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What recipe do you recommend for Sprouted grains

RB32689's picture
RB32689

What recipe do you recommend for Sprouted grains

I have today ordered 5k of spelt berries and 5k of wheat berries. I have never before used berries and ground them myself.

I thought it would be particularly healthy to start with 1K berries soaked overnight and ground next morning into a damp mush for baking 100% wholemeal bread.

Would it be possible for me to have some links to recipes that work for this type of bread flour cooking?

 

Robin

 

 

 

 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

years have some kind of sprouted grain or flour or both in them.  Any recipe can have regular grain replaced with sprouted grain.  You may have to adjust the water a bit downward the more sprouted flour you use and it may ferment and proff a bit faster as well due to the more enzymes at work.  Less autolyse is also required.  I have some posts going back to 2012 where I started out by putting sprouted grains into bread as add ins.

You will love sprouted grain bread as mush as I do.  I don't even thonk about make a bread without them any more.

Happy sprouting and baking - You can start here

Sprouting and Malting Primer

 

RB32689's picture
RB32689

Thank you for your response. As I do not have a wheat grinder or dehydrator I tried another approach which was to grind sufficient dough  for just one small  loaf and thus not need to dehydrate any  flour. I used  a Samson Juicer which has a set of tools for also  grinding soaked  hard grains like wheat.

The resultant dough was very sticky. I was unable to use the dough hook on it because the dough stuck to the base of the bowl and was not being picked up by the hook. The dough also stuck on the edge of the bowl and could not be reached by the hook. I was unable to manually kneed the dough because it was too sticky. All I could do was use the bread spatula to keep  folding over the dough.

As my first attempt at sprouted wheat I used  567g (3 cups) English wheat nuts. They sprouted to 1004g. I also used 3.5g active dry yeast, 20g honey, 5g salt. I knocked back the dough after it was sufficiently risen and then put it in the fridge because it was too late at night. This  morning the dough  would not rise again. I left it to rise for most of the day but there was no movement.

What do you feel about these comments:

  • I should have made 2 loaves by using  more sprouted yeast and should then have had  enough dough in the bowl  for the dough hook to pick up.
  • I am unclear about the reason for the sticky dough. Based on cooking with 100% wholemeal spelt flour, I think it was because I had overhydrated it, but that was what the grains took in for their development. I am not sure how to prevent  the stickiness so that I can make a decent dough.
  • Next time I should sprout just for long enough for the sprouting to appear but not to grow much further.
  • When converting a flour based recipe to sprouted nuts what should I take as the conversion ratio assuming very small  sprouts?
  • I am cooking the bread at the moment, I expect it to be eatable but not well  risen and airy.

Robin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

make.  Grinding up sprouts and adding yeast and making bread with that is the kind of bread that will not rise like a normal loaf of bread - buit is likely one of the  most ancient ones.  But you can put it in a pan about 2 hours after mixing and it should rise enough to make dense loaf that is very healthy and hearty.  I would expect it to rise about 25-30% in the pan or so.  This is the kind of bread you bake to 196 F on the inside and let it sit for about 24 hours before cutting.

I would not sprout the grains much past shitting stage.  You can also dry them in a cool oven with the fan on and the door ajar.  Then grind the dried berries in a coffee grinder if you want to make a more normal whole grain bread that rise more.

Happy sprouting and baking 

RB32689's picture
RB32689

Your reply is so useful that I just have to ask a further question.

I have ground the sprouted  wheat nuts very thoroughly. I assumed that I would get in effect the same as a normal dough.   Do you know why it does not rise like a normal loaf of bread?

Robin

 PS

I followed the recipe at http://whatwearecookingnow.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/100-sprouted-wheat-bread.html

My loaves  have  just come out of the oven. The dome of  each  loaf is inverted. They look just like a builders brick complete with  frog. I hope they taste better than they look.

