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

Bread with Sprouted Grain Flour

I’ve had this Bread with Sprouted Grain Flour on my list to make for several months. In fact, one of the reasons I bought KAMUT flour was to try this loaf.

This bread can be made with sprouted wheat flour or any other type of sprouted flour. I made this version with sprouted wheat flour, but I am curious to find out how it will perform with sprouted bean flour or perhaps sprouted rice flour. I hope to try one of those soon. The proportion of sprouted wheat to the overall flour is only about 30%, but using a gluten-free flour will give it a more dense crumb.

The formula for this bread is from the San Francisco Baking Institute. The original formula made more dough than I needed so I decided to scale the formula down to a more manageable yield. Two loaves seemed about right.

I’m currently beta-testing the iPad version of BreadStorm™ and have been looking for opportunities to use it. I figured this handy little app would make this task a piece of cake – or bread, rather. Unfortunately, the measurements from SFBI were in kilograms and the software utilizes grams.

I was just getting used to the idea of doing the conversion manually when I received an email with an updated version of the software. One of the updates allows you to switch between kg and grams. Perfect!  Now, it really would be easy. I like it when that happens. I only had 325 grams of sprouted wheat flour so I plugged that into the software to get the percentages for the rest of the flour.

 

Bread with Sprouted Wheat Flour

This bread utilizes a levain made with whole grain KAMUT flour and KAMUT sourdough starter; an overnight poolish made of bread flour, water and yeast; and a soaker made of sprouted whole wheat flour and water. I used sprouted whole wheat flour that I had purchased a while back and stored in the freezer, but you can sprout your own wheat berries and grind them into flour if you prefer.

The final dough adds some additional bread flour and KAMUT white flour. The original formula also included some toasted wheat germ. I didn’t have any so I omitted it. Instead, I sprinkled the top of the dough with spelt bran before baking.

 

Makes: Two 2.25 pound Loaves

Adapted from: Bread with Sprouted Wheat Flour from the San Francisco Baking Institute

Ingredient:	Total	Levain	Poolish	Soaker	Final Mix
WW Kamut flour	53.0 g	53.0 g
Water	856.3 g	53.0 g	270.8 g	272.4 g	260.1 g
Liquid Levain	2.0 g	2.0 g
Salt	27.0 g	pinch			27.0 g
Bread Flour	541.5 g		270.8 g		270.8 g
Yeast	1.3 g		0.3 g		1.0 g
Sprouted Flour	324.8 g			324.8 g
White Kamut Flour	162.4 g				162.4 g
Wheat germ, toasted	32.7 g				32.7 g
Levain					108.0 g
Poolish					541.8 g
Soaker					597.2 g
Yield	2,001.0 g	108.0 g	541.8 g	597.2 g	2.001.0 g

Note: The hydration may vary with the quality and moisture content of the flour. I added 55 g additional water to the sprouted wheat soaker. It could’ve used more water.

 

Mix the Levain:

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated with D.D.T. of 60°F.

Allow to ferment 12 hours at room temperature (65 - 70°F).

 

Mix the Poolish:

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated with D.D.T. of 60°F.

Allow to ferment 12 hours at room temperature (65 -70°F)

 

Prepare the Soaker:

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

 

 

Mix the Final Dough:

I used my stand mixer to mix the final dough.

Add the levain to the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in most of the water to break up the levain. Since I had added additional water to the soaker, I held back some of the water until after I had added in the rest of the flour in case the dough was too wet.

Add in the poolish and the soaker along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix on 1st speed for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in additional flour if necessary.

Increase to second speed and mix for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for 2 hours. I think this dough could benefit proofing a longer proofing time.

Fold the dough every 45 minutes to further develop the dough. You should perform 2 folds total or do the fold-and-turn method in the bowl. I prefer the fold-and-turn method. 

Refer to the Tartine Country Bread post for details on folding and turning the dough.

 

Divide and Shape the Loaves:

Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal pieces. I made two loaves at about 2.2 lbs. each, but you can make 3 smaller loaves if you prefer.

Preshape the dough pieces into round boules and let them rest for 30 minutes to further strengthen the gluten.

Reshape the pieces into tight boules and place in flour-dusted bannetons (lined or unlined) or shape into blunt batards and place in oval bannetons. I did one of each shape for variety.

 

Retard Loaves in the Refrigerator:

Cover the baskets with plastic wrap and/or a kitchen towel and immediately place the baskets in the refrigerator.  Let them ferment overnight until ready to bake.

 

Prepare the oven for hearth baking:

At least 45 minutes prior to baking, place a baking stone on the bottom shelf of the oven and a steam pan or iron skillet on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

 

Scoring the Loaves:

The loaves can be baked right directly from the refrigerator.

Remove the loaves from the refrigerator. Carefully flip each loaf from the banneton baskets onto lightly floured parchment paper. Score the loaves in the pattern of your choice.  I tried my hand at making an “S” for sprouted on the oval shape and “B” for bread on the round shape.  The B didn’t turn out so great.

 

Baking the Loaves:

Slide the loaves onto the preheated baking stone using a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet. I baked each loaf separately because they were to big to both fit on my baking stone.

