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Whole Grain Kamut Sourdough Bread
Kamut wheat is known for its smooth buttery flavor and golden color. It was brought to Montana from Egypt in the mid-1900s and is believed to be originally from Iran. Related to durum wheat, Kamut berries are much larger but have a similar golden shade and protein level that can be higher than conventional wheat but results in less gluten strength for bread making.
In 2017 I wrote a trio of Kamut recipes in this post. I used different percentages of whole grain Kamut flour with bread flour: 20%, 40%, and 93%. The third loaf was shy of 100% because my sourdough starter was fed all purpose flour. That mostly whole grain Kamut bread (below) was quite flat but had a beautiful, well-aerated gold crumb. Ever since then, I’ve wondered if I could make this bread a bit taller if I lowered the hydration of the dough and fermented it less. I remember when I shaped this dough, it was loose and very fermented, almost like a thick sourdough starter.
2017 recipe for whole grain Kamut sourdough bread
Four years and many bread projects later, I finally got back to this question. I dropped the total hydration of the dough by 5 percentage points and I only fermented the dough to about 1/3 expansion during the bulk fermentation. The results were indeed taller but with a slightly more closed crumb, which was to be expected due to both the hydration change and the inclusion of rye flour (more on that below).
2021 Fermentation Photos
Baker’s Percentages for the Recipes
Baker’s Percentages for the Ingredients
Kamut wheat berries in the sun
Some additional changes to the recipe and process included using a clay batard baker, home-milling the Kamut flour, and using a lot of fast fermenting whole grain rye sourdough starter.
I’ve been experimenting with rye sourdough starter lately, so I have an abundance of it and I wanted to taste the combination of the fruity rye starter and Kamut flour. Here are instructions for converting your starter to rye or any other flour e.g. Kamut flour. But you can also make this recipe with whatever starter you have on hand.
Whole Grain Kamut Sourdough Bread
Kamut wheat flour and aromatic rye sourdough starter make up this quick and delicious whole grain sourdough bread. Keeping the hydration low, limiting the fermentation, and chilling the dough before baking allow for a relatively tall bread given the low gluten strength of the dough. The result is a flavorful bread that's great for toasts, dipping, and sandwiches.
Ingredients
Instructions
Shopping List
Kamut® Whole Grain Flour
Kamut® Wheat Berries
Rye Whole Grain Flour
Rye Berries
Sourdough Starter (Live)
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Danish Dough Whisk — Large
Dough Rising and Storage Bucket with Lid — 2 qt. Round
Bowl Covers (5 pcs)
Round Rattan Proofing Basket
Oval Rattan Proofing Basket
Breadtopia Cloche Bread Baker — Round
Breadtopia Clay Baker — Batard
Bread Lame
Whole Grain Kamut Sourdough Bread