 

RB32689's picture
RB32689

My last attempt came out eatable but it was nothing like bread. It was more like a very dense brownie. It did not rise at all! Any recommendations for a recipe that I can use that might overcome my problems?

Robin

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

it won't act like fkour where you can develop gluten to jold the gas in and make the dough rise.  There just isn't any gluten to do this in gruel so it will be brownie like in the end/.  A great healthy and hearty bread but it will look different and have a different texture.  

People put all kins of gruels and porridges in their breads in lesser amounts biut have some flour in there to make it act more like bread than a brownie..

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

From your original post it sounds like you are trying to make Essene bread, not a yeast bread made with flour (ground from dried sprouted grains).

Try this link, or search other recipes for Essene bread. This will not rise and is not going to be anything like a yeasted bread make with flour of any kind. It is made with wet pulp from ground wet sprouted grains, maybe with some soaked dried fruit. It is also not baked at a high temperature but more like dried slowly.

If, on the other hand, you want to make bread that rises and is more like 'regular' bread, you need to thoroughly dry the sprouted grains at the right time (check out dabrownman's link), then grind them into flour. Then find a recipe that already works for you (one with flour, water, salt and yeast) and use some of your sprouted flour in place of the regular flour. Increase the percentage of sprouted flour until you get a bread you like.

RB32689's picture
RB32689

There is a chinese made electric herb/ grain mill that looks like it may work well on dried sprouted grains. Has anyone used one of these?

http://ebay.eu/2fMJWOa

Here is a quote:

The high speed swing grinding machine is a necessary  tool to ram the medicine, it is 50 times stronger than the traditional  motor in working efficiency. This machine adopts ultra high-speed motor, can quickly smash all kinds of dehydrated food, rice, corn, sesame, soybean, fish feed, pepper, medicine (such as ganoderma, licorice,  tianqi, pearl etc), usually smash the medicine into the powder for no  more than a minute. This machine is suitable for dispensary, medicine  processing factory and powder processing.

 

 

 

 

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Robin,  if you are asking will the machine in that link mill berries,  either sprouted or not sprouted, I don't know for sure, but don't think so.  First, I assume you are not in the US, since the machine is 220 volts, and most houses in the US don't have spare outlets wired for that  ( Typically, 220 volt outlets would be for a stove or dryer, and would be dedicated to just that appliance )  Second, it appears to be more of a high power food processor, so it will chop the flour, not grind it between two stones ( or burrs ) like a traditional flour mill.  Third,  i don't see how you would know when it is done, or how you would vary the coarseness of the grind, it looks like you load the product, turn it on, then turn it off, then empty the container -  in most flour mills, there is a discharge to a hopper, and there is an adjustment that lets you specify how finely you want the grain milled.   Turning back to your earlier posts,  if you do find a way to grind the sprouted grain, it works a bit like normal grain, but it has a few differences - it needs less hydration, and if you use a hydration that is proper for normal home ground wheat, it will turn out too wet, and it is much more sensitive to proofing -  and is easy to over proof.   This is a long thread  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40502/peter-reinharts-sprouted-whole-wheat-bread  but to sum up my conclusions,  you have to be very careful to dry the berries at the first sight of sprouting, or you will end up with a gummy dense loaf, and you have to watch the bulk ferment and proofing stages like a hawk, or it will overproof. 

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

It has been about 40 years since I tried this (I think it's time I did it again) but this worked fantastic for me and it did rise like normal bread.

I sprouted the wheat and ground it in a hand crank meat grinder (so it was not blended to mush - it was coarse like hamburger) and I used just enough wheat flour (very little - like 2 or 3 tablespoons) so I could handle it.  It was very wet and sticky but I was able to shape it into a loaf and it did rise and it was delicious.  

I'll have to experiment because I don't remember exactly - but it was very simple bread with just the sprouted wheat and yeast and salt. I don't remember whether or not I added anything like dry milk powder or any sugar.  But I remember the secret was to use a meat grinder so the resulting "mash" had enough body to handle.

