Pushing the spelt limit with a scald
Here is the latest in the 100% spelt Laurels Loaf For Learning series. It's the 2nd one I made with a scald.
The first I tried (not pictured) used the original recipe hydration of 73%, which gave me a dough remarkably lacking in extesibility. The final bread tasted good but didn't rise well and had a bit of a claggy crumb.
This time I increased the hydration to 75%, keeping everything else the same, and got a much better result. The gluten was still very fragile. As you can see, the top surface isn't smooth and there is crumb compression in the lower half of the loaf. But the rise was decent and the mouth texture is excellent. It's tender, moist, and just a touch chewy. It toasts like a dream.
Next time, I want to experiment with adding the scald at the end of kneading, after the gluten is developed. I also want to try adding the oil at the end of kneading after the gluten is developed, but not in the same bake because I don't want to change more than one thing at a time.
Comments
That crumb compression is pretty hard to eliminate given the factors involved. I wouldn’t worry about it so long as it isn’t raw dough which yours is not. These are great bakes you’re doing Jess with a good scientific method changing one thing at a time.
Benny
Looks great!
Would 1/3 less dough weight in the pan help with crumb compression? In other words, 2/3 of the flour weight used in the photo?
I think that is a good idea. My most recent enriched bake used a scald AND double the amount of fat. But I kneaded it in at the end of kneading, after the gluten was completely developed. I also baked it as a plaited loaf in a sheet pan, so it was wide, not tall. It came out GREAT. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/73445/fiona-plaited-enriched-ww-spelt-scald
To test your hypothesis I could make that same loaf and try baking it in a loaf pan. Maybe developing the gluten first, before adding the scald and fat, will give it enough strength to stand up to being baked in a taller form. Or... maybe not! Clearly further research is called for!