due to double posting
I have no idea how or why this posted twice
People can make a mess, but to really do it up right you need a computer!
As the author you should be able to [Edit] the second posting (as well as the first). Just re-open it for [Edit] and there should be a [Delete] button. If not, just remove all the text from the post and re-title it something like "Delete - Duplicate Post". A short private message to floydm with a request to clean it up for you (include a link to make it easy for him to find it), and it will go away. Or, just pm floydm with a link to the duplicate posting, a mea culpa (maybe) and request that he remove the duplicate when he has time.
OldWoodenSpoon
here is a link to a discussion re the topic of baking bread with 100% spelt flour - http://sourdough.com/forum/topic/1049
The above link is to a bread baking forum that sponsored a spelt bake-off for it's members. The thread is very long but there are nuggets of solid information scattered among the usual pitter-patter. Also photos.
I posted this link to an earlier thread on TFL at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25336/help-grain-milling#comment-187722 - one or two members did check it out and you can read their feedback if you are so inclined.
@subfuscpersona - I am extremely grateful for the information you posted and will have great reading during the coming week. There seems to be an abundance of info on the internet about spelt and other grain flours, more than I will ever be able to absorb but I'm sure I will find what I need to help me.
Thanks much.