Whole Spelt Sourdough
When you think of 100% whole grain spelt bread, what images come to mind? Bland 1970’s era health food? What people with dietary restrictions must resort to? Lots of hard and challenging work? A door stop?
Those were largely my impressions until I found this spelt bread recipe to be as delicious and easy to make as it is nutritious. So when the inspiration strikes to get virtuous with your eating habits without sacrificing sensory pleasure, give this one a whirl. You’ll enjoy that flaky, buttery croissant all the more when you rotate this spelt recipe through your bread baking line-up now and then.
A bit about spelt: Spelt is an ancient variety of wheat with its roots in the Fertile Crescent some 9000 years ago. It is more widely used in Europe where it’s known as dinkel in Germany and farro in Italy. While higher in protein than commonly used wheat varieties, the nature of its proteins results in less gluten formation when making bread dough. Spelt is renowned for its health benefits. Many people with wheat allergies or sensitivities can enjoy bread made with spelt flour. What really helped make a fan out of me, however, is the mellow nutty flavor that spelt delivers. Read more about the Wonders of Spelt.
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The Ingredients:
530 grams (about 5 cups well fluffed up) whole spelt flour
350 grams (~1+1/2 cups) water
10 grams (1+1/2 tsp) salt
3 Tbs honey or sugar or 2 Tbs agave
1/4 cup sourdough starter
Follow the instructions in the video.
Bake at 450 for 45 minutes or until internal temp is 195-200.
Spelt/Kamut Variation
Miscellaneous Notes: I’ve baked this bread several times since making the video and have found a few things you can vary in order to adapt the recipe to your time schedule.
Spacing the stretch and folds out by as little as 10-15 minute works just as well as the 30-60 minutes mentioned in the video. Three or four stretch and folds at 15 minute intervals seems pretty optimal.
Most of the time I mix up the dough in the evening, let it sit out overnight, and bake it the next morning. But I’ve also mixed up the dough in the morning and then immediately refrigerated the dough in a covered bowl until just before bed time. I then took it out to proof at room temperature until morning. This worked very well too.
You could probably also leave the dough in the fridge for up to a two or three days until you’re ready to bake. Since the dough continues to proof in the fridge (just very slowly), you’ll want to be careful not to let the dough sit out too long after removing from the fridge or it may over-proof. Since I haven’t tried this yet, you’ll have to take a good guess on the timing and let us know your experience.
Another relatively minor thing I’m doing differently now than when I shot the video, is I’m leaving the lid on the baker for the entire 45 minutes. I find the crust gets plenty brown and crusty this way.
Wheat Berries
Recipe Variations: There are, of course, endless ways to vary the recipe. A mix of spelt and kamut flour also produced an excellent loaf. Kamut is another ancient variety of wheat known for its nutritional value and naturally sweet and nutty flavor. The “official” kamut web site has some very interesting information.
Kamut flour has different moisture absorbtion properties than spelt, so if you’re playing around with different combinations of grains, you’ll also have to adjust the amount of water used. The following worked well:
300 grams spelt flour
230 grams kamut flour
360 grams water
Same as video for everything else.
April 14, 2009 Update: Check out Dave’s yeasted spelt bread recipe with photos. Looks great.
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This looks really good, Eric! I’m off to the store for spelt flour now. I’ll probably also convert some of my starter to spelt. Thanks a million.
I love your videos. This looks like it is really an easy one to try since I do have the clay baker. I did not see you pre-soak or treat the baker in any fashion before baking the bread. Is that accurate? I wish there was a way to use either or both oat and barley flours. I am trying to stay away from wheat for inflammation reasons. I know that these flours don’t rise properly, so if you have any recipes please let me know.
Peggy
Hi Eric,
Thanks for he information about the spelt loaf.
I’ve made many loaves using 25 % spelt or 25% kamut flour , but never 100% of either of them.
You seem to be to be working at 60% +/- hydration, so you get beautiful slashing. I’ve been working at 75-80% hydration, so it’s nearly impossible to slash the loaves.
You got a good rise in the crumb, and I notice you didn’t add any vital wheat gluten.
I’ll try your recipe.
Cheers,
malcolm
Let us know how it goes, Tom.
Hi Peggy. Thanks. Soaking is apparently a good thing when using the baker for some foods. For bread, my personal preference is to preheat it dry and untreated and then drop the dough in. I haven’t yet explored baking without any wheat at all. It seems like there would be all kinds of resources on the net since there is for everything else in the universe, but I haven’t checked that out either.
Great video!
Quick question – do you soak your clay baker before sticking it in the oven? I had the impression you did not – that would make life a lot easier… but I want to confirm it before I go ahead and do it
I love spelt flour, add it to my regular pizza dough all the time, it makes it even better, in my opinion (I add 1/4 to 1/2 spelt)
I will be making this spelt bread very very soon….
thank you
Hi Malcolm. Good to hear from you.
It was a fluke that I even tried this recipe in the first place, thinking there’s no way it’s not going to be a brick. I’ve got yet a another loaf ready to go into the oven now and I continue to be amazed at just how open a crumb it is.
Hi Sally,
You’re right, I don’t soak it. I just heat it up and then put the dough in. I like the way the bread turns out better plus the dough doesn’t stick this way.
Another informative and detailed video!
For some reason, I was under the impression that spelt dough did not need as much rising time as wheat dough, and although I have been using spelt either on its own or mixed with other flours, I have not made sour dough spelt bread yet. Time to try…
For info, spelt is called épeautre in French…
I’ve been looking for a good sourdough spelt bread recipe for a long time. Yours looks great, and I can’t wait to taste my first loaf! Thank you!!
Eric, thanks for the notification of this video.
It’s wonderful watching these vids; funnily enough, when I got the email I was on my sourdough baking day, so you really hit the spot.
Nice one, that loaf looks amazing!
Many thanks for the inspiration.
Tim, England.
Does it work with yeast instead of starter? I find it very difficult to maintain my starter. And so most of the time I just use yeast.
Hi Jeff,
It should work fine. Might even work better as far as the rise goes. I would probably experiment with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of instant yeast in place of the starter and see how it goes. If you do this, please report so I can add it above. Lots of people would rather use yeast or at least know it’s a good option and how much to use.
I am going to try this bread this bread with regular yeast and I’ll let you know how it works. A friend has a wheat intolerance and I want to give her some home made bread (after I check whether she can eat spelt).
OK, will do Eric. I’m going to pick up some spelt flour and try soon. On another note, I got so excited by this, that I actually went down and took my starter out of the back of the fridge. It’s been there for about 3 or 4 months of neglect. I mixed in some flour and water and have it on the counter. I already see some bubbles, so I can probably revive it, yeast is darn hard to kill. I had a lot of hooch and bit of mold on the sidewall of the container. Some fell in as I extracted the starter. Hope that won’t hurt. It smells pretty sweet from all of the alcohol fermentation, hopefully revival will get it back in shape as sourdough starter.
I do like the sourdough taste, just not the extra effort of care and feeding. But, I might have to buck up in order to get this Spelt Bread goodness. I find that your tastes are similar to mine, so when you say it is good, I am all ears!!
Regards.
Thank you so much for sending the video postcard. I live in a very small town in Montana and will be teaching artisan bread baking at our new gourmet food store. Would you mind if I used your recipe? Also, do you ever soak the clay before you bake bread in it ? I have heard of doing this but not had much
luck with it.
Sure thing, Audrey. I’d be honored.
