A Sourdough Bread for all Seasons and Flours

I set out to make the sourdough sandwich bread that was featured in the Artisan Bread Bakers Facebook group. One of the bakers shared her recipe for a kid-friendly sourdough with a soft crust.  This sounded like a wonderful recipe so I decided to make it immediately.

Somewhere along the way, I got the inspiration to try this formula using three different types of flours. It was a rewarding experiment.

 

I made three different loaves: one using regular all-purpose flour, another using all-purpose Spelt flour and the other using white KAMUT flour.

I followed the same formula but made slight adjustments to the hydration due to the absorption characteristics of each flour. 

Each loaf is shaped into a batard shape, but scored differently. Each loaf is unique in flavor and texture due to the characteristics of the different types of flour and the scoring method used.

 

I call this a sourdough bread for all seasons and flours because it can be made with different types of flours, but it can also be baked as a soft crust sourdough sandwich loaf in a loaf pan (or freeform) to please picky kids or adults or if you prefer a chewy crust, bake it freeform on the baking stone at a higher temperature and reduce the bake time.

 

Sourdough Bread for all seasons

Adapted from Kid Friendly Soft Crust Sourdough by Nancy Winkelmann

Makes: 1 Loaf

Leaven: This bread uses a 166% hydration starter. Refresh the starter as follows:

In the evening combine:

All-purpose or Bread Flour	Spelt Flour	KAMUT Flour
1/8 cup starter	1/8 cup Spelt starter	1/8 cup KAMUT starter
7/8 cup water	3/4 cup water	1 cup water
7/8 cup AP or Bread flour	7/8 cup Spelt flour	7/8 cup KAMUT flour
1/2 tablespoon rye flour	1/2 tablespoon rye flour	1/2 tablespoon rye flour

Cover and leave the leaven at room temperature until it is bubbly, active, and passes the float test (8-12 hours). 

It took my all-purpose and Spelt leavens about 14-16 hours to ripen, but it only took the KAMUT leaven 8 hours. I fed all of the starters before I began this process, but the all-purpose and Spelt starters hadn’t been fed for a few weeks before being fed. The KAMUT starter had been fed and used recently so the leaven ripened much quicker.

Formula:

260g refreshed starter (all of above)
108g water (75F) *
88g milk (75F) *
15g honey
8g coconut oil, melted (or vegetable oil)
1 small egg, beaten
465g flour (Bread flour, AP flour, all-purpose Spelt, or white KAMUT)
15g sea salt (after autolyse)

* I used the same amount of liquid in the final dough for each version. 

Water absorption of the three different flours compared to bread flour: 

• All-purpose flour: The original formula utilizes bread flour. I used all-purpose flour so I had to add a little more flour during mixing to keep it from being too sticky. I used the same amount of water in the levain as you would for bread flour.
• Spelt flour:  Spelt doesn’t absorb water as well as bread flour so I reduced the amount of liquid in the levain and added a bit more flour to the final dough.
• KAMUT flour: KAMUT absorbs water better than bread flour so I increased the amount of water in the levain and reduced the amount of flour used in the final dough by 30g. 

 

Mix and Autolyse: Measure your starter into a large bowl, and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients (water, milk, honey, coconut oil, and egg). Pour wet ingredients into starter, and stir to combine. Add flour to the wet mixture, and stir or mix until no dry bits remain. Cover bowl and autolyse for 20 minutes.

After autolyse, add salt, and work into dough using pinch/stretch/fold (if mixing by hand), or by mixer. If using a mixer, mix about 2 minutes. If kneading by hand, turn out onto surface and knead, stretch/fold until smooth (about 5 minutes). Dough is easy to work with, and not overly sticky.

Bulk Ferment: Place dough in a large oiled bowl, cover and bulk ferment about 4 hours, performing 2 stretch/folds during the first 90 minutes. Dough will increase by more than half, and become pillowy.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface, shape into a rough round and bench rest 10 minutes.

Shaping: Shape dough gently without degassing. These loaves do really well shaped in the batard shape. Or you can shape them into a regular loaf shape and bake in a loaf pan. See variation at the bottom of the post for directions. 

Place the loaf seam side up in flour-dusted, linen-lined basket or banneton.

Final Proof:  This loaf can be baked the same day, or retarded overnight in the fridge. (You can do this for up to 2 days and still got good results). If you are making two loaves instead of one, you can stagger your baking over two days, rather than baking two loaves at once.

I baked the Spelt loaf the same day, but retarded the all-purpose and the KAMUT loaves overnight. I got good oven spring with all three loaves.

