May 28, 2017 - 9:28am
100% whole spelt kefir bread
For the Pre-Ferment:
35g kefir
35g whole spelt
Leave to mature for 12-24 hours (mine took 15 hours)
For the Dough:
60g of the Pre-Ferment
530g whole spelt flour
350g water
10g salt
60g honey
The method:
- Autolyse the flour and water for 30 minutes.
- Add the honey and Pre-Ferment then squeeze and fold the dough. When almost incorporated sprinkle the salt over the dough and carry on till all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Bulk ferment for 5 hours giving the dough a gentle stretch and fold every hour.
- Refrigerate for 8 hours.
- Shape the dough and final proof at room temperature until ready - mine took 1.5 hours.
- Bake using your usual method.
This is my version of this recipe http://breadtopia.com/spelt-bread-recipe/ done with a kefir starter and incorporating some fridge time.
One of the best, if not 'the' best, spelt breads I've done.
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I'm impressed that you can create bread like that with only kefir as a rising agent, and with finicky spelt flour! I'm definitely going to try this. I use my home made kefir in several of my bread recipes but only as enrichment; never used it as a starter. Thanks for this!
And you'll be surprised with the oven spring using a kefir starter. TBH the crumb was a bit of a surprise for me too. The kefir starter is a bit slow to get going but once mature it is a starter on speed in the dough. Enjoy!
How do you know when the starter is 'ready'? Does it double?
I wait until it peaks like a sourdough starter. Went out for the day and came back to it peaking and just beginning to fall so I refrigerated it for a little while to aim for an overnight refrigeration. Make a little extra starter so you can use a whole 60g to allow for loss through fermentation. It was 25-28C in the kitchen so you allow for differences if cooler/hotter where you are for the bulk ferment. By the end of the bulk ferment, before refrigeration, you could see some little bubbles beneath the surface of the dough after leaving it for an hour before the stretch and fold. I double wrapped in plastic bags for the fridge and it grew about 70% overnight.
I make home made kombucha too; have you tried making a starter with this? Maybe I'll try a side-by-side with a kombucha starter and a kefir starter, and see who wins!
But it's certainly something I'd like to try one day. Whether it has the same flavour profile as kefir I wouldn't know. Let me know the outcome.
the search box is your friend...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31349/starter-experiments-kombucha
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/44470/vermont-sd-kombucha-style
A little while ago now. It did work very well indeed and when I saw Dobie's success I did think about trying it myself. Perhaps now is the time!
Bringing back an old discussion from that bake... Would a kefir starter be considered a sourdough starter? What would happen if maintain with flour and water after the initial Pre-Ferment? Do all Pre-Ferments that is maintained for long enough with flour and water have the ability to turn into sourdough starters? Or is it the case that not all can be maintained indefinitely unless a true sourdough.
:)
For some reason I'm getting a better crumb in my wholemeal breads recently.
That crumb is about as good as it gets. So what does it look like on the outside?
Its easier to just attach a file into the header and chose the crumb shot. I'm working on how to do a photo collage. The outside had a lovely dark crust and I suspect it was due to all the honey. Didn't score and just left it to see what happens. It opened up down the middle as if I had done one long score. Had some nice bubbles on the crust too.
Thank you Dabrownman and promise more photos next time. I've already cut it up hence the description.
Beautiful moist and open crumb!
Very enjoyable loaf to make too. I recommend it.