Einkorn progress
I just love the taste of Einkorn bread - its 'nutty' taste is like nothing else I've tried before but it does have its idiosyncrasies and doesn't always respond like 'normal' sourdough bread. Previously, I've proved it in a banneton and baked it on a stone but it has collapsed - probably because of over-proving but I've learnt that lesson now.
This time, I did a 75/25 Einkorn/Canadian white blend at just 60% hydration using an overnight 30% preferment (produced from my rye-based culture). Two hours of Bulk Fermentation and just two hours proving until it had almost reached the top of the loaf tin. I used the Canadian white bread flour to try to get a bit more lift but the volume was a tad disappointing - I was hoping for something taller but nevertheless, the taste was just superb - the crumb was soft and moist and the crust crispy.
I have a bulk supply of this lovely flour and have a few more options to explore but I would be interested to hear from anyone out there who has tried and succeeded with Einkorn.
Cheers
about einkorn all on its own - usually use it as part of a multi-grain bread for flavor because of the astronomically high price. I don't think i have ever used it as the majority flour in any bread to date. 60% hydration sounds low for a panned bread but maybe Mini Oven has some posts on it?
Has to taste great! Well done and happy baking
I was under the impression that the hydration used for Einkorn was significantly less than that used for a 'conventional' flour. Some sources suggest as much as 20% less - hence my hydration of 60%. I have tried 65% previously and thought it too slack. However, I am quite willing to learn from others - if I can find any!!!
Cheers
einkorn+Mini Oven search and found a bunch of interesting hits including this one
I just cut it open
and yes, I find it lightly bitter. Very nutty. Well, I did add hazel nuts... I have been using Einkorn in most everything instead of AP flour. Hadn't made a pure loaf of it until today.
I prefer Spelt myself. I think the trick with this low gluten flour is to make a 5% water roux. I have been working with this recipe since Thursday. Apparently I had a poorly copied version of Eli Rogosa's method of making Einkorn bread. Her's takes 5 days. I kept extending the two day recipe I was using because it seemed too "unripe." When I found her recipe this evening, there was an "AHA!" moment. I will keep the Einkorn starter going until it IS ready and try again.
I had listless sticky firm dough and that's not the way to go with this weak flour. I even found studies where testing was done with 48% hydration because Einkorn absorbs so little water. True but like rye, conventional wheat wisdom is it's doom. "Makes a thick firm dough." (Stay away from those recipes!) I even pinched off a piece of dough and baked it to see if it would spring in the oven. It didn't. Hockey puck all the way, real stick to your ribs type dough.
That's when I decided high hydration in the name of water roux (Tangzhong) with malt and bubbling instant yeast was today's solution. (Bob and I have been discussing these low hydration Einkorn doughs and he's had little luck with them.) I now had a thoroughly re-mixed sticky patz that filled the form half full (for the second time.) I quickly placed the top half of the mould over the filled bottom, waited 15 minutes and stuck the form into a 160°C oven with the temperature rising. (Praying and hoping it wouldn't ooze out of the form at the midline.) When it hit 220°C 20 minutes later, I counted off 15 more minutes and lowered the oven to 200°C for the rest of the hour. Pulled it out, took off the top and, Wow, took a picture. Inside temp of 100°C or 212°F. The oven spring had doubled the size of the dough.
I will try something closer to this recipe next time.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/qampa-with-a-back-to-the-roots-grain-grower-319993/?no-ist
Those are fin looking Einkorn loaves. I've been baking only 100% Einkorn loaves for the past year and a half, it has been an amazing journey, especially considering that I've never baked before. Einkorn does not behave like any other kind of grain I've tried, its loose, doesn't rise well, doesn't hydrate well, can't be shaped easily (won't hold its shape) and is hard to score. Despite all that (and because my family has issues with gluten), I've stuck with Einkorn and just keep practicing with it. Obviously, blending it with any other grain quickly brings in the desirable characteristics of the other grain, but then its not 100% Einkorn (thats what my family keeps telling me), so I have focused on becoming a purist). If you experiment, varying hydration and baking times, you will find a good balance point and made decent loaves. They never look or rise as much as conventional wheat but thats irrelevant, Einkorn has its own characteristics and I'm learning to be amused rather than be annoyed by them.