Nope, I don’t soak the baker.
they don’t have spelt flour in any of my grocery stores down here in Fl?? where to get it?
eric, thank you, thank you, for the great videos……………again! sandy in fl
Hello Jeff B
Yes, I saw a Youtube video for making spelt bread with yeast.
Here is the video link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1q0HspYLuI
My apologies, they used sourdough starter, But it is a very good video! and there is one also by veginity.com
Where can I get spelt flower?
You can buy Spelt Flour at bobs red mill .com
Oh, thank you so much for your site! I’m German (married to an American, which is why we live in the US) and a bread addict. I’ve tried sooo many recipes, undergone so many frustrations (2 years of experimenting with sourdough in Wonderbread-eating America ;o)), until I found your no-knead bread recipe…! It always turns out great, is easy and “fast,” and reminds me so much of home (not to mention that it makes heavenly turkey-cucumber-avocado sandwhiches)!
And just as I thought it couldn’t get any better, there it is: A “no-knead” recipe for Dinkelbrot (spelt bread, one of my all-time childhood favorites)!!! Now I just gotta find spelt four…
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with the rest of us!!! I am truly blessed!
Eric, just lovely. I have baked many partial spelt loaves, but not 100%. I am really jazzed to try it. Also, I have a romertopf baker that is about 25-30 years old and was my Mom’s. I have been wanting to bake in it for a couple months now, but haven’t found the gumption to try it. I think you just pushed me over the edge! Thanks for sharing.
Hello!
Eric, you just made my life a lot easier! We’ve been wondering what would happen if we preheated the romertopf for ages! The instructions make you think it wouldn’t fall short of a nuclear explosion! Thanks so much for the recipe, we can’t wait to try it out.
On a different note, would it be possible to ship a proofing basket to Spain? It’s really hard to find proper equipment here! It’s hard to understand in such a bread-loving nation…
Angels, Barcelona
the very big problem with not buying your flour locally is the cost of shipping. It is just way too much and I cannot seem to justify it. How can we get spelt flour into our corner grocery?
Hello Angels,
Easier is good!
Sure, we ship to Spain. If you add a proofing basket to the shopping cart, you’ll find Spain in the “Ship to Country” drop down list.
Hi Sandra. Ask your grocer to get it.
I use a dutch oven for almost all my NKB and it has been fine ..one day when the prices come down I’ll treat myself to a La Cloach I wanted to know if using a stone you can control the spread…. any thoughts
Some people place the sides of a spring form pan (those baking pans with the bottoms that come out) directly on a stone. Of course the dough is shored up this way. I haven’t tried this myself, but it sounds like a good idea.
Hi Eric
I was wondering if you would advise me if I could use my ‘ordinary’ white flour starter with this spelt loaf recipe?
I am planning on taking some of my leaven and mixing it with some spelt to make another starter – would this make sense?
What I’m a bit concerned about is that if the spelt has a different absorbsion rate to white flour if I won’t end up with something far too dry, or even far too wet.
My current recipe for sourdough uses 80% water to 100% flour.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.
Tim
Hi Eric, Another great video and recipe, thank you! I baked this loaf today and can see why you’re so enthusiastic about it. Very tasty and amazing crumb for 100% spelt flour. I’m going to tweak timing and temperature a bit next time – my loaf was done (202 degrees internal) at 30 minutes at 450 in an oblong La Cloche. The sides and bottom were very dark, probably because of the sugar ( honey). FYI, I bake all of my no kneads at 450 and I think you usually start out at 475 or 500 so my oven may be running a bit hot.
For you bakers looking for spelt flour, try health food or organic foods stores. In the Seattle area, PCC Markets , Madison Market & Whole Foods all carry it in their bulk foods section .
thanks,,,
very nice and delecious bread its sure healthy
we try it as soon as possible
thanks again
We’ve been using Spelt for a couple of years now, due to most of my family’s intolerance to wheat. I use a machine-kneader and I just adapted my favourite whole-wheat bread recipe. You might need more spelt flour than you usually would with whole wheat flour. It’s hard for me to judge, because we’re grinding the flour just before we mix it, which makes it really fluffy, so of course we use more cups of flour for that reason.
Also, when we grind it ourselves, the bran pieces are fine, and the flour tastes so much better!!! (The already-ground spelt and whole wheat flours start to get a strong taste. Fresh-ground is SO much better!)
Just remember that the protein/gluten in spelt seems to be more fragile than wheat, so you don’t knead as long. For example, for white bread (wheat flour), you usually knead 15 minutes, let ‘rest’ 15 minutes, then shape loaves.
With the spelt (yeast) bread, I ran the machine 5 min, rest 5, knead 5, rest 5, knead 5, rest 15, then shaped the loaves and let them rise in the pan, then baked as usual. The bread was wonderful, surprisingly light, and we love the natural, almost ‘nutty’ taste of the spelt.
My favourite Whole Spelt recipe:
1 tbsp. traditional quick-rise yeast soaked in 1/2 c. warm water, 1/2 tsp. honey (let stand 10 min till foamy)
3 cups hot water, add 1/4 c. butter or margarine, 1/2 c. honey, mix till melted
add 3 1/2 c. spelt flour and mix 3 min. (to get the gluten ’started’), then add 1 egg and the yeast mixture, mix till blended
Mix 3 tsp. salt with the first 2 cups of spelt flour, and mix into dough, then keep adding spelt flour till the dough is a nice consistency (you should be able to touch it briefly with your fingers without sticking, and if you’re using a machine kneader, the dough should be cleaning itself from the sides of the bowl. Don’t make it too dry, though. I bake mine in regular bread tins 15 min at 425F, 15 min 325F, and it has a nice, browned but not too thick crust.
Enjoy!!
Now, I’m going to try BreadTopia’s sourdough method above!!! I’ve tried sourdough spelt bread 4 times now, and it gets better each time – but still quite ‘heavy’, but I think from his video above that I’ve been leaving it too ‘wet’, and kneading it too much so I’m excited to try his method above!!!! Thanks so much for the video, it’s way better than just reading about it!
Lorna
Hi Tim,
Most of the time I just use my white flour starter for this otherwise all whole spelt recipe. It’s a small percentage of the recipe and so much easier to take care of just one starter. If you want to feed your white flour starter with some spelt flour, that’s fine too. Like I say in the video, it’s just a question of how much of a purist you want to be.
I’m not sure what you’re asking about absorption rates. If you follow the above recipe it will work out. If you use a 1/4 cup of while flour starter instead of 1/4 cup of spelt flour, it won’t noticeably change the results.
Can’t wait to bake my first loaves of spelt bread. Had a difficult time finding spelt flour. The local healthfood store had only one bag for over $3.00 lb. After doing an extensive WEB SEARCH, I found Purity Foods and VITA SPELT. I purchased 25lbs. for $ 34.00 + S&H.
http://www.purityfoods.com They specialize in spelt products and have the best prices. HAPPY BAKING . Kristine
P.S. Eric, I love your site . Is there group therapy for bread addicts? LOL
This morning I baked my whole grain spelt loaf. I added my own Canadian twist by substituting two tablespoons of maple syrup for the agave. I don’t have a La Cloche, so I decided to try baking the loaf in a parchment-lined terracotta flowerpot. Fortunately, I have two identical pots and I used one as my proofing basket while the other one was preheating in the oven along with a terracotta saucer which was to be my lid.
Like Eric, I found that I didn’t need to remove the lid/saucer for final browning. The bread browned quite well–a little too well, especially on the bottom. So, next time, I’ll try placing the flowerpot on top of my baking stone to help protect the bottom and maybe reduce the temperature a bit. Haven’t cut into the bread yet because it’s still cooling on the rack. It does smell good!