If baking the same day, continue to prove dough (covered) at room temperature for an additional 2-3 hrs. If retarding, this can be baked directly from the fridge, or proofed on the counter for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F with baking stone (at least 30 minutes). Sprinkle semolina on your peel or place the proofed loaf on parchment paper.  If you aren’t using parchment paper, a little flour on the bottom of your loaf helps prevent the dough from sticking to the peel, and lets it slide right onto the baking stone cleanly.

Score Loaf: Invert loaf onto parchment paper and score. As I mentioned, I tried three different scoring methods. I used 3 slashes on the Spelt loaf (first loaf below). I slashed the all-purpose flour-loaf directly down the center (middle photos) and added some slashes along the sides. For the KAMUT loaf (third set of photos below), I used a zig zag scoring method using a straight-edge lame. Each scoring method produced a unique loaf.

 

Baking: Slide the loaf (on the parchment paper) onto the preheated baking stone, spritz with water (using a spray bottle), and immediately close the door. Bake 20 minutes.

You can cover the loaf with a roasting pan during the first 20 minutes, then remove and follow the directions below. I didn’t use a roasting pan. I just baked the loaf uncovered on the baking stone the entire time. It didn’t take my loaf 40 minutes to bake so adjust the time accordingly.

After 20 minutes, reduce oven to 350F. Bake an additional 20-25 minutes, rotating once for even browning. The bread will have a pale blonde crust.

Cool completely on wire rack. Store bread in plastic bag for soft crust.

Variation: This bread can also be made in loaf pans. Bake uncovered (in the loaf pan without the baking stone) at 350F for 40 minutes. After baking, brush top of hot loaf with butter, if desired.

Thanks to Nancy for sharing her recipe for this wonderful soft crust sourdough.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Sourdough Irish Soda Bread with Spelt

St. Patrick’s Day is over so why am I posting about Irish Soda Bread?

For starters, who said you could only enjoy soda bread on St. Patrick’s Day? And secondly, this bread is not your normal soda bread. Traditional soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. This one is leavened with sourdough instead of baking soda, although you can use a bit of soda to mute the sourdough tang if desired.

I’ve always liked Ireland and pretty much all things Irish, particularly Irish music, but I must admit, I was not a big fan of soda bread. That is, until I visited Ireland last year and tasted some soda bread with Guinness Beef Stew. I enjoyed that meal a lot. I’ll be honest, it was the stew that I really enjoyed, but the experience gave me an appreciation for soda bread.

When the Sourdough Surprises Baking Group decided to make sourdough soda bread, I thought, “this is going to be interesting.” We had made sourdough quick breads in a previous challenge so I knew it would work. I just wasn’t sure if I would like it.

I started my experiment with the Irish Soda Bread we made in the Artisan Bread Bakers FB Group a couple of years ago. I actually liked that version as well. Okay so maybe I do like soda bread; however, not all soda bread is equal.

This version utilizes sourdough instead of baking soda. I changed the recipe up even more by substituting all-purpose spelt for the regular all-purpose flour and added in some whole grain spelt flour for good measure.

I made two loaves and baked them at different times. I’m so glad I baked the loaves at different times because I had to throw out the first loaf. I forgot the salt.

I should have performed the taste test to make sure I had added the salt. Tasting the dough while mixing is something I read in Lionel Vatinet’s book A Passion for Bread. I remember chuckling when I read his quick mixing tips. The third tip is “always taste the dough to be sure salt has been added.”

How many times have I gotten distracted and forgotten the salt?  One too many I’m afraid. In fact, the weekend I made this bread, there was a discussion on Facebook about this very thing. Not about leaving salt out per se, but about getting distracted and omitting an ingredient. It happens to the best of us so I can understand why Lionel Vatinet pays special attention to it. Salt is a very important ingredient. It retards yeast activity, contributes to crust color, and helps flavor the baked bread.

Because I forgot to add the salt, the bread didn’t rise very well and it was gooey on the inside. I inserted a skewer into the loaf while it was baking to test for doneness and noticed it wasn’t done. I let it continue baking until it was baked through. 

When I took it out of the oven, it smelled really good (due to the sourdough) so I had to try it right away. I was so disappointed. It tasted blah. I kept thinking and thinking but I couldn’t remember if I added the salt. Most likely because I didn’t.

Fortunately, I was able to fix the problem for the second loaf. I tasted the dough this time and it was salt less. So I added the salt on top of the dough and a little extra water and kneaded it until the dough wasn’t grainy anymore.

I tasted the dough again and this time, it tasted just fine. I baked the loaf and it turned out great. It doesn’t taste like your average soda bread and that’s fine by me.

 

Sourdough Soda Bread with Spelt

Adapted from Jeff Smith, aka The Frugal Gourmet

Makes: 2 Round Loaves 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sourdough starter, recently fed
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose white spelt flour 
• 1 cup wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, optional
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the sourdough starter in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients (don’t forget the salt) and mix thoroughly. Pour in the buttermilk and stir, using a wooden spoon, just till a soft dough is formed. 

