November 29, 2015 - 1:31pm
Wholemeal UK strength Spelt: some problems
My bread making is continuing to improve and thank you for you help. Roughly following this recipe http://breadtopia.com/spelt-bread-recipe/ [1] I am experiencing some problems.
This is my ingredient mix:
- Active yeast 9tsp,
- Water 1050ml Warm,
- salt 3tsp,
- molasses 4.5tsp,
- spelt 1590g
This is my recipe (In order to reduce the difficulty I have of handling this much dough I put one third of everything in separate bowls). The above is the total of the 3 bowls and the following I do to the content of each bowl:
- Mix water, molasses, and yeast =A
- Mix spelt and salt =B
- Add B to A and mix by large wooden spoon
- Leave to rise overnight.
- In the morning stretch and fold every 15mins 3 times.
- At the end decant into 3 silicon moulds and leave to double.
- Cook 180c for 60min
Although this recipe is the best one I have used so far these are my problems:
- I find it almost impossible to stretch and fold the dough. It is difficult to handle. I do it but it is messy and slows down the whole process. I have tried lightly dusting the work surface with flour and it does not help as it sticks to the worksurface and is not easy to handle.
- I find I need to do the stretches because without them the air holes are too large and uneven. I also suspect not all the yeast is used up without the separate stretches and rises.
- Instead of the stretches has anyone got really good results from a dough hook that does not have the cross bar of the braun? It does not help that I would have to use the mixer in stages because the bowl is not big enough for the total amount of the dough.
- Instead of the stretches and folds has anyone found a recipe that gives consistent and reasonable air holes in the finished loaf?
- What temperature should I use? I am please with the taste and consistency of the loaves as I have been getting a good centre to the bread. However the crust is over cooked.Today I used 180c in a fan oven for 1hr and I am having to cut off the crust an I eat it. However I have found that if I under heat then the centre can be damp. I am not sure where the balance should be.
Robin