The Fresh Loaf

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Simple sourdough spelt loaves

May 15, 2022 - 8:21am
pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951

Simple sourdough spelt loaves

Hello fellow bakers, 

First time poster and new baker here. I started baking when I got my sourdough starter going this past December 2021.

Here are 40% Spelt flour sourdough loaves from Great River Milling off Amazon. The rest is 60% KA bread flour (top loaf in picture) and Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour (bottom loaf in picture). 2g of diastatic malt added in the KA loaf, none on the Bob's.

In my household, my dear wife and our 3 kids aren't thick, hard crusty fans so these are just baked 30 minutes at 430F with lid on using DO. Then 3-4 minutes without lid.

They're just out of the oven and will let it cool before slicing in to check the crumb and enjoy these.

-Paul

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pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 8:26am

This is the KA/Spelt mix loaf

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 8:29am

This is the Bob's/Spelt loaf

Econprof's picture
Econprof
May 15 2022 - 8:31am

Those are some seriously impressive ears!

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 9:38am

Thanks! Very happy with how these came out. 

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 9:43am

KA Spelt crumb shot

 

Bob's Spelt crumb shot

Benito's picture
Benito
May 15 2022 - 10:14am

Wow you got such a great bloom and oven spring without spreading, very impressive for 40% whole Spelt.

Benny

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 10:33am

Thanks Benny!

I had made it for the first time a couple days ago, but had to run out for an appointment after only being able to do one set of stretch and folds during the bulk fermentation.  Even though the oven spring, height, and the crumb wasn’t exactly great, we all loved how tasty it was and the chewy texture was so nice. But what I noticed with the aliquot was that it would just about triple in volume during bulk fermentation, so I was excited to bake it again with more time and stretch and folds incorporated. This time, I also did a cold retardation for 36 hours for the final proofing. 

-Paul

Ming's picture
Ming
May 15 2022 - 10:52am

Well done, I am liking it. 

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 11:01am

Thanks Ming.

Our family of five enjoyed these loaves so much, there’s only 40% of each left. We found little difference between the KA or Bob’s bread flour loaves. 

-Paul

Ming's picture
Ming
May 15 2022 - 11:06am

Hi Paul, I have used both, and I think I like Bob's Artisan bread flour better than KA bread flour. I am not sure about the percentage of protein in Bob's but I think it is less than KA's and would require less hydration for the same dough feel. It looks to me like you are an experienced baker, good job with these two loafs, they look really good for that much wholegrain in them. 

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 11:59am

Thanks Ming for the comments on the bread flours. I will take that into consideration for when we need to buy more. Yes, I also think Bob’s has less protein percentage than KA and the height, rise, and bloom in the bake seems to show that.  The aliquot also showed the KA rising faster and overall a bit more than Bob’s. They were both made at 72% hydration with KA AP stiff starter. 

I’m honored you think I’m an experienced baker but I’m still super green after a few months of baking. I’ve just been trying to follow everyone’s bakes and trying to learn as much as I can on TFL, YouTube, blogs, et al. 

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er
May 15 2022 - 11:07am

Beautiful loaves and very nice bloom on both.  Congrats!

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 15 2022 - 11:42am

Thanks very much - Hester? if my memory is correct? Troy!

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie
May 17 2022 - 10:26am

These look splendid, and spelt does provide a different flavor and texture.  You gave some of the information on ingredients and steps in the process, but could you post a full recipe?  This bread looks like something I would like to try.

Happy baking.

Ted

pnguyen951's picture
pnguyen951
May 17 2022 - 12:26pm
  1. Thank you, Ted!

Sorry, my bread bakes are sometimes spur of the moment acts that on the first attempt, I hadn’t written down what my recipe was going to be. It wasn’t until the loaf came out that I thought it looked pretty good and was very tasty that I thought I should bake it again.

Here’s the recipe I have down:

Simple Spelt bread

  • 290g water 72.5% hydration
  • 100g (60% hydration) stiff levain
  • 184g spelt flour 40%
  • 216g bread flour 47%
  • 9g salt
  • 2g diastatic malt (optional)
  1. Mix everything till no more dry bits
  2. 15 mins rest, covered
  3. Knead/mix with dough hook on KA speed 4 till moderate gluten development, when dough cleans bowl and no longer sticks to sides - approximately 6-7 mins 
  4. Cover dough for bulk fermentation period with sample dough taken for aliquot 
  5. Perform 3 sets of stretch & folds every 30 mins then let it continue to bulk ferment, covered
  6. Check aliquot for dough to double or more - mine almost tripled in ~8 hours 77°F  RT
  7. Fold dough and pre-shape into ball
  8. Let it rest for 20 mins, covered
  9. Shape ball into your desired boule or batard
  10. Place into floured banneton seam side up and place in plastic bag for in overnight cold fridge retardation final proofing or keep at RT and perform finger poke test readiness for same day baking
  11. Preheat oven to 475°F with Dutch oven with lid
  12. Place parchment paper on top of seam side up dough in banneton and flip it over so it’s now on the parchment paper
  13. Score the loaf with your preferred method (much easier if dough is cold from overnight cold proof or temporarily chilled in freezer for 15-20 mins)
  14. Holding corners of parchment paper, carefully place dough into hot Dutch oven
  15. Turn down oven to 430°F and bake with steam, spritz with water, and/or with 3-4 ice cubes placed inside Dutch oven and closed lid for 20 mins
  16. Remove lid and bake it without steam for an additional 5-20 mins depending on how dark and crusty you prefer your loaf to be

-Paul