The spelt flour from purity is $32.00 for 25 lbs plus $17.00 shipping. Just too much money. There must be another way.
Sandra, that actually looks like quite a good deal from here.
I’m in the uk.
Tim. I guess because I am not in the uk I think the price is high. I pay $8-10 for 25 lbs of ap and bread flour. It just seemed high to me. But thank you for the heads up on prices worldwide. The shipping price is higher that the price I pay for bread flour. I don’t know. Thank you.
Hi Sandra, yes, prices are relative, and postage for heavy items like flour will always be a major factor. Out of interest, spelt flour here, locally, cost me about £6 per three kilos – I think that’s around the $9 US, but that’s in a shop, not posted.
Eric, or anyone, can you tell me what the weight of ‘one cup’ of start is, in grammes? I don’t have any measuring devices that give ‘cups’.
Thank you.
Eric, Did my first spelt loaf yesterday, using a rye/wheat starter, and it is an absolutely beautiful loaf, great flavor, perfect sourdough, simply a wonderful loaf of bread! Man, it does seem like a long time ago that you sent me my first sourdough, remember that? Sure have been a few loaves of bread baked since then!!
Marie and I celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary March 4, and we are looking forward to 60 more! Well, guess we will accept as many as we get, huh?
I used a Chinese sand pot, glazed interior, which I did soak before placing in oven. Picked this pot up at a Thrift shop for 3 bucks! Glazed lid, and lid has a small steam vent hole, worked very well, and have a beautiful 2 lb loaf to prove it!
Cheers, old Doug in Nanaimo BC
Thanks so much for another great recipe and video. I was so anxious to try it, I didn’t notice that I had white spelt flour, not whole spelt. I used the recipe exactly, and the dough was a little wet. I did the 4 evening folds, then the overnight, then… kind of forgot about it until late afternoon. It was chilly in the house, and while the dough expanded a bit, there were only a few large bubbles.
I couldn’t face slopping the wet mass into a basket, so I plopped it into a 5″ x 10″ loaf pan. After a couple hours in the oven with the light on, it had grown by maybe 1/3 — just to the top of the pan — not very energetic. I baked at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes (200 degrees on the instant thermometer), and was amazed at the oven spring.
After cooling completely, I cut in. It’s late and I thought, heck, I’ll just eat one slice as I write this review. But I had to go back for a 2nd slice before I finished writing. It looks and tastes nummy.
Well, I have just made my second spelt sourdough. The first one was a bit flat, but I don’t have a clay baker, and I’m awaiting delivery this week. I very much enjoy the flavour, it really is satisfying.
But this second loaf I wanted to vary a few things. I have now found some measures of ‘cups’, and in this second loaf I have put what I think is a half cup of starter, not the quarter cup that Eric suggests. I also have added three tablespoons of agave. I wish I knew how to get photos onto this forum, then I’d show you. But, suffice to say, the loaf is very dark and smells delicious!
The proving time was a bit reduced on the first one, but the room temperature at proving has been virtually the same – 18 celcius (~64F).
I can’t wait to get the rumertopf! This second loaf I plopped into a baking dish (metal), and slashed the top.
I have also baked a wholemeal loaf using the same recipe as per the spelt loaf, but using two tbsp of agave but again half a cup of starter. Gonna be expensive using that agave! I’ve used nearly half the bottle I bought last week.
Hi Tim. Please email the photos to me and I’ll add them to your post. Thanks.
I found and bought a bunch of Arrowhead organic whole spelt flour, but now I can’t try the recipe again until Passover is done. Arg!
Eric — could you add the baking times & temps to the text of the article? The rest is easy to remember after a couple of trials; the text makes a great reference.
Slothbear – good suggestion. I just added right below the ingredient list.
Dear Eric, Please HELP…..Just took my first Spelt Breads out of the oven: I was so excited, but they are as flat as a pancake. ( See photo ) The measuring, mixing, folding and proofing overnight were picture perfect, just like your video. When shaping the loaves this morning, the dough was extremely wet and had to use extra spelt flour just to be able to handle it. I used my round and oblong baskets, dusting them generously with spelt flour and rice flour. (They raised up about 2″ ) When dumping the dough into the preheated La Cloches, I had to scrape one of them out of the basket.
When measuring ingredients, I used my scale. Should I experiment by adding more flour or using less water? My goal is to make good-looking loaves to give to my friends. By the way, the regular NKB’s are *picture perfect. ( *Photo )
P.S. Your videos are excellent..I will watch them again and again before starting my next few batches of spelt bread dough.
Thank you for your outstanding service. Bread baking is rewarding, fun and therapeutic . *May your bread always rise and the crust be crispy. ( Peter Reinhart )
*Click to enlarge
Hi Kristine,
Being low in gluten, spelt bread will tend to flatten out more than regular high gluten wheat flour. I would stick with the oblong cloche for baking and yes, do experiment with adding more flour and/or less water in the beginning. It sounds like your dough is much wetter than mine.
When the dough is very wet like that, you pretty much have to go with a coating of bran flakes or parchment paper instead of flour in the proofing baskets to keep the dough from sticking too much.
Are you using sourdough starter for leavening or commercial yeast?
Eric,
Thanks for your reply.
I use a sourdough starter which I’m feeding with spelt flour. It is nice and lively and seems to like the addition of spelt.
This time I will oil my baskets and sprinkle them with wheat bran and spelt flakes. The flakes look like thick rolled oats and have a wonderful nutty taste.
This time, along with my oblong cloche, I will use my iron dutch oven which has a smaller circumference. I always bake two breads at a time.
You know what ? I will now order a Romertopf from you..it seems to be just the right size for this bread.
Thanks again for sharing your expertise with all of us bread baking novices . Kristine
Dear Eric,
I’m Baaaack ! Just cut a wedge out of my first pancake- like spelt bread and it is delicious . The crust is crisp and the crumb is open and has a nice tangy flavor. It is perfect for panini sandwiches. Layer ham, provolone cheese, roasted peppers, fresh baby spinach, etc. Butter the outside and grill. The wedge makes a nice presentation.
Kristine
Excellent!
last night tried my first sourdough spelt loaf after watching the videos about a month ago! mixed the dough up late and my muscle memory took over. forgot about the 3 stretch and folds (reminded about them when I rewatched the video this am) and so processed the loaf in the usual no knead manner. Baked in the round La Cloche as the dough was almost too wet to shape into an oblong. Baked at 450 for 45 minutes with lid on all the time (I did remember that part of it). The loaf came out great- marvelously airy and light. I must confess though, that end of the mixing with the dough wisk I could not incorporate all the flour so i put my hands in the bowl and kneaded for a minute or two until all the flour was incorporated. That might have been enough! Look forward to hearing what you think.
Evan
I just came back from our organic food market with “white” spelt flour. They also had just plain spelt. I thought I would try the white first. Did I do the right thing or should I have bought the plain, darker spelt? Is the darker more whole grain and healthier or better tasting?
Wil — check out my white spelt results in an earlier comment. Short answer: great loaf, great taste.
slothbear – Thanks, I did go back and saw your post. I usually check the posts first but I was scanning down the posts so fast I missed it. I also realize now, just like wheat flour, you have whole and white. I have been seeking white whole wheat flour at all of our local stores and can’t fine it. So, when I saw the white spelt I jumped on it thinking it was still whole grain. I still don’t know that much about it so maybe it is. I will use up the white spelt that I have then I will try the other one. Thanks again
i really want to make this, but unfortunately we don’t have such kind of flour in our province here in Zamboanga City, Philippines. Is there any substitution,that i can make one. I really love to bake most specially if it’s healthy. thank you so much. more power.
