December 13, 2020 - 8:54am
Off the cuff spelt recipe
So this was a throw together recipe using up flour and seeds. Went something along these lines...
- 400g whole spelt flour
- 100g whole rye flour
- 450g water
- 8g salt
- 60g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax and sesame)
- A dollop of unfed 100% hydration starter
Developed the gluten through 4 sets of stretch and folds then refrigerated till evening. Took the dough out before bed to BF through the night. Shaped, final proofed and baked the next morning.
Very surprised at such a nice crumb even though it's 100% wholegrain spelt and rye plus baked in a pullman. The crust has a toasted corn like taste to it, the crumb is soft and has a nutty taste with pleasant tang. Seeds add lots of different flavours plus texture to a soft crumb. Very happy with this easy off the cuff bake.
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Abe, how much is a "dollop" of starter? Perhaps 20 g? No preferment, simply include the starter in the original mix? Or was there an initial mix, autolyse, and then the starter gets added?
This looks like an interesting combination of grains and seeds, and I am thinking of trying it. Hence my questions about some of the details.
Happy baking (and stay safe and stay healthy).
Ted
First let me say as an off the cuff no fuss last minute recipe there's no fancy autolyse or strict measurements. The recipe went a lot by feel with me making mental notes (in case it went well) and working out the hydration after adding water totally by feel. The only exact measurements are the flour weight (although not the ratios) and salt (as I like to keep salt more exact). It went like so...
Emptied what I had left of whole rye flour in the bowl and made up the rest with whole spelt. About 100g whole rye and 400g whole spelt.
To this I added 8g salt and the remainder of the mixed seeds which came to about 60g. Mixed till fully combined.
Made a well in the flour and added about 15-20g (half a soup spoon?) starter which was 100% hydration, had been fed and matured a week earlier then refrigerated.
Then I poured in the water slowly forming the dough. Stopped when it felt right. By knowing how much the bowl weighs and subtracting the rest of the dry ingredients it turned out about 450g water = 90% hydration. I suggest you follow the same procedure and stop when it feels right to you. Have 450g water to one side but don't add it all at once. Aim for a well hydrated dough, a bit sticky but holds itself together well.
Then perform 4x stretch and folds 30 minutes apart and refrigerate. Before bed take it out to slowly ferment overnight. Will be well risen but with some gentle folds will gain strength back. Shape into a log and then into a loaf pan. Final proof for about 1.5 hours then bake.
Any questions please ask.
P.s. see my 'A Very Simple Sourdough Recipe' which follows a similar procedure with more precise measurements and you can add in seeds. Joe has had a lot of success with the recipe turning out some great looking and tasting loaves.
Hi Abe!
Was just reading through this post. Do you happen to recall if you soaked any of the seeds? I know people have several different approaches. I may give this a go in the next few weeks. I have a new pullman pan that needs breaking in. ?
Thanks in advance!
Mary
Hi Mary,
I have soaked seeds before in the past but this was a throw together recipe so no soaking. It's a long bulk ferment so they soften up very nicely anyway but I'm not too fussed about seeds as I like them either way. If you read through the other comments I explain some of the methods (behind my madness) and hopefully it'll give you a clearer idea of the whole 'process'.
This one turned out very nicely. Off the cuff recipes generally work great.
P.s. it's not a very big loaf so might not completely fill your Pullman. Didn't fill mine but had room for good oven spring and ended up with a nice dome as if baked in a normal pan as supposed to flattening out. But the lid is great for steam.
And yup, I had read through all the comments too. My pullman is a 9 in/23 cm size, and from your photos and dough wt info, I am guessing that should work. Let me know if you think otherwise though!
Start this in the morning and do it all at room temperature keeping an eye on the dough. It's very flexible. I had planned on no refrigeration but then I realised it was too late to see it through from start to finish but too long to keep it at room temperature till the next day. So refrigerated it till bed time and it finished off the bulk ferment through the night. Key to this bread is the flexibility and a long ferment but start early in the day and it should be baked by evening.
Looking forward to results.
Hi Mary,
Here is a link to my blog post on baking this bread, which turned out nicely and had a great flavor. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/66827/abes-spelt-and-rye-bread-my-bake Let us know if you bake this bread.
Stay safe and happy baking.
Ted