..........perhaps I just have to get used to a reduced volume with Einkorn. Can you tell me what hydration you use as I can't seem to get any consistent information on this.
Cheers
I've had to get used to reduced volume. That doesn't mean that I won't discover a solution in the future but my loaves disappear quite quickly so its not like its a problem at all. LOL
There is no information because its still extremely rare to bake with Einkorn at all. I performed a daily search for months and really turned up nothing useful. I did find a few videos (which have since disappeared) showing someone baking a loaf that look vey white, shaped perfectly and rose like a champion. I immediately suspected a fraud and contacted the people that posted those videos to ask why it didn't look like Einkorn. All of the videos were taken offline and I never received even one explanation. Most of what I found online was fraudulent or was a mix of Einkorn and other flours (which does not help me at al).
I run anywhere between 67% and 85% hydration (for real). Yes its like baking with oatmeal at the higher hydrations but I've done it already so its possible. No, I did not notice any better rise at hydrations higher than 67%.
I just got a small bag of einkorn. I had a look at the SFBI site where there is a PDF on flour characteristics. The comment about einkorn is "more absorbent". The chart goes on to state % to use with bread flour and still have an open crumb is 70 % einkorn and 30% bread flour and 80% hydration.
Here on the Canadian prairies I have bread flour that has about 15 % protein content. And I have bread flour (organic) with protein that fluctuates between 12 and 14 %. This wknd I will try it but I think I will go 60/40 Instead of the 70/30.
Sounds like one could easily end up with a lot of goop if not careful.
and it really depends on what you define as "absorbed". Yes it absorbs a lot of water, but its already runny mess at 67% hydration and looks like a oatmeal porridge y 74% hydration.
Blending Einkorn is not a possibility for me because my family is Gluten sensitive but they don't react at all to Einkorn, so I only make and write about 100% Einkorn loaves.
What is your reason for trying Einkorn?
Love bread. Started a s a child. I liked Hovis while the others were eating chocolate bars
with my Einkorn whole flour, I have noticed that with quick uses, like for thickening and coating of sausages and such the flour needs time to absorb moisture before frying or cooking to avoid a gritty mouth feel. So I use the flour and wait at least 15 minutes before applying heat. Longer if not in a hurry.
Einkorn flour is absorbant it just needs time to absorb and swell. So a very liquid dough after standing half an hour will thicken up, at least that is my observation. To use a roux or tangzhong, let the flour water mixture stand for a while before heating and gelling. It does taste wonderful and I love using it. I keep most rye + einkorn doughs at 83 to 85% hydration.
.. all you einkorn explorers are using? It would be interesting to know if different millers produce different percentages.
I love the idea of tangzhong and will try that. But Bob, Mini, aroma, dabrownman etc, have you ever used a starter for your einkorn loaves? If so, how stiff do you make it? And does double-hydration help develop the dough?
...starter (jI ust didn't scroll far enough down the link dabrownman posted). But I'd love to know more about why the dough becomes slacker when you do? Which kind of brings us back around to aroma's original question about volume.
and don't pay it too much attention until it starts fermenting. Mine took about 5 days until I used it. Start with a few spoonfuls of flour and water to make a wet paste or thick batter. Park it loosely covered in a warm spot over 75°F and under 80°F. Just add a scant tablespoon of flour every day and enough water to keep it wet after the 3rd day. Use it eventually and save a little bit to feed. Works might fine! I would strongly suggest using an Einkorn starter.
Anytime one uses a starter culture, the dough becomes slacker, with all those little wee beasties (not only a variety of yeasty beasties but multiple bacteria colonies as well) attacking the gluten structure, it just has to give in sooner. Nature of the beasties vs the dough! :)
Protein of my Bio, Einkorn Vollkornmehl (flour) is 15g for every 100g of flour. Very nice! Fibre is 9.4g
Why hasn't someone started the series "Game of
ThronesGluten?"