I had the same very wet dough results as mentioned by other commenters. I got my spelt flour from the local Met. Market here in Western, WA. Not sure how fresh it was as it was from the bulk aisle. I have also had a lot of trouble with my sourdough starter. Even after getting it really bubbly and active with days of feeding, I can’t get it to double in size in anything less than about 5 or 6 hours. I am thinking I might need to try Eric’s starter. I got mine from another popular web based site, but have not had great results yet. So, I am still searching for the mythical spelt loaf. The one I did make did not have the flavor I imagined, it was very flat and pretty bitter, but it might have just been several of the above mentioned problems. This has been a trickier endeavor. With almost every other recipe here I have had first time success. Based on what I can gather from above, it looks like I might have white spelt flour and not whole spelt flour. Maybe that’s the problem.
I shall press on.
If it turns out you’re using white spelt four vs. whole, there would be a big difference in the consistency of the dough. Whole flour absorbs quite a bit more liquid. Even small differences in the moisture absorption properties of the flour can make a big difference in how the dough turns out.
I don’t know what, if any, reliable rules exists for adjusting for the various types of flour. In a recent Peter Reinhart white flour recipe I was trying, he gives the option of substituting whole wheat flour for some of the white and when doing so he says to add an additional 1 tablespoon of water for every 1 ounce of whole wheat flour substituted. So to make use of your presumably white flour, maybe cut back a good bit on the water and see what comes of it.
Well, my “white” spelt bread turned out unexpectedly wonderful. I followed Eric’s video and as he said, the white spelt was wet but not so much more than regular NKB. As I worked in more spelt during the folding process, just enough to keep it from sticking to my hands, it handled better. However, when it was time to dump from the basket, even though it was sprayed and covered with wheat brand, about a quarter cup of dough was left back in the basket. I just added it on top of the bread. I used a spelt starter that I refreshed about 4 times. I knew from other comments the dough was going to run if I used the DO. The only thing I could find was a small 10×7 chicken roaster. I put it in a preheated 450 oven for 30mins, took the cover off and turned the oven down to 425. I intended to go another 10 mins but I had stuck an oven probe in when I took the cover off and about 2 mins later the signal sounded that 195 had been reached. The bread was only a golden brown but the temp had gone up to 202 so I took it out quickly. It really had a nice rise, rich golden color and a crispy thin crust. It smelled wonderful and after 2hrs, which was dinner time, we cut into it. Nothing but great comments from the family. They say it is a keeper. I will try whole spelt next. I will have to mix half and half to use up the rest of the white.
*Click to enlarge
I had a similar experience to Wil on my fist loaf where the dough was so wet it stuck to the proofing basket. I just plopped it on top and it was OK, although a very flat loaf.
I did another spelt loaf last night and reduced the water to 325 grams which my measuring cup shows closer to 1.5 cups. That seemed to help a bit, but the dough was still wetter than no-knead. Next I will try 300 grams. However, I used yeast instead of starter for now until I get that worked out, and I did have a very nice first rise. Second rise is going now, and I think it will turn out well. I use the parchment paper sling, so even though the dough is pretty wet, it won’t be a problem to transfer to oblong La Cloche. I think this one is going to turn out well. And I think my starter has issues, and I just need to get the new live starter from Eric. Eric, how long does shipping take to Western, WA from your place? Oh, and does anyone have pictures of whole spelt vs. white spelt? I’m not sure what I have here.
Thanks, getting closer to spelt goodness.
While I was first mixing up the “white” spelt, I could tell it was going to be really wet. It was one of those doughs where you just knew that just adding more flour was only going to make a brick. If I had started out with less water, it may have been dryer but it just felt like it was going to stay wet. I was a little heavy on the sprinkle of flour on the dough during folding and I “sprinkled” a lot. After the last fold it felt like it was going to behave. My starter(s) looks like Eric’s. I keep them a little on the dry side, almost like cake icing. That is just my own little secret about starters that I picked up years ago. I only use S.D. starter for anything that calls for yeast. I was using S.D. starter in a bread machine when they were saying you couldn’t do it.
The UPS just delivered my La Cloche so I guess I can go to the market and get the “whole” spelt. I am wondering if I can use a spring form pan inside of the baker? I don’t want to break it the first time out.
It’s my first post here, so let me start by saying that I love your website, video’s and recipes Eric! I’ve made most of the breads on your site, and all have been great. However, I made my first loaf of whole spelt sourdough, and I think it’s the best bread I’ve ever made! I can’t believe a whole grain sourdough bread rose as well as this one (about 3 1/4″ high, with a fairly open crumb). I ground my own spelt flour, and unlike many posters here, I found the dough was much dryer and stiffer than a typical no knead recipe. I had to add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, and it was still a bit stiffer than a no knead. I did three stretch and folds about 30 minutes apart, let it rest overnight, put it in a proofing basket, and let it rise for a little over two hours before baking at 450 for 45 minutes in my new Romertopf clay baker. I was surprised the bread wasn’t a little sweet with the 3 tablespoons of honey (I used 3 tbls of Honey Granules from BreadBeckers instead), but I guess the sugar is consumed by the sourdough yeast as fuel.
I love the no knead method, but I’ve been trying to add more whole wheat flour to the recipes, and most of them don’t rise well with more than half of the flour being whole wheat. I’m curious, have you tried making this whole spelt recipe with whole wheat (hard red or hard white) instead? Don’t get me wrong, I love the spelt, but I’m just trying to understand why the spelt bread would rise better than whole wheat.
I’m also wondering if this spelt recipe would be a good basis for the other variations on your site, e.g., spelt with steel cut oats, spelt with cranberries and pecans, etc. If I could make a whole grain sourdough bread with enough variations to keep my interest, I will have reached Nirvana! I’ll probably just try it, but I thought I’d ask first to see if you’ve done any experiments along these lines.
Hi, Eric. Just wanted to add my kudos on the recipe to the considerable amounts already posted. I made the bread as per instructions last week. It was really delicious. My loaf wasn’t as pretty as yours. I don’t have brotformen and the wet dough stuck to my very well-floured couche. However, I got great rise and a lovely open crumb. The aroma was sweet and nutty. The whole family really enjoyed it. I’m glad to add this one to my repertoire.
Hi Eric:
I notice you didn’t soak your Romertof — do think that’s a step that can be skipped as long as you heat it up along with your oven? By-the-way, you expressions while you taste your bread are truly priceless… ‘;-) Can’t wait to try this bread.
Hello Moriah,
I think the main benefits of soaking would come into play when baking things other than bread. A lot of this is just personal preference. Since I like to preheat whatever ceramic baker I’m using before putting in the dough, soaking wouldn’t work anyway since the water would evaporate before the dough even went in.
I did try soaking the Romertopf once and put it and dough into a cold oven to bake. The crust came out soft and shinny. Great if you desire a softer crust, which may do.
Hi Mark. I haven’t experimented with variations of this recipe but it sure seems worth playing with.
Wil – I don’t think it would hurt anything to use a spring form pan. I guess you want to use the ring to shore up the dough from spreading out too much? Did you try it?
Thanks Eric, I haven’t tried the spring form yet. I have to find it first. I’m not sure how big it is, it may be too large. It was for the spelt but my wife wants me to move on to the cranberry-pecan. The La Cloche is doing a fantastic job and for me, much easier than the heavy DO. The lower La Cloche bottom allows me to just dump my dough into it, just like in your video. You have me obsessed with baking bread now. I have put on a few pounds for sure. Do you own up for any liability on that issue? LOL
Wil
Jeff -
In case you haven’t found a good source of whole spelt flour in the Seattle area, try PCC Natural Markets. I bought some yesterday, $1.80 per pound. They have several stores around town. http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/.
