No cracked rye

Toast
Elsasquerino on 25 May 2017 at 10:38

Hi guys.

Stumbled across this post 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16957/5grain-sourdough-rye-sourdough-hamelman039s

and being completely impatient I now want to try it this weekend. I have everything but cracked rye and the chances of finding any locally are zero so I'm thinking what else I may use to similar effect.  What I do have is some spelt grains which I've never got around to experimenting with? Any thoughts on whether this could work if added to the soaker? Would I need to adjust anything else or use a lesser amount? 

Thanks in advance.

In fact, I find that rye chops are very hard (hence the recommendation to use boiling water; I sometimes cook the rye grains, whole or cracked). Got any steel-cut oats around? Or cracked wheat?

Thanks for that Lazy, I haven't got anything cracked. Just the whole spelt grain, could I crack that myself or would I be better cooking it and if so what changes would I make to allow for the extra hydration?  

I did some investigating on here and decided to just try my trusty old spice grinder. After a bit of clever sifting this doesn't look bad!  I've made up the soaker with boiling water anyway so time will tell, cracked spelt seems a rarity I'm worried there may be a reason for that haha?!?

This really is some special bread, thank you David for your original post and obviously Mr Hamelman for the recipe. The cracked spelt seems to have worked fine, will try it again when I've got hold of some rye to compare.