Hi folks,
I have recently been experimenting with adding amaranth flour to some breads. I have added only a small amount of 5% (50 gm out of 1000 gm total flour) and found that even this accelerates the fermentation speed significantly. In a recent bake I used my go to test recipe of 40% fresh milled wheat and 60% bread/AP flour, 25% starter, ~79% hydration. I retarded loaves both with and without amaranth overnight and when baked in the morning, the one with amaranth was clearly (if slightly) over fermented while the standard loaf was perfect.
Has anyone else had this experience with amaranth?
Just curious. Thanks.
-Brad
toasted as an add-in. In that form, i haven’t noticed any difference in fermentation times.
I have used other toasted flours and grains before, as you have, and have not noticed any differences either. That's why this stood out for me.
I'm thinking a small amount of it might be a good addition to boost lazy starters for one or two feedings.
-Brad
Enzymatic activity can certainly occur with grains and cereals. Some Hamelman multigrain recipes call for adding salt to soakers to avoid excessive enzymatic activity.
I have used home-milled spelt, einkorn, khorasan and many varieties of hard wheat. They all changed the fermentation rates somewhat. I have just never seen before the major extent to which such a small amount of amaranth increased fermentation. Do you have any information suggesting amaranth, compared to other grains, has a lot of enzymatic activity?
Thanks.
-Brad
Yes, I searched briefly before writing my comment and didn't see anything to suggest it's known for this. It's helpful to know which grains do this, since the last thing you want is an overproofed loaf.
If this is truly the case, and not just a reflection of a single batch of amaranth flour that I happened to buy, this may be a useful way to manage the timing of a dough if you don't have as much time as you thought...
-Brad
The main thing I learned about amaranth in the whole/ancient grains class at SFBI, was that it scorches pretty easily...we took advantage of that by using heavily floured couches for these amaranth baguettes as a contrast with the dark crust (don't have the formula with me, so I don't know the percentage of amaranth in the dough)...
Your comments are totally consistent with my bakes. I also found the loaves with amaranth were a few shades darker than the equivalent loaf with out it. Thanks.
-Brad