Ed
Wil,
I baked my sour rye in two different spring form pans this past weekend. Came out nicely. Straight sided with a domed top. Kinda purty!
Bob
Bob,
I will give it a try. I am still a way from purty! I am going to try a fancy slash on a cranberry/pecan that has about 30 more minutes to go in the oven. It really has a nice rise in the basket and I don’t think it will go even an hour.
Wil
I baked this loaf over the weekend and it turned out great! I used 1/2 cup starter rather than 1/4 and added 1teaspoon diastic malt (from King Arthur) to help with the rise and shelf life. My dough was a bit more when during the first two stretch and folds than in the video – lots of sticking to my hands despite the addition of some flour – but in the end it was a beautiful loaf with great flavor!
Great Carolyn T.
I have a whole spelt cranberry/pecan in the frig now that will come out tonight for baking tomorrow. The dough handled great this time probably because of the addition of the cranberries and pecans. It was a little sticky but I could handle it when sprinkled with flour. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I stayed with the 1/4 cup of starter and I also added 2 tbls of olive oil.
I baked the whole spelt cranberry/pecan yesterday. The spring form pan I intended to use inside the la cloche was too big. The way the dough handled and proofed, I thought I might get away from needing anything to hold it upright in the baker. It did better than I expected. Not Packer “purty” though. It does have a good crust and crumb and it taste great. Isn’t that the goal? Some pictures.
Wil
*Click to enlarge
Sure looks good to me!
Wil,
Next time you go to the store, get you one of those big disposable aluminum roaster pans. That ought to fit over the springform and give you the results you are looking for.
I agree with Eric, looks good to me. Good enough to eat, even!
Bob
OMG ! Looks awesome and is definitely “PACKER PURTY”. Can’t wait to give this recipe a try.
Or,—–I could drop by Eric’s on line store and buy an oblong.
Hi Wil – How much (by weight) of cranberries & pecans did you use? Did you use follow the recipe otherwise as written by Eric?
Hi Carolyn, I followed Eric’s recipe and video for the w.spelt and from the cranberry/pecan recipe I added a level 1/2 cup of dried sweetened cranberries and a level 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. I didn’t weigh the berries and nuts but everything else was weighed per Eric’s instructions. The only other thing I did was to add 2 tablespoons of olive oil which I do occasionally. It is supposed to enrich the flavor of bread and keep it fresher, longer. However, I can’t say I can tell a difference. We eat it to fast and it all taste good.
Wil
I have finally succeeded in baking a better looking spelt bread. Transferring the wet dough into my clay bakers was always a problem for me. They deflated when I plopped them into bakers and ended up with flat loaves. I now line my proofing baskets with NON-STICK foil, making sure there is enough foil on the ends for a handle. Then I simply lift the loaf into my vessel. I do however, loose the “PURTY” basket design.
*Click to enlarge
Beautiful! Nice going, Kristine.
Kristine,
As my kids say, “cool”! Makes me hungry and that’s not a good thing right now.
Wil
I’m about to try the no knead spelt recipe. I’m using organic sprouted spelt flour…I’ll report on know how it turns out.
Eric’s starter took to the sprouted spelt flour feedings just fine and bubbled up within 12 hours.
A great educational article on agave: http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/HFCSAgave.pdf
Happy baking!
Alba
I am baking in one of those clay ovens and twice now the dough has stuck rather difficultly to the bottom. Any suggestions?
Good Morning Steve,
I bake bread at least twice a week and never had the dough stick to the clay vessel. The only suggestion I have is to make sure that you preheat your baker for the recommended time. ( 475 F…about 30-40 min. ) I have had a problems in the past transferring my dough from the proofing basket to the baker. I now line the basket with oiled parchment paper or non-stick Reynolds Wrap and lift the proofed dough into my very hot vessel. The proofed dough no longer collapses and you can be sure that it will not stick to your clay oven.
Kristine
I have a little trouble when baking with whole spelt. When I make whole spelt bread the loaves often come out with the following imperfection: There is a separation of the upper crust layer away from the rest of the loaf crumb leaving a space in the upper portion of the loaf between the crust and the bread.
Has anyone else had this issue and has anyone figured out why it happens and how to solve it?
I have tried adjusting the kneading time, temperature and yeast proportions with limited success.
Thanks!
Dan, This has not been an issue for me, so I don’t know if this will work for you…..just guessing. Since the relatively wet spelt bread dough has to be pulled and folded several times, I would make sure that there is no air or unincorporated flour trapped between folds, especially in your last fold. Use as little additional flour as possible during the folding process. ( I wet my hands with cold water to keep the dough from sticking). Also review Eric’s videos before your next loaf. Good luck to you ! Kristine
P.S. Perfection is not a requirement here.
Thanks very much for this Kristine. I should tell you that I am making a regular bread dough with yeast (not sourdough). I am also using a convection oven and maybe the temperature is an issue.
As for shaping the loaves, I do try to press out as much air as I can. I am thinking that maybe the manner I shape the loaves may be the cause. Do you have any suggestions on shaping loaves? What I do is flatten, then tightly roll into shape… Folding sounds different than what I do…
Warmest wishes,
Dan.
Dan,
Eric explains the shaping process in video #4, at the top of this site. Since the dough is very moist, wouldn’t it take a lot of flour to tightly roll it into shape ? As suggested by Eric, the dough has to be handled very gently. The stretch and fold technique, video # 3, is always used for this low gluten grain. ( No kneading ) I use a convection oven as well and it doesn’t seem to make any difference in the outcome. I have used both settings.
You can’t go wrong by following Eric’s video demonstrations and/or direct your questions to him directly. He will get back to you.
Best Wishes,
Kristine
My husband has recently started making bread and I found your starter recipe which he followed. Unfortunately, both batches he made went mouldy. Now he’s hesitant to start again. Can you tell me what he’s doing wrong?
Hi Susan.
Probably nothing. Sometimes it just takes a few tries before you happen to pick up some yeast that takes.
eric;
we’re visiting our daughter in Boulder Colo and it turns out that because of a wheat allergy she has been eating commercial spelt breads which are tolerated by her and my son-in-law but have are not really enjoyed. I baked two spelt loaves for her using the round la cloche which I had bought for her as a gift some time ago. Having no starter with me I used a tsp of SAF yeast. One loaf was all spelt, the secondone had added pine nuts and crasins. As we were doing all sorts of things in ande around the Boulder area, I modified the terchnique to our available time, i.e. mix and hand knead the incorporation of flour followed by overnight proofing with three stretch and folds at 15 min intervals in the AM. Shaping and a 1 hr rise before baking ‘ @450F with la cloche top on yielded great results in two breads they really enjoyed. In ddition, her neighbor whose wife also has a wheat allergy tasted the bread and couldnt believe how good the bread was compared to supermarket alternatives. I directed him to your website and I think made another convert to No Knead.
Shalom
Evan
Great story, Evan. Thanks for sharing.
