December 25, 2022 - 12:33pm
Spelt Bread Bakers. Do you use a Dough Conditioner?
I have been making whole spelt bread for many years now. The trouble with spelt bread is it is low in gluten. This makes it tricky to get consistent results. I heard there is a produt that is called a dough conditioner that can help. Has anyone here had experience with dough conditioner while baking spelt flour bread? My main issue is the loaves can sometimes have the raised roof appearance. Other than that it’s pretty darn good in every other way, especially the taste. Thanks for your input and Seasons Greetings to all!
Edit: The dough conditioner I am talking about is Vital Wheat Protein Gluten. It adds gluten that is lacking in some flour to help the bread dough have a better consistency.
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Hi,
I make Hamelman's Honey Spelt bread about one a month and get consistent results without any dough conditioners. It's 75% stone milled spelt and a Pate Fermentee. I think you can iron out issues with process techniques rather than dough enhancers. Try 75% spelt and 25% bread flour instead of wheat gluten.
This a link to one of my previous spelt bakes here on TFL: Honey Spelt Bread | The Fresh Loaf
Cheers,
Gavin.
Sarah Owens Honeyed, Spelt and Oat Levain. A very nice recipe.
I've tried Hamelman's Honey-Spelt recipe twice and have had difficulties. The dough has almost no structure. My intention was to bake it as a pan loaf, but the dough was so weak that I had to scoop it up and shovel it in to the loaf pan. The flavor was fine and the second time I made it the crumb structure was better, but I'm reluctant to try it again until I figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I have had no success with this recipe or Daniel Leader's Whole Spelt Loaf. I've made a couple of other Hamelman recipes and they generally have worked for me.
I can't talk about consistency, as I've only baked it once so far, but I found this to be a tremendous recipe:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64417/100-sourdough-spelt-bread
Rob
Thanks Rob for bring this recipe to my notice. It's a very interesting process and the various comments demonstrate a deep knowledge of fermentation and the intricacies of spelt. I saw that Debra Wink was quoted which to me raises the credit of the post. 100% spelt is within reach.
Cheers,
Gavin
Gluten isn't a dough conditioner its really an additional ingredient usually in powder form that can be used to increase the strength of flours that might be deficient in the amount of gluten that they have available.
Bread Improvers and dough conditioners are quite different. Often used in commercial settings and often necessary for high speed mixing and no time doughs.
Noted. Although dough conditioners like Fleishman’s Bread Booster contain VWG as the main ingredient….
The gluten is being used to carry the miniscule amounts of chemical additives, even then commercial Bread improvers are added at the rate of 0.5% for a timed dough and 1% for a no time or instant dough that requires no Bulk fermentation period.
So if you were wanting to increase the gluten content by 1 or 2% best to just add dry gluten powder / flour. if you were wanting to use a conditioner / enhancer it will be most likely 0.5%.
Do i use Bread Improvers?, i haven't for a long time but i have been playing around with a locally produced one which i was gifted by a local baker friend and have been finding the results interesting.
Regards Derek
It sounds like you have a lot of experience with making whole spelt bread and have encountered some challenges due to the low gluten content of spelt flour. Using a dough conditioner like Vital Wheat Protein Gluten can be a helpful way to improve the consistency of your spelt bread dough and prevent the raised roof appearance that you mentioned. Some bakers have had success using dough conditioners like Vital Wheat Protein Gluten to improve the structure and rise of their spelt bread. However, it's important to keep in mind that every recipe is different and it's always a good idea to start with small amounts and adjust as needed. You may also want to consider adding other ingredients that can help improve the structure of your spelt bread, such as adding a small amount of vital wheat gluten or increasing the amount of liquid in the recipe. I hope this information is helpful, and I wish you the best of luck with your spelt bread baking! Happy holidays to you as well!
I do combine spelt with rye. They seem to work well together.
I put them together on the same plane with Salt & Pepper or Bride & Groom.
I don't use a dough conditioner; instead, I rely on a special sourdough that naturally conditions the dough:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/72493/20230617-simple-air-fryer-100-wholespelt-bread-clas
Yippee