Comments on: Whole Spelt Sourdough

By: Moriah

Moriah — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Joe: Send a pic of that beautiful bread. We’d love to see it.

By: Joe Foust

Joe Foust — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:43:47 +0000

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.

By: Wil

Wil — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:34:17 +0000

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

By: Ginette

Ginette — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:08:30 +0000

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?

By: Wil

Wil — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:55:33 +0000

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

By: Ginette

Ginette — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:07:49 +0000

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?

By: Debra

Debra — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:12:48 +0000

Wil,
Why do you use 50/50 rye and www to feed your starter. Why not just use all rye?

Just wondering,
Debra

By: Debra

Debra — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:07:10 +0000

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

By: eliz

eliz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:05:38 +0000

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.

By: eliz

eliz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:03:50 +0000

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.