Further spelt adventures- made two additional spelt based breads yesterday/today. Wanted to try the spelt/kamut recepie that Eric suggests but I couldn’t find Kamut at the local Whole Foods. Bought a package of Bob’s Red Mill Amaranth instead. Used Eric’s recipie for all-spelt but substituted 25% Amaranth for some of the spelt (400 gr spelt-130gr amaranth), increased the water by about 20 gr as I used tsp of SAF instead of starter. Added 2 TBS of caraway seeds as well. Baked in LaCloche as per Eric. the result- a great rye tastng loaf with excellent crust and crumb. With success going to my head I tried an all spelt challah utilizing the recepie in ” Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes” simply substituting spelt for AP flour. (made the 1/2 recipie-2 1lb loafs). There was no problems in braiding the loafs and the baking was uneventful. topped with an egg wash and poppy seeds. Loafs were very acceptable (a little dry perhaps). At any rate my daughter is no estatic that a spectrum of wonderful breads is now available to her diet which give her no digestive troubles. Thank you Eric, for opening the door for us to this marvellous grain.
Evan
Did Marianne plug the bottom of the terracotta Flower pot before placing it in the oven?
When I use a terracotta flower pot as a cloche, I stuff a wad of aluminum foil into the bottom hole. I’ve seen some more “elegant” solutions, but the foil works just fine.
Marianne
Hi Eric,
I’m new to your site. I am really enjoying NK bread – SO much easier than the whole grain sandwich breads I have been making, AND so much better! My husband accuses me of being “hard-core” in my bread-making endeavors, and I would have to say I think he is right – even if I am having a lot of fun with it all. You’re videos have opened up a whole new world of bread-making for me.
I am on a quest for terrific spelt based bread, and I am wondering if any of your favorites (Cranberry-Pecan, Seeded Sour, Steel Cut Oat, Parmesean-Olive) work well with this 100% Spelt Sourdough bread. Do you think using 1/2 white and 1/2 whole spelt might give it a lighter texture? I need to stay away from a lot of gluten, so I’m not using bread flour right now. I would, however, love to have some variety on the spelt that also offers some lightness. I just ordered an oblong proofing basket and LaCloche. Any other ideas? Thanks.
Cathie
Hi Eric,
I just wanted to say that you have a great website, I’ve baked your no-knead sourdough variation and now your whole spelt sourdough. I think I underproved the loaf a bit, since even with the dough deflating a bit after I took it out of my proofing basket, it had great oven spring in the oven. It tastes great but came out particularly sour (which I like), I was wondering if your loafs come out very sour as well? The room temp was around 68 degrees.
Thanks again for a great site!
Wendy
Hi Cathie,
I would certainly experiment with adding the various ingredients to the all spelt recipe but it’s always a challenge getting any largely whole grain bread to come out very light. Going half and half with while flour will lighten in up a lot but then you’ve got the gluten to content with.
The sour thing varies a lot. Both longer proofing times and cooler temperatures promote more sour, so if you’re trying to reduce the sour, maybe find a warmer place to proof the dough. In the oven with just the light bulb on can work well. Then you just have to be prepared to bake sooner as that will obviously speed things up quite a bit.
Hi Wendy,
Then second part of the above reply was directed towards you. I just forgot to add your name in there.
Hi Eric,
I wasn’t clear in my post. I’m wondering what you think about doing 1/2 white spelt and 1/2 whole grain spelt. When I did all white spelt it was a gloppy mess and I had to add A LOT of extra flour. The bread tasted good but was very flat and it dried out quickly. As always, I will continue experimenting, but any guidance will be appreciated. Thanks again.
Ah, yes, I should have read it that way in the first place. Spelt is just very low in gluten so that’s why the flattening out. If you want to stick with the healthy, low gluten flours, and can find some Kamut flour (or mill the Kamut berries), a mix of 60% spelt and 40% Kumut gives a better rise. The flours complement each other well.
I’m not sure why the drying out. Sourdough leavens usually perform better that way than commercial yeast. Unless you’re keeping in the oven a little longer than necessary.
Others will know a lot more about this than me.
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for this wonderful web site and the great recipes. I baked several of the NKB variations and they were all winners, but my absolute favorite is the spelt bread. Since I don’t have a sourdough starter at the moment, I changed it a bit and combined the NKB from Cook’s Illustrated with your spelt bread recipe and it turned out like a bread I would buy in a German bakery (the stuff I dream about but cannot get anywhere here in rural East Texas). The spelt flour I bought is from Bob’s Red Mill and comes in 24 oz packages, so rather than having a bit of flour left over, I dumped the whole bag into a mixing bowl, added 1/2 t of commercial yeast, 2 t of salt, 2 T of honey, 1 T of red wine vinegar, 1/2 c of beer, and 1 1/2 c of water. Mixed it according to your instructions, left it sitting at room temperature (approx. 75 degrees) for 12 hours, shaped it, let it rise for 45 minutes, heated a dutch oven on a pizza stone in the grill, and baked it for 45 minutes. The result: a loaf that is as big as Texas, fragrant, and delicious! Thank you!
Liebe Sabine,
I gather from your name and the fact that you have purchased bread from a German bakery, that in fact, you are German or perhaps a second generation German. I am a German immigrant ( 1950 @ age:12 )and have missed the fragrant and chewy texture of German bread , until I discovered Eric and his NKB. I now bake it twice a week. We have visited Germany many times since then, but homemade tastes so much better. Just took two loaves out of the oven, but in a couple of days, I will try your recipe. Oh, I just started making own Bratwurst. I ordered the hog casings and seasonings on line.
Danke Schoen !!! Kristine Nickel
Liebe Kristine,
I hope the bread turns out for you too. Yes, I am from Darmstadt (moved here in 1998) and miss German bread a great deal. I have often had success kneading dough with the KitchenAid mixer or kneading by hand but this “no need to knead” bread is wonderfully easy. Home-made Bratwurst! Wow, that sounds difficult. Haven’t tried anything like that yet.
Liebe Grüße and let me know how the bread turns out. –Sabine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QM7GtRvPU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fgermanyfood.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F07%2F31%2Fhow-to-make-homemade-bratwurst%2F&feature=player_embedded#t=87
Liebe Sabine,
Making Bratwurst or any other sausage is NOT difficult if you have the right tools. ( I do it for fun and the KUDOS and it’s so LECKER with the homemade bread.) Hope that Eric won’t mind..that this post is OFF SUBJECT.) In the video, the author uses a hand meat-grinder, which is cumbersome and very slow. You probably still have your Kitchen-Aid machine. Just purchase the grinder attachment and a tube….it’s much more efficient . We use our grinder a lot for Gehacktes (Beef Tar-Tar. ) The seasonings and the hog casings are available on line as well. I buy my pork butt @ Sams for $ 1.30 p/lb. Make sure that it has plenty of fat on it. If you are interested, I will send you the other links.
Liebe Gruesse, Kristine
Hello All of you bread geeks
I just made Pizza with the whole spelt Sourdough recipe I change it just a little, i used 1/3 of the sweetner and added 2/3 of olive oil.
I made the dough a day ahead and put it in the fridge overnight. I took it out 2 hours before i had to make the pizza. I flatten the dough and streched like any other dough baked it on the stone at 525 F for about 7-8 minutes.
Sorry no pics.
A newbe
Hans Krijnen
Do you have any recipes to make pizza dough with spelt? I have difficulty digesting wheat.
Thanks
I’m wondering what would happen if you just made pizza out of this recipe with no modifications other that rolling it out as you would when making pizza.
Yesterday i made the dough again and it’s just a great crunchy crust. without the modifications i think it would be to sweet for me i am not a sweet tooth. I think next time i just leave the sweetner out, and see how this works. And for Ginette just make the recipe as above just replace some honey for oil.
