Kernza for the win
I figured out how to downsize an image. Used my flaked Kernza for my usual porridge bread. It just keeps getting better and better! Amazing tender open crumb. I took advantage of the information others posted to get more flavor out of the porridge step and just poured boiling water on the flaked grain and didn’t cook further. Worked perfectly.
I use different flour combinations each time I make this bread. This time was Rye, Rouge de Bordeaux , and Stardust ( white hard wheat ) . All milled in my Mock Mill. With Arrowhead AP as the white flour. Whole grains are 70% of the mix. 100g of Kernza. I use my “ trinity” and Apple Yeast Water and 250g of active levain. Made 3 /750g boules.
Didn’t do my usual “ beat like batter” step. Went straight to all liquids and all flours mixed til wet. Autolyse 1 hr ( while digging holes for 3 gallon size shrubs I’m redoing my landscaping). Wet the counter place dough pat out to lamination size letter fold. Rest. Do two more times. Let rise til triple. Shape rise 1 ° room temp. Retard 18 hrs bake in graniteware roaster lid on/ lid off. Couldn’t be any more tender and full of flavor.
Comments
Great breads Caroline!
Have you ever sprouted wheat for your breads? Could just imagine this is something you'd do.
-Jon
No I’ve not tried sprouting grains. I bought sprouted flour years ago and had digestive difficulties with it so I stay away from them now. May need to try again!
Your breads are always so beautiful and creative. The crumb on my porridge breads is very tender for sure. Thanks again. c
Love the look of that crumb, Caroline! Do you think that adding bacon drippings might be interesting?
TomP
Um no I don't think so but we don't eat bacon so I am not a good judge :) I don't usually do additions to my bread like cheese and veggies etc. I do add nuts and dried fruit on occasion but I am a plain Jane with most of my breads. You will have to give it a try and see what you think. Here is the basic formula.
100g flaked grain
200g boiling water to soak grain
when cool add 40g EACH : buttermilk or yogurt/honey /olive oil
add 23g salt
add 100g active Yeast Water. and 250 g active 100% hydration levain
add 650g water - hold back 50g of that to adjust accordingly
Mix all these thoroughly.
Put all the flours --- 1000g of your choice in a bowl and add all the liquids at once. Fold in bowl till all is moist...add additional water if needed and let hydrolyze for 1 hr.
Remove from bowl onto wet counter and pat out and letter fold 2x. rest 15 or so and do again rest and do once more. Dough should have amazing gluten . Let rise til triple. Shape in your preferred shapes...I did 3 boules. Let rise room temp and retard.....18 hrs will give you the optimum open crumb. Bake in preheated covered pot of choice at 450 covered 15min and 425 uncovered for 25 min. 0r 200degrees internal temp.
That just looks amazing, Caroline. At 70% whole grains that looks stunning. Have been curious how your oat breads are turning out with the Kernza. Would love to have the chance to taste something like that one day.
-Lin
I had about given up on the Kernza as I don’t care for it as a cooked whole grain. When I flaked it even though it doesn’t get as flat as oats it makes a big difference in the way the grain responds to just the boiling water soak. So tender! I’m in love with the porridge bread now that I’ve gotten the formula amounts perfected. Hope you get to try it or try other flaked grains. I’ve done barley and it tastes outstanding. I need to buy more. Always lots to try🙏
what an incredible-looking bread. And you've sent me down the rabbit hole to understand what Kernza is. Thanks!
Rob
King Arthur is working on a perennial also and there was a lengthy post on TFL recently about it. It took me this long to find a way to use it that really showcases the flavor and fragrance of the grain. I had purchased 3 bags a couple years ago . Kept it refrigerated and have used out of it as a ground flour and as a cooked grain but flaked and scalded is the perfect perfect way to use it, in my opinion. It’s expensive but I’m going to get more when this last bit is gone.
Your breads look delicious!
Yesterday, I heard a segment about Kernza on Science Friday on NPR. One of the more interesting facts was that there are only about 2500 acres of planted Kernza. That's basically nothing compared to regular crops.The hope is that a large food company like General Mills might start using small amounts of Kernza to increase demand and therefore planted acres.
I have had some curiosity about Kernza and other perennial grains, but the cost has kept me from following through. I really should get some Kernza to help with the demand!
Thank you it is delicious!
We usually do listen to SciFri. Kernza is very tasty as he said. I haven’t used it as a ground flour as much as I have a cooked grain. I do hope it will catch on but my fear if a company like GM gets ahold of it they will adulterate it in some way.
As I mentioned there is studying and growing being done for King Arthur on this subject. They are selling a flour blend currently with a perennial wheat/grain .
I’m going to order more. Get some it goes a long way with other grains and the flavor is excellent and really comes through. c
I have a bag of it (you can only buy small bags). It's a mix of the new perennial and two other wheats. It has a richer flavor than most whole wheats I have baked with. Otherwise it seems to handle about the same as other WWs. My bag is almost gone. It's expensive and then there are the shipping charges so I'm dithering about getting more, but it's well worth trying one small bag just to see.
TomP
I remembered you had been using their blend. I’m glad you like it. I’m hopeful the perennial grains can catch on . In listening to the one YouTube show there is a problem with the ripening of the grain. It doesn’t all ripen at the same time on the plant! Top first then down the stalk. That’s a huge issue as far as losing potential crop. Also as I’ve noted the size of the grain is quite small so the machines have to be adjusted. Lots of work to be done. Thank you for commenting!
I used up most of what little I have left on the latest iteration of my potato-sour cream-bacon bread.
