80% whole four-grain biga loaf

This is an earthy, delicious and easy loaf to make. Flour composition is: 22% whole red spelt, 22% wholegrain, 20% whole barley, 16% whole teff and 20% white bread flour. Hydration is 75%.

I began the night before by making a biga with the 22% spelt and 22% wholegrain. The biga was 45% hydration and consisted of 10% of my standard rye starter. I left this to ferment for 15 hours at around 15 degrees.

The next day, I made a tangzhong at 1:3 ratio, whole teff:water. I added the remaining hydration needed for the loaf to the tangzhong, and once it cooled, poured it over my biga. I left the biga clumps to hydrate this way for about 5 mins, before adding the remaining white bread flour and salt.

BF took 3.5 hours and proofing 1.5. I coated the loaf with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pine nuts, and baked this at 220 degrees for 40 mins, first covered then uncovered. 

Excellent taste and really moist crumb. I love the colour that teff gives!