Here are a couple of photographs of my latest spelt sourdough bread. I divided the dough into individual rolls and added a variety of seeds, Parmesan cheese, as well as a few chili flakes for color. It baked for 40 minutes in a dutch oven. The rolls can be easily pulled apart. I will take it to a party with garlic herb butter!
*Click to enlarge
Liebe Sabine, Your rolls look absolutely scrumptious. Have dough proofing now and will bake some in the morning.
Kristine
A ramble about my first spelt sourdough experience (with some questions):
Although I have baked with spelt and have baked sourdough loaves I’d never done the two at once . . . I also hadn’t tried the no-knead method before.
I finally found a calico-lined bread basket the perfect shape and size to work with the Romertopf I bought a couple of months ago.
I converted some of my home-grown starter to spelt flour over the course of a few weeks.
I started the process yesterday lunchtime and after the stretch and folds put the covered bowl in a slightly opened insulated picnic coolbox with a picnic box ice pack as it is quite warm here and I didn’t want the dough to over-prove.
This morning it had risen nicely and I shaped and plopped it in the basket (fabric coated with quite a lot of rice flour) for about 90 mins overall. If anything I’d say the dough was a bit too soft when I put it in the basket – the tautening of the sides of the loaf didn’t really happen.
Meanwhile I got my fan oven up to 210c and warmed the Romertopf for about 20 minutes.
The dough turned out of the basket into the baker very easily (perhaps a little too sloppy?)
Once the bread went in it needed about 50 mins to get the core up to 190F on my meat roasting thermometer (not a fancy electronic thing like Eric has).
The rise wasn’t as great as I’d hoped – perhaps I was being optimistic with 20 minutes for the baker to come to temperature?
The loaf stuck badly to the base of the baker – I wonder whether I should put a rectangle of baking parchment over the ridges in the base of the vessel next time? Might this also be indication of it not being hot enough when the dough went in?
I impatiently waited for the loaf (minus its bottom which stayed in the baker) to cool.
The verdict: Although a bit flat, the loaf has a nice open crumb, in terms of taste the lovely nuttiness of spelt was there in bucketloads but I think the sourness was a bit overdone and there was more of a vinegar tang than gentle sourness. The crust was good but slicing was a bit tricky as it tended to crumble somewhat.
Q: Are some starters more sour than others? Does it have anything to do with the long stay in the cooled coolbox?
Unless you can give me any other pointers next time I intend to:
- make the dough with a little less water
- start process in the evening and not refrigerate during the first rise
- heat the Romertopf for longer
- slip a “sling” of baking parchment into the baker for the dough to sit on
Thanks for your very informative and inspiring site, Eric. Isn’t sourdough baking one of the most satisfying things to do? Keep up the good work!
Paul
*Click to enlarge
Hi Paul,
I think you have the right ideas. But isn’t 210 C only 410 F? Can you get your oven to 450 F? Also, I preheat my Romertopf or cloche for 30-35 minutes which should prevent sticking by itself, but using parchment paper is a good solution too.
Hi to all
I’m overjoyed at the results of my first SD Spelt loaf. I don’t own a baker, clay or otherwise, so I used a heavy 9″x5″ metal loaf pan. After about twenty mninutes baking @450, the bread looked plenty dark so Icovered it with a foil tent, reduced the oven temp to 375 and baked for about another 10-15 minutes (sorry to say I can’t remember exactly but it registered 200 on instant read thermometer.) The crumb is lovely but a little dense; I think because the dough was maybe a little too wet but the best part is that the crust is very chewy and the bread has a great tangy taste. Thanks for this recipe, Eric. It’s my new everyday loaf.
Mary Lee Toledo, Ohio
That’s great Mary Lee. Glad to hear it.
Hi Eric, I was wondering which you prefer the La cloche or the Romertopf ? Also could you tell me the best size Romertopf for bread.
Thanks
Hi Brenda,
That’s like asking me which of my children I love the most.
Seriously though, they all produce the same great results but in different sizes and shapes. Of all the Romertopfs I opted to add the Romertopf 111 to the Breadtopia store because I think it’s the idea size for bread. It will handle a smallish (1 lb) loaf up to about a 3 lb loaf.
LOVE your website!!!!!!!! My question: I usually make four loves of whole wheat bread at a time. Do you think I could quadruple your recipe and make 4 loaves at a time? I’m mostly concerned about the pulling aspect. Thanks in advance. Debra
Hi Debra,
Thanks!
You can mix everything up together in order to create 4 loaves (quadruple the recipe). If you have a large enough bowl, you could do the stretch and folds in the bowl and proof it overnight just like the video. The next morning divide the dough as gently as possible and shape into your four balls of dough and into the proofing baskets.
If you don’t have a big enough bowl to accommodate all that dough at once and also account for the rise, it seems you’d have to separate into 2 or 4 bowls right after mixing all the ingredients at the beginning.
Okay that makes sense. I just made a loaf of SD using your recipe and am THRILLED!!! It tastes soooooo yummy! My daughter and I have already eaten a half a loaf!! I have made SD bread a number of times using spelt and the kneading method…none of them turned out so nicely nor tasted nearly as good.
I have also found that rye makes the best starter. I made my starter from scratch using rye but began to feed it with soft white whole wheat and noticed that it didn’t do so well. Yesterday, I did an experiment where I put a half a cup of healthy rye starter in two different jars and feed one with rye flour/water and the other with Soft white whole wheat/water. I was amazed at the difference. The rye more than doubled with large bubbles but the wheat flour never even doubled and had very small bubbles.
Hi,
A few comments from overseas, if I may:
1. Your pineapple-juice and spelt starter is the most reliable and vigourous I have ever used.
2. Your folded, un-kneaded spelt sourdough loaf is really excellent.
3. I baked it in a round Creuset lined with parchment paper, this worked just fine.
4. You should definitely check out ( and then perhaps demonstrate for your fans?) Richard Bertinet’s lifting and folding techinhique which enables you to work with really, really wet dough and produce fantastic French bread.
5. Richard Bertinet’s book will definitely also solve you croissant problems! – his photos of cutting and shaping the dough are really excellent and fool-proof.
6. Just to let you know you have the best bread-making site on the net – many thanks for the hard work you obviously devote to it.
Wow, thanks again Eric!
I made this spelt sourdough recipe, and you were so right about the marvelous taste- it is my new favorite bread!!! This one will be on the Thanksgiving table.
I don’t know if you remember me but I made my first loaf of bread using your no-knead technique .. I’ve been using the technique a lot since then, my family is always clamoring for the bread, which they say is the best they ever had!
So, thanks again! I just ordered a Romertopf clay baker from you, I will enjoy the oval shape in addition to the other two bakers.
Best regards, Lee Ann
Hi Didier,
Thanks for the info on Richard Bertinet’s book (and your nice comments). Is that the one entitled Dough? The reviews are glowing and it does indeed sound excellent.
Thank you, Lee Ann!
Hi again, Eric,
To answer your question:
Richard Bertinet has 2 books that I know of in English, the croissant instructions are in the other one,”Crust” starting on page 116. “Crust” is the one where he really concentrates on sourdough and also gives these croissant instructions with photos. You also get a a dvd demonstrating this lifting and folding technique. Once I got the hang of it, I have stopped using the typical “squash and stretch” method of kneading bread. His method is, I find, just a better method – you get silky soft dough, full of air, and as I say you can handle very wet dough this way.
Anyway, give it a try!
Finally, I must thank you now for the idea of baking in a clay baker – I had only ever used a (small) container for 100% rye breads, which need to be in something. Well, following your excellent videos I have bought a Romertopf, ( have not seen La Cloche in Europe, funnily enough).
