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.
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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
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
Did Marianne plug the bottom of the terracotta Flower pot before placing it in the oven?
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
Great story, Evan. Thanks for sharing.
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
Hi Susan.
Probably nothing. Sometimes it just takes a few tries before you happen to pick up some yeast that takes.
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?
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
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, 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.
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!
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 am baking in one of those clay ovens and twice now the dough has stuck rather difficultly to the bottom. Any suggestions?
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
Kristine,
As my kids say, “cool”! Makes me hungry and that’s not a good thing right now.
Wil
Beautiful! Nice going, Kristine.
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.
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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
Hi Wil – How much (by weight) of cranberries & pecans did you use? Did you use follow the recipe otherwise as written by Eric?
Or,—–I could drop by Eric’s on line store and buy an oblong.
OMG ! Looks awesome and is definitely “PACKER PURTY”. Can’t wait to give this recipe a try.
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
Sure looks good to me!
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
[img]WSpeltCranberryPecan003(2).jpg[/img][img]WSpeltCranberryPecan006(2).jpg[/img]
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 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!
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
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
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
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
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?
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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
Wil — check out my white spelt results in an earlier comment. Short answer: great loaf, great taste.
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?
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
Excellent!
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
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
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?
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