This past weekend I decided to make a really nice looking spelt loaf with rye, walnuts, and buttermilk. Everything seemed to go right during fermentation except I really did not get a good ovenspring. It stayed only slightly larger than its size before baking. However, despite its dense crumb, it still tasted great. I was just bummed out that this happened, plus I'd like to know what caused it so I can correct that in the future.
This was admittedly my first time baking with spelt. So perhaps I kneaded incorrectly.
Recipe:
220g Wholegrain Spelt
93g Wholegrain Rye (although I just used normal rye flour this time)
7.5g Fresh yeast
150g Water
63g Buttermilk (room temp)
20g Honey
6g Salt
50g Walnuts
Autolyse flour with buttermilk and most of water for 15 mins.
Bulk ferment I let go for two hours with one fold after one hour.
Bench rest 30 mins.
Final proof 2 hours.
Bake 250C (480F) for 5 mins, reduce to 210 (410) and bake for 35 mins.
My theories:
- Yeast wasn't fresh enough - only a week old, and still had some good rise, but perhaps not enough of it was living
- Bulk ferment or final proof went too long - it was fairly warm that day, so perhaps yeast ate too much
- I either under-kneaded or over-kneaded the spelt not allowing the gluten to form properly to trap the CO2 - kneaded about 8 minutes (4 - speed 1 & 4 - speed 2) then another 2 minutes to mix in walnuts on speed 1
- And no, I did not have a baking stone - but this hasn't mattered much for other breads I've done and I have already rectified this problem
- Or a combination of all of the above
Spelt proves quicker than normal wheat and if the bulk ferment is done correctly, even with normal wheat, the final proof would be 30-40 min with that amount of yeast. And I'd use 7g yeast for 500g flour. Drop the yeast to 3g. Bulk ferment till doubled and final proof for 30-40min.
CORRECTION! Sorry, was reading and answering while in a hurry. You used fresh Yeast! 7g sounds about right. Did you dough rise during the bulk ferment? Take a little yeast and dissolve in warm sugar water. Wait 10 minutes and see if it foams. If it does then the yeast is healthy.
I will try again but let the final proof go to an hour or less if it is as warm as last time. I had no idea that it proofed quicker than wheat; I will remember that, thanks!
Yes, it rose pretty nicely in bulk ferment. So I think the yeast was still fairly healthy. I will make sure to check next time, though.
Thanks!