Transfer the contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured counter and knead for a minute or so till everything comes together.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to ferment overnight.

 

 

The next day when you’re ready to bake, divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a round loaf, pressing the top down a bit to just barely flatten it. Place the loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet or in a round baker. I used a ceramic baking dish. The first loaf stuck to the dish so I lined it with parchment paper for the second loaf.

Sprinkle the top of the loaf with additional flour. Using a sharp knife, or scissors, make the sign of a cross in slashes on the top of the loaf.

 

Allow the loaves to rest for 10 minutes and then bake on the middle rack for 40 minutes or till the loaves are golden brown and done to taste.

Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack before slicing or serving.

 

 

Soda breads generally don’t have very good keeping quality so you need to enjoy them right away. Adding sourdough to the bread extends the shelf life.  This version lasted for several days before going stale.

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Einkorn & Spelt Pain au Levain with Caramelized Onions

My love affair with einkorn continues …. with Einkorn & Spelt Pain au Levain with Caramelized Onions and Rosemary.

Over the past few months, I’ve been baking with spelt and KAMUT so einkorn got put on the back burner. Every time I would reach in the freezer to pull out one of the other ancient grains, the container of milled einkorn would beckon to me as if to say “what about me?”

I finally gave in this past weekend and used some of the milled flour to make the BOM for the Artisan Bread Bakers FB group. However, einkorn is not the only grain in this bread. It shares center stage with Spelt.

Making this bread was an experiment in a number of ways; from the grains I used, to the photos, to the fermentation process, and finally the baking process.

I used einkorn sourdough and all-purpose spelt flour to make the levain build and then mixed the levain with 80% extraction einkorn flour, sifted whole grain einkorn flour, all-purpose spelt flour and unsifted whole grain einkorn to make the final dough.

I also played around with the photos because I actually had sun shining through the windows in my kitchen this weekend. Oh what a lovely sight! I took as many photos as I could in natural light but ran out of it so you’ll see a mixture of light in the photos below.

I didn’t intend to try different fermentation methods for each loaf, but the second loaf stuck to the proofing basket so I had to reshape it and retard it in the refrigerator overnight.

My final test was baking one loaf in a preheated Emile Henry Bread Baker and the other loaf in a cold baker in a preheated oven. The loaf in the photo below is the one that was retarded in the refrigerator overnight and baked in the preheated ceramic baker. It had better oven spring than the loaf that was proofed and baked the same day in the cold baker.

 

Einkorn & Spelt Pain au Levain with Caramelized Onions

Adapted from: Pain au Levain with Caramelized Onions from David of HearthBakedTunes

Makes: 2 Loaves

Levain Build:

• All purpose Spelt flour 227g
• Water 227 g
• Starter 100% hydrated; 45g (I used this Einkorn Starter)

Mix the spelt flour, water and sourdough starter and let it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. I started the levain Friday night and let it rest for about 12 hours until mid-morning on Saturday.

Final dough:

• Water 372g + 35g (add with the salt)
• Build 454g
• All purpose spelt 227g
• 80% extraction einkorn flour 135g
• Whole grain einkorn flour, sifted once 195g
• Whole grain einkorn flour, unsifted 228g
• salt 15g*
• caramelized onions 226g (~1 medium onion)
• 2 –3 tablespoons dried rosemary, or to taste

*I reduced the amount of salt in the final dough to compensate for the salt added with the caramelized onions.

Caramelized Onions: Coarsely chop 283 grams of onions and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Caramelize the onions until translucent. They should be pretty wet, not crispy and dark. Set aside and let the onions cool. Add the onions once the dough is near the end of kneading.

Autolyse: Pour the levain into a large bowl. Add 372g water to the levain mixture and stir to break up the levain.  Mix in the flours and dried rosemary, using a wooden spoon, a Danish dough whisk and/or your hands until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover the bowl and allow to rest at room temp for thirty minutes.

Knead in the onions by hand. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and pour in the 35g of water. Mix with your hands until the salt is thoroughly incorporated into the dough.

Bulk fermentation: Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment for 2.25 hours with two folds at 45 minute intervals. Don’t skip the folds because they help the gluten development

Shaping the loaves: Remove the proofed dough from the bowl and divide it into two equal pieces. Preshape the pieces into rounds and let them rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough into boules and place them in linen lined brotforms or flour dusted brotforms and let them proof for 2 hours.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

I baked the loaves one at a time and started with a cold bread baker.

Baking the loaf in a cold Emile Henry Baker in the preheated oven:

Carefully remove the loaf from the proofing basket onto parchment paper. I didn’t want the bread to stick to the bottom of my Emile Henry Bakers so I cut a round piece of parchment to fit the bottom.

