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Hi everyone,

I have a question about challah. I have not made it before today and I decided to give Hamelman's recipe a try. I'm wondering just how stiff this dough is supposed to be? I mixed it according to Hamelman's instructions, even adding a bit more water, but the dough was almost as stiff as bagel dough--and I make my bagels pretty darn stiff. The flour was a combination of regular and high gluten flour, for which I used KAF's Sir Lancelot. What should I have been looking for here in terms of dough consistency? The dough is fermenting now. I guess one good thing is that with such a stiff dough, I know the braiding will be easy!

Thanks,

Susanfnp

Hi, I am starting up this thread because I don't want to hijack or in anyway take Cookie's thread off on a tangent that she may not wish.

The bread is am talking about is found at this site and is the Klosterbrot. sphealey has suggested reading RLB's the bread bible and Jeff Hammelman's bread. I have read both and am curious as to whether or not the ....detmold....method is necessary for baking this type of bread. The description of detmold is quite intimidating for me since I am a new comer to bread and I am wonder just how necessary it is for this bread. Can someone say?

Klosterbrot

I grind my own flour and regularly make whole wheat breads at about 85-90% hydration to get an open crumb - not as open as with white flour, of course, but holey enough for me.

Anyway, I bought 6 pounds of spelt berries a couple of weeks ago and started up a spelt sourdough starter. I made a round loaf of 50-50 whole wheat / whole spelt at 85% hydration. Lovely crumb, lovely flavor. Big ole pancake of a loaf. It spread out something awful in the oven.

I've previously made a sourdough sandwich loaf with 50-50 whole wheat - whole spelt at 80% hydration, and it turned out great. A bit less of a rise than 100% wheat, but still acceptable, and the flavor was really nice. Tangy and nutty. But the loaf also had butter, milk and some honey in it, which could have made a difference, I suppose. The round was just flour, water, salt and starter.

I developed both the round and the sandwich loaf using the stretch and fold method described by Mike Avery (i.e., mix until all is hydrated, rest for an hour, then fold ever 45 minutes or so). I folded three times.

I see several possibilities for why the loaf spread:

1) I've read that spelt doesn't absorb as much water as wheat. Perhaps I added too much water?
2) I've also read that spelt's gluten is more fragile than wheat. But, as I said, the pan loaf rose just fine.
3) Perhaps I didn't develop the dough well enough? (again, though, the pan loaf was fine)
4) Maybe my shaping needs help. I was trying to be as gentle as possible, so maybe I was a bit too gentle.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience working with whole spelt and has tips and pointers, I'd be most appreciative.

I am trying to nurse my sick starter back to health and not getting the results I want.  About 10 days ago I started a vigorous attempt to revive my barely living starter.  I have been using 1/4 c. of starter, 3/4 c. flour and 1/2 c. water. I let it sit out for 12 hours and then refridgerate it for the next 12 hours. I then repeat the process day after day.   The starter has progressed some.  12 hours after feeding it has not doubled but has risen maybe half it's size.  It usually has very vigorous bubbles on the surface and 1/4 of the way down but not throughout.  What can I try to get it to double.  Any sugguestions?