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.
P Smathers
· 9 months ago
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
Malcolm Kronby
· 9 months ago
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
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
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.
Sally
· 9 months ago
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
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
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.
Claudine in France
· 9 months ago
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...
Luisa Guidi
· 9 months ago
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!!
Tim
· 9 months ago
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.
JeffB.
· 9 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
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.
Brenda
· 9 months ago
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).
JeffB.
· 9 months ago
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.
Audrey Clark
· 9 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
Sure thing, Audrey. I'd be honored.
Nope, I don't soak the baker.
sandra casagrande
· 9 months ago
they don't have spelt flour in any of my grocery stores down here in Fl?? where to get it?
sandra casagrande
· 9 months ago
eric, thank you, thank you, for the great videos...............again! sandy in fl
Audrey
· 9 months ago
Hello Jeff B Yes, I saw a Youtube video for making spelt bread with yeast.
My apologies, they used sourdough starter, But it is a very good video! and there is one also by veginity.com
Vinney Thomas
· 9 months ago
Where can I get spelt flower?
Audrey
· 9 months ago
You can buy Spelt Flour at bobs red mill .com
German Girl
· 9 months ago
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!
Sam Persons Parkes
· 9 months ago
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.
Angels
· 9 months ago
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
sandra casagrande
· 9 months ago
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?
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 9 months ago
Hi Sandra. Ask your grocer to get it.
marc lowen
· 8 months ago
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
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
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.
Tim
· 8 months ago
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
Ed P
· 8 months ago
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 .
rachida
· 8 months ago
thanks,,,
very nice and delecious bread its sure healthy
we try it as soon as possible
thanks again
Lorna Frache, AB Canada
· 8 months ago
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
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
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.
Kristine
· 8 months ago
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
Marianne
· 8 months ago
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!
<img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt1.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300"> </img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt2.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300"> </img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt3.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300"> </img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt4.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300"> </img>
sandra casagrande
· 8 months ago
The spelt flour from purity is $32.00 for 25 lbs plus $17.00 shipping. Just too much money. There must be another way.
Tim
· 8 months ago
Sandra, that actually looks like quite a good deal from here.
I'm in the uk.
sandra casagrande
· 8 months ago
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.
Tim
· 8 months ago
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.
Tim
· 8 months ago
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.
Doug Irvine
· 8 months ago
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
slothbear
· 8 months ago
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.
Tim
· 8 months ago
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.
<img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/TimsSpeltSD.JPG" alt="Tim's Spelt Sourdough" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300"> </img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/TimsSpeltCut.JPG" alt="Tim's Spelt Sourdough" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
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. </img>
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
Hi Tim. Please email the photos to me and I'll add them to your post. Thanks.
slothbear
· 8 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
Slothbear - good suggestion. I just added right below the ingredient list.
Kristine
· 8 months ago
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 )
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?
Kristine
· 8 months ago
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
Kristine
· 8 months ago
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
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
Excellent!
Evan
· 8 months ago
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
Wil Rice
· 8 months ago
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?
slothbear
· 8 months ago
Wil -- check out my white spelt results in an earlier comment. Short answer: great loaf, great taste.
Wil Rice
· 8 months ago
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
pricila
· 8 months ago
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.
Jeff B.
· 8 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 8 months ago
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.
Wil Rice
· 8 months ago
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 10x7 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.
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.
Wil Rice
· 8 months ago
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.
Mark
· 8 months ago
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.
Sam Persons Parkes
· 7 months ago
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.
Moriah
· 7 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 7 months ago
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.
Breadtopia
· 7 months ago
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?
Wil Rice
· 7 months ago
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
Ed P - Bellevue, WA
· 7 months ago
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
Bob Packer
· 7 months ago
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
Wil Rice
· 7 months ago
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.
All Comments
Peggy
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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...
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.
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 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.
luck with it.
Nope, I don't soak the baker.
Yes, I saw a Youtube video for making spelt bread with yeast.
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, 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
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.
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
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 .
very nice and delecious bread its sure healthy
we try it as soon as possible
thanks again
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
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.
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
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!
<img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt1.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
</img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt2.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
</img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt3.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
</img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/spelt4.jpg" alt="Marianne's Spelt Bread" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
</img>
I'm in the uk.
Thank you.
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
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.
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.
<img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/TimsSpeltSD.JPG" alt="Tim's Spelt Sourdough" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
</img><img src="http://www.breadtopia.com/uploads/Image/TimsSpeltCut.JPG" alt="Tim's Spelt Sourdough" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="400" height="300">
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.
</img>
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.
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 )
[img]IMG_5271.JPG[/img][img]SpeltBred1.JPG[/img][img]1_SpeltBread2.JPG[/img][img]1_PB140028.JPG[/img]
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?
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
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
Evan
I shall press on.
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.
[img]SpeltBread003(2).jpg[/img][img]SpeltBread004(2).jpg[/img][img]SpeltBread005(2).jpg[/img]
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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?
Wil
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
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
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