RB32689's picture
RB32689

I am interested in reading more from you on this approach. For the moment I have given up on the sprouted bread and am soaking the freshly ground flour, in an acidic medium for 12 hours. This is supposed to have similar effects to sprouting. I have had good results. One big thing I have learned is that the temperature probe should be placed in the dough when proving. It is not enough for the surrounding area to be at 35c because in cold weather the dough may  not prove because the dough temp is well below the proving area temperature.

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

It has been many years since I had a meat grinder - I was searching a bit today to see if I could find a good price on a meat grinder attachment for my bosch universal mixer but the prices are ridiculous.  So I'll have to watch for a hand powered one or a good deal on an attachment.  

As I recall, the bread was coarse and would crumble easily so you needed a good bread knife - but when sliced and toasted it was very good (crispy like an english muffin - only hearty because of being all wheat).   

As soon as I find a meat grinder, I'll experiment and see if I can duplicate the success I had ages ago with that process.

 

RB32689's picture
RB32689

I look forward to your reply. Did your old recipe require the sprouted, minced berries to be dehydrated before cooking?

 

 

 

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

I simply blot dried the sprouted berries on paper towels to soak up as much moisture as I could before running them through the meat grinder - so the output from the meat grinder was quite wet.  And I did have to sprinkle a bit of flour in order to handle the wet dough - but I used as little flour as possible and the dough was very wet/sticky.   It would probably help a lot to dry the sprouted berries a bit - I'll have to experiment.  

I was not working with a recipe :)

I'm still watching CraigsList and Garage Sales for a meat grinder so I can experiment with this again.

 

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

OK ... I finally found a used meat grinder attachment for my Bosch so I am going to try and make the sprouted wheat bread again the way I used to many years ago.   

I sprouted the wheat in a jar for about 3 days rinsing 3 times a day - used a piece of t-shirt cotton around the top of the jar and the jar tilted upside down in a small bowl so air could circulate through the T-Shirt top.

Then I wrapped the wet sprouts in a terry cloth tea towel and blotted them dry (turns out I may not have needed to do this) and ran these through the meat grinder using the smaller holed disc:

This was surprisingly dry and I had to add water to get it to mix into a dough (I was expecting it to be too wet) - you can see the big chunks of bran and it looks shaggy but it is very sticky and the gluten feels really well developed. This was so much easier with the Ankarsrum mixer - the last time I did this, many years ago, I was kneading by hand.

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I have some rye sprouting and I was going to use a food processor to grind them but I believe we have a meat grinder that attaches to the KitchenAid. Thanks!

ron45's picture
ron45

I'm so glad I came across your post and links on sprouting grain. It's been so long ago that I forgot why I switched from hard red winter wheat to spelt or part spelt [ sprouted or unsprouted ] but as some of you will know grinding spelt over long periods in a stone grinder gets you badly clogged stones. I had to grind up a bunch of basmati rice to get the stones cleaned up! Is the spelt more conducive to better rising or a lighter whole grain bread?

How do you figure the water amount with sprouted grains in the recipe? Thanks to all of you WW fansfor being here.

Ron

RB32689's picture
RB32689

I grind the spelt berries in a bullet spice grinder. I have to grind the berries over 5 batches to accommodate  1kilo of berries, but it is very quick. I then soak the powdered grains in an acidic medium over night. I have to mix it thoroughly beforehand.  Currently I am using 80% hydration less the Apple cider vinegar, honey and mollases so it comes down to 75% actual water.  Only 2 minutes next day with the dough hook. The dough becomes elastic in that time. The resultant bread is good. 

Currently I am having problems with using the oven for the proving temperature as well as baking, and have been wondering if I would get better results from a  12L halogen oven. I am hoping I could keep the proving temp to 35C and then without taking out the dough cook it in the glass oven.  I am also wondering how big a loaf I could bake in a halogen oven. At present the 1k spelt is producing two 2lb loaves in an ordinary convection cooker.

Robin