- 150g (25%) - sujata atta
- 60g (10%) - KA blend
- 390g (65%) - KA bread flour
I don't know if it really made a difference because the amount was small, but this batch was the best ever.
Barton Springs has Purple Straw a soft red wheat locally grown organic. It’s a beautiful ancient grain and soft for chapati etc. I like to grind everything myself. I was hoping KA would sell just the whole grain but the growers didn’t respond when I emailed about purchasing the whole grain. Barton Springs has their Fall sale coming up soon. Their grains are top notch.
I’ll let you know about the Kernza when I get more.
The thing about the atta flour is that 1) the level of damaged starch is said to be much higher than for ordinary flours we are used to; 2) the bran is also somehow ground very fine. When I used a #50 screen, almost no bran pieces were separated out, yet the flour is labeled as being whole wheat. Proper atta flour is not just about the wheat used, but also about the process.
I’ve never understood the need to sift . With the lengthy autolyse + bulk+ shaped/ retard and such minimal hands on that I do the gluten development is perfect without worry that somehow the bran or germ will tear the gluten. Time is on my side I guess. I’m glad you find that flour useful! Hoping you get more Kernza .
I don't always sift whole grains. I'm more of your way of thinking. I just sifted this atta flour out of curiosity to see about the bran size. I am a little leery about bran, though, what with it having higher levels of phytates and oxylates. 90% extraction is possibly the sweet spot for nutrition (Let's not get into a discussion! there are too many angles here, mostly not provable). Often I don't bother.
About the phytates I believe the extensive autolyse and fermentation periods negates the phytates particularly because of the sourdough component. I’m glad we can discuss!🙏
I know that happens but I read a scientific article on it that I didn't save. The authors did a lot of measurements on remaining vs time and they were getting much longer times than I had thought. I forget the details but it was taking a day to a day and a half to do the reduction that I had thought needed 8 hours. Something in that ballpark, anyway.
Well, one article in the area of nutrition proves almost nothing, but it weakened my grip on the conventional statements that sourdough fermentation pretty well takes care of the phytates. And there are still the oxylates. I'm not rigorous about avoiding bran but when there's an easy way to reduce it and I'm not feeling too lazy, I may sift some of it out. And, of course, I don't want to go overboard because of the fine flavors that come with these grains.
I’ll have to look up more on it. I’ve not done any further research in several years. My bulk ferment is usually 4 hrs or so and I do cold retard 16-18 hrs so hopefully that makes a substantial difference. I’ll see what if anything has been done recently. My husband is a retired PhD Chemist so I can run it by him 😊✅
My husband said look up Calcium and oxalates a huge amount of info. Since the oxalates bind to Calcium a glass of milk or other high calcium food like a grilled cheese with your bread works well. Also high heat longer bake times neutralizes oxalates. I’m linking my first effort into this subject. Glad you brought it up!
https://www.google.com/search?q=whow+to+lower+oxalates+in+bread&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS676US676&oq=whow+to+lower+oxalates+in+bread+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyCQgDECEYChigATIJCAQQIRgKGKABMgcIBRAhGKsCMgcIBhAhGJ8FMgcIBxAhGJ8FMgcICBAhGJ8FMgoICRAAGIAEGKIE0gEJMTg4MjhqMGo3qAIZsAIB4gMEGAEgXw&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Thanks for the intro to Kernza. Worth exploring for sure, if I can get it here (Europe).
Two questions:
How’s Kernza’s gluten? Like a weak T. Aestivum (e.g., Red Fife)? Lower?
Are you literally just pouring boiling water over flakes (i.e., in a sieve) or is there some sit ‘n soak time?
Thanks!
I don’t know about the gluten by itself as when I used it as flour it was blended with others and the last few times it’s always been as a cooked grain. I posted my general formula above. I flaked the grain and store it in the freezer flaked. I place it in a pan and pour over the water and bring it to a boil and shut off and leave covered. Works great! I hope you can get some. I know Amazon is now carrying it. Thank you and good luck.
then you probably can't afford it. Or so the old joke goes.
When I did some noodling around on the web, I came across Sustain-A-Grain. They offer 25 pounds of the whole grain kernza for $84.99 and 15 pounds of flaked grains for $67.99. Not cheap, but no worse than I've seen for einkorn. I haven't checked their shipping costs, so don't know how much of bite that might be.
For comparison, Breadtopia has a 2 pound bag of whole grain kernza priced at $12.80.
Paul
A while back when we were discussing this . I don’t balk at large orders of grains/ imported French flour usually but I’m not sure I’m wanting that much Kernza at present. I’ll order the smaller amount for now . Thanks for joining in Paul. The YouTube videos are excellent information.
I commented on your other thread if you have made bread with it. That’s a nice idea to use it flaked as a porridge. Your crumb looks fantastic. I will have to buy some whole grains and grind it into flour. I love trying new grains so can’t wait.
Is the way to go for flavor intensity. I have flaked then dry toasted in a skillet and then scalded. Super flavor enhancer. I’ve done barley and spelt and einkorn and emmer flakes. They are all excellent. Let me know if you want more info. 🙏
I’m glad my Kernza posting has gotten some attention. I want it to be the beginning of a new era in grains.
Caroline that crumb is just fabulous! I’ve never seen kernza around here, so I will live vicariously through your baking.
Benny
The bread is so delicious. It stays so moist and fresh and makes outstanding sandwiches and when we get to the heels we cube them and brown them in the oven for croutons! Takes a salad to all new levels 😊. I’ll be reordering for sure. If you ever figure out your Florida travel to include bringing food stuffs back you will have to try it. c