So I have now baked your 100% spelt sourdough in it and the results were even better than with the cast iron Creuset. Just as a point of interest, the Romertopf instructions scared me into soaking it as they insist it will crack otherwise. The bread took nearly 1 hour to bake, but it was delicious. I think there might be something in the idea of the steam from the soaking making a really good loaf.
So, thanks again for your fantastic site, it’s a real inspiration. Very Best Wishes!
Thanks for the clarification, Didier. I found Crust shortly after my previous post and figured that might be it. Will definitely check it out.
My take on soaking a clay baker is that it’s most desirable when cooking things other than bread but that there’s nothing like the oven spring and crust development that comes from dropping your bread dough in an already toasty hot Romertopf or Cloche. Of course by the time you’ve preheated one, any moisture from soaking would be gone. It’s just a personal preference thing as many prefer the “cold start” method.
So sorry if you have answered this in the past but I have searched and cannot find it. I have 4 new starters that I have had going now for about 1 month and still I am not clear what to do the day of the baking. I bake once a week, so usually once a week I refresh the starter and that is going fine. But if I want to bake on Sunday for a no knead recipe would this be a sequence to follow? Feed the starter Friday night and leave it out for 2 – 3 hours then refrigerate overnight. Saturday, take the starter out of the refrigerator in the morning and leave it at room temperature for 8 hours. Make up the recipe as described in the video.
Also which recipe calls for 2 cups of starter? You mention it in your video on sourdough management as a favorite which I have watched at least 3 times to try and get the above question answered. Thanks for the GREAT website and FREE advice!!
eliz,
I have not had any problem with my starter that has been fed within the past week, and immediately returned to the refrigerator after using. On baking day, I remove the starter, take a quarter cup out for my bread. I return a quarter cup of flour (I use 50/50 rye and www) and same amount of water to my starter container and put it back in the refrigerator until I use it again the following week. I find there is no need to let the starter come to room temperature before using. You will be mixing it with room temperature water so that is plenty. Plus, I usually put my bread dough in the refrigerator as well until I am ready to bake. The starter continues to feed and proof your bread, just at a very much slower rate. Hope this helps. Wil
Hi Eliz,
I handle my sourdough the same as Wil most of the time. There’s quite a bit of latitude on what works so what usually ends up happening is you find a routine for managing your starter that’s compatible with your baking habits.
My mention of the 2 cups of sourdough recipe is so long ago, I can’t remember exactly which one it is. I just know it was from Ed Wood’s book Classic Sourdoughs where a bunch of his recipes call for 2 cups starter. That was about 9 favorite recipes ago.
Thanks for the feedback Wil and Eric. I am just trying to do what will work best –so you are saying you can feed it on one Sunday and come back the following Sunday, take 1/4 c out of the fridge and start mixing away. I do not need to take the starter out a day ahead or feed it and let it double before cooking with it?
Hi Eliz,
My bread day is normally Friday to Friday and that is what I do. However, yes there is a however, I may be able to do this 2 or 3 times. After the 1st week, I keep an eye on the starter’s vigor (still has lot of bubbles) and how much it rises in the container after it has been fed and put back in the refrigerator a couple of days (mine will almost double). If it looks like it has slowed down and I think I am going to bake in a day or so, I take the stater out of the refrigerator, take 1/2 out, replace the amount I discard with flour and water, let sit on the counter for about an hour and then put it back in the refrigerator. Mine will double, in fact almost overflow my container by the next morning. I can use it that day then or wait a week and it will still do a great job.
Wil
Eliz, after reading my response, it was not very clear even to me. What I tried to say was yes, you should be able to take your starter made on Sunday and use it right out of the refrigerator the following Sunday. You may not have to take the starter out a day ahead of time to let it double prior to using. I say “May Not” because it will depend on your starter vigor and conditions. Try both ways and use the method that works best for you. Like Eric said, you kind of get into a routine that works best. BTW, when I make Spelt bread, I use a freshly made and working Spelt starter. I don’t keep Spelt starter for more than a week in the refrigerator.
Wil
Wow thanks so much what a help — I think one of my starters the other day wasn’t good, even though it looked and smelled OK I made 5 loaves of hockey pucks but one of the spelt loaves turned out beautiful — I had taken the starter out and it doubled 8 hrs later, then used it…..The hockey pucks taste great but you know — flat and too dense.
I also think my dough is too wet — it is very hard to handle – sticks to my hands when I am putting it in the casserole dish and totally deflates…maybe I will add a touch more flour next time.
I hope I’m not asking something that you have answered, but what is the minimum time that you recommend for the dough to proof between the last “stretch and fold” until you put the dough into a proofing basket? I want to start my bread in the early morning and cook it in the evening.
Thanks,
Debra
Wil,
Why do you use 50/50 rye and www to feed your starter. Why not just use all rye?
Just wondering,
Debra
You make spelt starter from scratch each time? from pineapple juice? or you keep a rye or white flour starter in the fridge and use spelt flour a couple of times to let it double just before making bread?
Hi Debra,
Half the time I bake whole wheat bread and half the time rye. I’ve been making sourdough starters and bread since a trip years ago to Alaska. Over the years, after a lot of reading about sourdough starters and personal experience, I learned that a whole wheat flour generally keeps better, at least for me, than regular white flour. White flour is ok and makes a nice starter, bread flour gets “gummy” and in one of my books it advised not to use bread flour, so I don’t. Another tip I picked up along the way, I don’t remember when or where, rye flour helps with sourness, especially in baking. Some of the old sourdough bakers would always use 1/4 cup of rye flour when making their SD bread. So, I just keep a whole wheat starter that a few years ago I started adding rye flour to and somewhere along the way just made it 50/50.
Ginette,
I just use my regular ww/rye starter, out of the refrigerator and use spelt flour for three feedings /doubling. I think Eric mentioned one time this is not a “purist” way of doing it. Start out with very little of your starter, say a tablespoon or less, to about 1/2 cup of spelt and water, let it work and double, discard half and add spelt and water again. You will have a nice spelt starter. Take a look back through the post and even try a spelt poolish. That does great as well.
Wil
Wil
I see…. Since September I have been using a purely spelt starter. I store it in the fridge during the weekm, and Friday morning take it out to get it ready for making bread Friday night. It has been working fine. You mean I could get even better results by keeping the fridge starter as ww/rye?
Ginette,
I wouldn’t go so far as saying you would get better results with either your bread making or starter vigor. There are just too many variables. You may experience better starter management with a ww starter that is kept in the fridge. Using part rye may help in giving your starter a different sourness characteristic. I have never had a ww starter kept in the fridge go bad but I have heard that ww, over time, can go bad because of more oils in the grain. Eric has talked about this. I personally have never had this to happen. Maybe because I keep a small quantity and it is frequently renewed. Above all, keep doing what works for you. There are as many ways as there are followers of Eric’s great site.
Wil
Just wanted to add a note to thank you for the wonderful instruction videos. I am 68 years old and have baked a loaf or two in my time but never really had success with sourdough until I found your site. I am particularly fond of the spelt recipe. I found that substituting 2 cups of white spelt flour and changing the water amount to 1 and 2/3 cups works really well. I use the Romertopf 109 and proof in a loaf pan with oiled parchment paper. This smaller clay baker forces the dough up into a beautiful loaf. I also leave the lid on the full baking time. My oven is a large gas convection type so I lowered the temp to 425 degrees. Works beautifully every time. Thanks again. I will be ordering some more baking stuff from you soon.
Joe: Send a pic of that beautiful bread. We’d love to see it.