Whole Einkorn experiments
I asked the husband for a bread challenge yesterday and he said why not make an airy and not dense free-form 100% ancient grain loaf?
I thought I might as well take the opportunity to conduct some experiments regarding hydration levels of levains, pH levels and resulting crumb/taste. Since I didn't have enough emmer left, I went with einkorn. (Forgot I had an unopened bag of Khorasan in the cabinet - damn! Next time.)
I began last night by making three different levains.
Levain 1 had starter:einkorn:water ratio of 1:4:4, totalling 108g (I call this the liquid einkorn levain).
Levain 2 had starter:einkorn:water ratio of 1:4:3, totalling 96g (I call this the stiff einkorn levain).
Levain 3 had starter:rye:white AP:water ratio of 1:2:2:4, totalling 108g (I call this the rye-AP levain, and it's essentially a refresh of my mother culture).
I expected Levain 1 to be the most acidic, and Levain 2 to be the least acidic.
Levains after rising overnight for 11 hours at 20 degrees:
I'm not so surprised that the rye-AP levain rose more than the liquid Einkorn levain, but I'm very surprised that the stiff Einkorn levain rose to almost as high as the liquid Einkorn (remember that the stiff levain is 12g less than the others).
pH levels:
Rye-AP levain: 4.05; Stiff Einkorn levain: 4.33; Liquid Einkorn levain: 4.22
I'm so surprised that the Rye-AP levain became more acidic than the Einkorns. We can also see that the stiff Einkorn levain is less acidic than the liquid Einkorn levain.
I proceeded to make three mini loaves by adding 78g of Einkorn to each levain, and water to make up to 75% hydration of the total loaf. BF and final proof took 4.5 hours - not surprising given that PFF is 40%. Added poppy seeds, walnuts and cranberries. I baked them at 220 degrees for 25 mins.
Results:
It's hard to see from the picture, but the rye-AP had a substantially better rise, followed by the one made with the stiff levain, and then the one with the liquid levain. All loaves had the same 75% hydration.
Crumb shots:
I subjected the husband to a taste test.
In first place was the loaf made with rye-AP: "This loaf has quite a nice flavour. It's the most bready of all three loaves."
In second place was the 100% Einkorn loaf made with stiff starter: "This has an interesting crust. It's almost like a cookie crust rather than a bread crust. Taste is very earthy and nutty." (Agreed. The crust is really interesting.)
In third place was the 100% Einkorn loaf made with liquid starter: "I don't know what to say about this. It's quite similar to loaf number 2 but a little more dense, slightly more sour, less airy."
So there we are. Takeaways for me for future 100% Einkorn loafs: Use a stiff starter, make bigger loaves, and I think retain the same hydration (messy, but really nice crumb). It was very surprising to me that with just 20% of AP in an otherwise whole grain loaf, handling, rise and crust/crumb profile can change quite significantly.
Comments
what a great experiment!
I'm wondering if a 2-stage levain could have any value here. And what would be the result of prefermenting a smaller %age of the total flour?
Another way of putting this: what went into your choice to preferment 40%? And why 1 preferment of 11 hours?
Thx!
Rob
Always nice to see you around.
Actually the timings are all programmed out of convenience. I sometimes like to have fresh warm bread out of the oven for lunch which means I end up having only 5 hours to BF and proof in the morning. In order to still have maximum flavour, I choose to pre-ferment a high % and for a reasonably long period of time (precisely 11 hours is again out of convenience - I tend to mix my levain at 9 pm and use it at 8 am). I find that 40% of most combination of flours gets the job done within that time frame.
I've experimented with many other options too. E.g. Baking from a dough cold-retarded in the fridge, or BF through the night with a very low % PFF. Both were good too, but I found them a little too sour to my liking, especially if I'm using a lot of whole grains. I might go back to these methods at some point though, just to compare again.
If I have quite a bit of time to bake in the day, then I might choose to go with 20 or 25% PFF instead, resulting in BF+proof of about 7-8 hours. In that case, the flavour is even better, but the sourness will come through a little more. E.g. I find that durum wheat loaves benefit from a lower % PFF, but spelt, and rye especially, do equally very well with a high % PFF.
I've only attempted a double-build levain once, with a 60% spelt bread. I found the result really quite sour and intense, but I might go back and try it again. I once attempted a twin rye levain, with 30% PFF tripled (1:4:4) and 30% PFF only mildly fermented (1:12:12) over 11 hours, and the end result was really good.
What kind of rye breads are you baking these days?
-Lin
Hi Lin --
I asked bc, in my recent experience, a single 11-hour preferment of finely ground whole grain flour could get pretty sour. George Q's fantastic 100% spelt boule -- https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64417/100-sourdough-spelt-bread -- uses a 2-stage levain build and I've been thinking about the potential impact of adopting it in some other breads I bake.
My baking recently has been unfortunately duotone: a few 45% ryes
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I'm hoping to attempt some more adventurous breads soon.
Rob
The colour on the rye loaf is excellent! Love the chocolate chip twist too.
The 11 hour levains have been generous on me - always ended up with just the right amount of sourness. Though I must say - if using all wholegrain I keep the levain hydration lower. This einkorn experiment seems to confirm that this helps somewhat.
Maybe my next experiment will be the rye with single and double build levains each totalling 45% PFF, and then a contrasting comparison with say 20% PFF for both too. Could be insightful.
Lovely experiment Lin.
I think the Rye/AP levain should have a lower pH because there is less bran in the levain to buffer the acids produced by the LAB. As a result you will measure a lower pH. The TTA is probably similar to the other levaisn and the difference it likely just the lower buffering ability of that levain.
Benny
That was something I didn't think about, thanks for pointing me there! You know, what puzzled me was that after mixing all the levains into the final doughs, the dough with the rye/AP levain ended up with a higher pH, even though the levain started off lower than the others. I thought I made a mistake, so I weighed everything again and measured the original levains left in the jars - but no, the measurements remained the same.
The differences between pH and TTA do confound me, and I'm aware that rye starters have a much higher TTA even though their pH values might be around the same as wheat starters. Do you still use your pH meter much, Benny?
Remember that LAB are more affected by pH than the yeast. As the pH falls, their reproduction falls and eventually stops altogether, while the yeast can keep going. So, although the pH of that rye/AP levain is lower than either of the other levains with whole einkorn, the levains with whole einkorn will have higher colony counts or concentration of LAB in them. With less buffer, as the LAB produce acid, the pH will fall more quickly. As this happens, the LAB reproduction will slow down and eventually stops altogether. With more buffer, as the LAB produce acid and it is more completely buffered, allowing them to continue to reproduce, increasing their concentration in the levain until a point in which the pH finally falls low enough to stop their reproduction. By this time, there are a lot more LAB in those levains than in a levain with less buffer. This would explain why the dough made with the rye/AP levain, despite starting with a lower pH ended up making a bread with a higher pH in the end. There was less LAB in that starter and thus less LAB in the bread.
I still use my pH, but it really depends on the bread that I am making. I never use it when I make a stiff sweet levain, as I find those breads I rely on an aliquot jar and measure rise since the LAB are greatly reduced by the stiff sweet levain. I will use the pH meter when I’m baking a hearth loaf and baguettes where I do not use a stiff sweet levain. I’ll use an aliquot jar in addition to the pH meter in those bakes.
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Benny. Very illuminating. Appreciate it!
You're welcome Lin. I look forward to more of your baking experiments.
Benny