Don't soak linseed (flax seeds)
Just a word of warning: don't soak flax seeds!
I was making my standard 33% wholewheat pagnotta with a pasta madre leaven and had run out of sesame seeds. I normally add about 100 gm of mixed pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds to the dough. So I used linseed instead, but without even thinking poured hot water over all the seeds to soak them. I know linseed goes all mucilaginous in liquids. But somehow I forgot.
The problem came when I tried to fold the seeds into the dough. The slime prevented the dough from coming together around the seeds, and the seeds kept breaking through the surface. So I gave up and just amalgamated as best as I could, then allowed the loaf to rise in a cloth-lined basket. It stuck more than usual to the cloth. But it baked up beautifully and tasted pretty good, with lodes of seeds running through the crumb. I wouldn't do it again, but I'm glad I didn't just throw it out.
Jeremy