The Fresh Loaf

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Whole-Wheat Rye Spelt

Bashert's picture
Bashert

Whole-Wheat Rye Spelt

This was an experiment I thought turned out worthy of sharing. I keep trying to increase the depth of flavor and wean myself off store-bought white flour. So, here is my 90% hydration 60% whole-wheat, 30% rye, and 10% spelt sourdough, made using the Tartine method.

Formula for two 1000g loaves:

200g Levain

600g organic whole-wheat

300g organic rye

100g spelt

900g water

20g salt

3.5 hour bulk rise, 2 hour proof at room temp after shaping

 

Bubbling whole-grain dough.

The crumb.. and an arm.

 

Customers at the market seemed to love it! Ended up with a very soft crumb and slightly sweet, nutty whole-wheat flavor. My wife says my spelt breads are "dry... in a good way." And I always think the dough smells like a big matzo ball when I'm mixing it. Anybody else notice this when using spelt??

Comments

ElPanadero's picture
ElPanadero

looking loaf.  Any particular reason why you gave yourself the challenge of a 90% hydration?  I kinda expected larger crumb holes as a result of that water content but I bet it was a tricky dough to handle.  I'm sure the mix of wheat/rye and spelt tasted great though.

Bashert's picture
Bashert

Yeah, I would have liked some bigger holes, too.. though I expected the crumb to be a little tighter, given the flours I used. As for the 90% hydration... I just wanted to try it! My usual for my standard whole-wheat loaf is 80% and it is always much easier to handle than my mostly white flour doughs. I figured this dough could take the higher hydration. I think I will try an overnight, cold final proofing next time to see how that effects the crumb.

golgi70's picture
golgi70 (not verified)

Looks wonderful.  What type of Rye and Spelt?  

Josh

Bashert's picture
Bashert

Thanks, Josh! I've been using Great River Organic Milling stone ground specialty whole grain rye for all my rye breads for a while. Free delivery on Amazon Prime! I just started experimenting with the spelt and have been using the only stuff I can find at the local supermarket... Arrowhead Mills organic whole grain spelt. Thanks again, Joel