Score the loaf using the pattern of your choice. I decided to score a “B” for Bread Experience. I’ll have to add the “E” next time.

You can place the parchment paper in the bottom of the baker before scoring if you like, but I transferred it after I scored it. Then I covered the loaf with the cloche lid and placed it in the preheated oven.

Bake the loaves for 40 minutes. Check the loaves at 30 minutes. Remove the lid from the baker and bake it without the lid for the last 10-15 minutes.

 

2nd Loaf retarded in refrigerator overnight.

Now it was time to bake the 2nd loaf.  However, it stuck to the proofing basket so bad I had to reshape it. So I reshaped it into a boule and placed it in a lined proofing basket dusted with einkorn-bran. It was getting late so I chose to retard the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, I removed the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature.

Baking the loaf in a preheated Emile Henry Baker:

Meanwhile, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F. with the Emile Henry Baker on the bottom rack for 30 minutes.

This time the dough came out of the basket very easily. I scored it and placed it on the round parchment paper.  For this loaf, I used round parchment paper I got from KAF. It looks better than my attempt at making round parchment with scissors.

When the oven and the bread baker were preheated, I used a pizza peel to transfer the the loaf (on the parchment paper) onto the bottom of the ceramic baker. I baked the loaf for 40 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10-15 minutes of baking.

 

Let dough cool completely before slicing.

 

This is the crumb shot of the first loaf. It had a delicious smell and flavor.

 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

 

EZ DOH Crusty Spelt Bread

For my next experiment with the EZ DOH bread dough maker, I made whole wheat bread using an overnight sponge. I’ve made this bread several times; each time with a different type of flour. This time, I used a mixture of white and whole grain Spelt.

 

Using an overnight sponge helps with gluten development.  This is particularly useful when working with ancient grains because they generally have a weaker gluten structure. Allowing the final dough to ferment for a longer period of time also aids with gluten development.

Due to the weaker protein structure, spelt doughs also benefit from a shorter mix.  It’s generally better to mix them by hand or utilize a shorter mix on first speed in a stand mixer.  Due to these characteristics, I felt this would be a good dough to test in the EZ DOH unit.

This bread can be baked in a regular loaf pan or as a freeform artisan loaf.  I tried it both ways (see photo below).  The loaf on the left is made with white and whole grain Spelt.  The loaf on the right is made completely with whole grain Spelt and baked on a baking stone using steam.

 

This post documents the process for the loaf bread. If you want to learn how to bake the hearth-style loaf, refer to the Einkorn Bread made with an Overnight Sponge post.

 

crusty Spelt Bread

Makes: 1 Loaf

Adapted from: Bread Science by Emily Buehler

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 187 g (1 2/3 cups) white Spelt flour
• 140 g (2/3 cup) water (50 to 55 degrees F.)
• 1/8 tsp. instant yeast

Final Dough:

• 210g (~1 3/4 cups) whole grain Spelt flour (plus more for sprinkling)
• 327g Sponge (all of it)
• 140g (2/3 cup) water (60 to 65 degrees F.)
• 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. salt

 

Directions:

Mixing the Sponge:

Mix the sponge 12 to 15 hours before you plan to make the dough. If the temperature is cooler in the house, then use warmer water, if it is warmer in the house, then use cooler water. Final temperature should be about 65 degrees F.

I mixed the sponge in the EZ DOH and let it rest in the unit overnight.

 

After the overnight rest, I added about half the water to break up the sponge. I mixed the sponge and the water for a minute or so, then I added the dry ingredients and starting mixing while I gradually added the rest of the water. I mixed until all of the dry ingredients were incorporated into the dough. Then I removed the handle assembly and kneaded the dough just a bit (in the bucket) with my hands.

 

Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the dough bulk ferment for 1 hour. Fold and turn the dough in the bowl or take it out and perform a fold on the counter or work surface.

Place the dough back in the bucket, cover again, and let it bulk ferment for another hour.

After the 2 hour fermentation, shape the dough into a loaf shape. Place the loaf seam side down in an 8 1/2” x 4 1/2”  loaf pan. I used a glass loaf pan.

I scored the loaf before the final proof so it wouldn’t deflate the dough. This is recommended for weaker doughs.  It also gives the scores more definition after baking.

 

Let the loaf proof for an hour.  It probably won’t double in size during the proof, but the oven spring should be very good.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  The crust should be brown and crusty.

Remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

The EZ DOH bread maker lives up to its name.  It’s really easy to use.  I like it although I have found that it does require a bit of hands on kneading.  If you’re making breads by hand, this shouldn’t be an issue because you want to get your hands on the dough to make sure it’s developing properly. 

The EZ DOH is a useful tool for mixing no knead breads and for making breads that require a longer fermentation time to develop the gluten.

Happy Baking!

Cathy