Oak-smoked, malted, stoneground organic sourdough

This is a bit unusual. I saw smoked flour on the shelf of Waitrose in Kensington so had togive it a go. The flour is from Bacheldre watermill in Wales and is described as organic smoked stoneground malted blend flour. Their website says that malted wheat flakes are cold smoked over oak chippings for 18 hours in the smokehouse then mixed with organic stoneground malted blend flour. There's a gentle smoky aroma from the dry flour which becomes more assertive when it's wet.

I baked it as a sourdough made with a sponge (60g starter, 200g flour, 200g water) refrigerated overnight and left out for a couple of hours in the morning. Then I added 300g flour, 150g water, 12g salt (total 71% hydration), did a bit of stretching and folding, shaped it and let it prove at room temperature for a couple of hours or so then baked at 230°C for 20 minutes then 20 minutes at 185°C.

The result is less smoky than I expected, and the predominant flavour is still that of a malted loaf, but with a subtle, smoky background which adds interest and a distinctive character to the bread. It's certainly worth a try if you can get it, but apparently it's difficult to get it across the atlantic. I'll try it with a higher hydration next time.