I purchase my wholemeal spelt, rye and wholemeal flours from the retail outlet of a local Indian importer here in Oz who buys in bulk and bags and into 1kg and 5kg lots. Prices are very reasonable and I've been baking with them since starting on sourdough ~3 years ago. Every now and again they only have "conventional" spelt, rye and wholemeal, i.e. without the bran. I'm thinking that when I only have those "conventional" flours I can add fibre content by adding in some psyllium husk:
- What is a reasonable percentage of psyllium husk to flour weight in grams?
Should I add the psyllium husk to the flour before making dough with an increase in water or should I mix the psyllium husk with X g of water and minus that X g of water from the total water my recipe calls for?
Any other comments re: sourdough bread with psyllium husks are welcome.
but I have baked gluten-free breads using psyllium husk as the binder. For reference, one formula contains 450g of flours and starches, 20g of psyllium husk, and 400g of water. The psyllium husk is able to gel that much water and bind with the flour to produce a firm dough.
So, to your question, I might try adding 5-10g of psyllium husk per loaf and be prepared to add another 100+g of water per loaf to keep the texture from becoming too rubbery. The psyllium will change the texture of the bread, making it firmer and less extensible. How much effect it will have, I can't say for sure. It's going to depend a lot on the formula and flours and how much psyllium husk you use. I suspect that you have some experimentation in front of you.
Is it possible to obtain some bran? If so, I think that would be easier to incorporate than the psyllium husk.
Paul
Psyllium is normally used in a gluten-free breads to compensate for the lack of gluten, but I've tried it with wheat breads here.
The breads have a more 'unnatural' appearance (not all bad) than what you get with normal wheat breads.
And, I kind of agree with Paul, for normal wheat breads bran is well worth trying!
Psyllium husks really shine as an ingredient in gluten-free baking, I made some amazingly delicious pita with millet and tapioca the other night, and wouldn't have been able to make it handle and shape without the psyllium.
-Jon
Thanks to both of you. I made a spelt/rye/wholemeal yesterday and added a cautionary table spoon of psyllium husk. My usual method is mix water, starter, flour and maybe addition(s) like seeds. then spinkle salt on top and autolyse. In this instance I whisked the psyllium into the water before adding flour. Did not increase water much, maybe 10g. Loaf was fine crumb maybe a little more closed than usual. Thanks for the heads up on bran Ill have a go next bake.
Cheers