I had some spelt on hand and just tried baking a 100% spelt bread. Actually, the starter was rye, so not quite. Not much ovenspring, but more airy than i expected. And the flavor is amazing.
Does anyone have opinions on hydration when using spelt vs hard wheat? (This loaf was 80%).
flour into the dough. (up the rye%) Don't you just love spelt? Spelt and rye is my favourite combination and they complement each other so nicely. Save a few slices (freeze) to feed the starter or crumble into the dough liquids... for extra flavour!
Very Lovely Loaf! :) Excellent!
Thanks, Mini! I appreciate the encouragement, and the advice.
Do you mean to use more rye sour, or to use rye flour in the main dough?
For reference, I used:
300 gr fresh milled spelt240 gr H2O
autolyse spelt+water several hours (I was out of the house)
add:
6 gr salt
10 gr spelt malt flour
50 gr rye sour (60% hydr, and it was refreshed from a refridgerated sour at the time I mixed the autolyse)
30 gr olive oil
knead to medium development, go on some more errands. On return it had doubled (or a bit more than doubled).
Fold a few times, shape, rest about 40 min while oven heats.
Bake 20 min at 450 (covered), 20 at 425 (uncovered)
is what I meant.
However if you find the finished loaf getting too sour, increase the amount of rye starter slightly. More is less. :)
Spelt is good. By itself if results as you found in a low-ish and denser loaf than with other flours. Agree with mini that rye/spelt is a wonderful combination.
I use up to 50% whole spelt flour by weight, with whole rye. For me, rye can mean whole rye or rye meal, which is known as pumpernickel in the local store where I buy it. No relation to pumpernickel bread, as a finished product.
Also I use whole spelt/rye/white wheat in a one third of each mix. Really good.
Hydration is 70% for a loaf, and around 55%-60% for rolls or Brötchen.
Nice oven spring and wonderful earthy aroma.
semolina_man, you suggest (in addition to combining with rye 50-50), to reduce to 70% hydration). I'll give that a go in my next round of bread with spelt. The 80% dough was not hard to work with, though. I'll experiment. I'm still in the early learning stages with 100% whole grain bread. I'm sold on the aroma of spelt, for sure. That loaf made a great turkey sandwich on Thursday night.