Quickly throw 3 or 4 ices cubes into the iron skillet and shut the oven door. You can also spritz the oven walls with water if you like. Bake the loaves for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the loaves. The loaves should be dark golden brown in color and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Repeat the process with the remaining loaf. Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Here is the crumb shot of the oval loaf.  I was very pleased with those holes.

 

This bread is slightly earthy due to the sprouted wheat flour.  It’s very tasty.  I’ve been enjoying it plain with butter and as crostini topped with red pepper spread and a garlic spread.

 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

KAMUT & Rye Levain On the Spot

Recently, I was inspired to create a special bread for a friend of mine. I wanted the bread to encapsulate some of his favorite ingredients, but also be unique, so I chose a blend of sourdough, KAMUT and rye. 

Once I decided on the flours I wanted to use, I consulted Flour, Water, Salt & Yeast by Ken Forkish for further inspiration. My bread is similar to Field Blend #2, but I used KAMUT instead of regular bread flour and whole wheat, and I utilized a different baking method.

I called this bread “on the spot” because my friend took a bite, pointed at the bread and with mouth full, said “oh this is good!. I asked him to describe what he liked about it. He thought for a minute, then said, “It’s, how do you say it? On the spot!”  I think he meant “spot on” but I like “on the spot” better.

This is a friend I met while I was working on my masters; right before I started the Bread Experience. He’s tasted a lot of my breads and has always been a gracious taste tester. He loves sourdough and has suffered through my many attempts before I actually developed my starters into something edible. So when he said it was “on the spot” that meant I had reached it. Woohoo!

I had been pondering whether to bake this bread in a bread baker or freeform on a baking stone when I saw a post on Facebook from one of my fellow bread bakers. He was encouraging us to make use of different baking methods and not just focus on Dutch oven baking. That settled it, I was going to bake these loaves freeform on the baking stone instead of in a pot.

In the process of creating the bread, I also created a new KAMUT starter. It was so easy! I’m not sure why I didn’t do this before.

KAMUT and Rye Levain On the Spot

Adapted from: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish

Makes: Two 1 1/2 lb. loaves or Three 1 lb. loaves

Levain:

• 100g (1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp.) Mature, active levain (I used my Spelt Starter)*
• 400 g (3 cups + 2 tbsp.) KAMUT white flour
• 100 g (3/4 cup + 1/2 tbsp.) KAMUT whole grain flour
• 450 g (~ 2 cups) Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

*I didn’t have a KAMUT starter so I used my Spelt starter to create the levain. After refreshing it a couple of times with only KAMUT flour, I now have a KAMUT starter. I have a rye starter so I could have used that one, but the Spelt starter had been fed and was ready to go.

Final Dough:

• 540 g (4 cups + 3 tbsp.) White KAMUT flour
• 85 g (2/3 cups) whole grain KAMUT flour
• 175 g (1 3/4 cups) whole grain rye flour
• 620 g (2 3/4 cups) + 30 g (2 tbsp.) Water (90 - 95 degrees F.)
• 21 g (1 tbsp. + 1 scant tsp.) Sea Salt
• 2 g (1/2 tsp.) instant yeast

 

Create the levain:

Take 100 g of recently fed starter (within 24 hours) and pour in 450 g of warm (80 – 90 degrees F.) water to break up the starter. Add in 400 g white KAMUT flour and 100 g of whole grain KAMUT flour and mix until it is incorporated. Let the levain rest for 6 to 8 hours or overnight at room temperature before mixing the final dough.

Autolyse:

In a large mixing bowl or container, whisk together all of the white KAMUT, whole grain KAMUT and rye flours.  Pour in 620 g of water and mix by hand until incorporated but don’t over mix. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

This dough will probably be a little stickier due to the rye flour, but it’s a wonderful dough.

 

Mix the final dough:

Sprinkle 21 g of sea salt and 1/2 tsp. instant yeast over the top of the dough.  Using wet hands transfer 360 g of the levain into the bowl

Mix the dough by hand using wet hands to incorporate the salt and yeast thoroughly into the dough. Use the fold and turn method to fully incorporate all of the ingredients. Pour in the remaining 30 g of warm water if needed. My dough needed extra water at this point to help dissolve the salt.

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Let the dough bulk ferment for 1 1/2 – 2 hours and perform three or four folds, one every 30 minutes. The dough will be ready to divide once it’s about 2 1/2 times its original volume, about 5 hours. I started this process in the evening so after the 2 hour bulk fermentation (and folds), I retarded the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

 

Divide the dough:

The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature for a couple of hours before dividing it.

Gently remove the dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal pieces depending on how big you want your loaves to be.

 

Shape the loaves:

Preshape the loaves into round boules by sprinkling a little flour on the top of the dough and then flip the pieces over. Shape each piece into a tight ball and let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Dust 2 or 3 banneton baskets with a mixture of KAMUT and rice flour. Shape them into tight boules again and place them seam side up in the floured baskets.

 

Proof the Loaves:

Cover the loaves with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and place the loaves (in the baskets) in the refrigerator.  You can let them proof in the refrigerator overnight if you did the bulk fermentation at room temperature, but I had refrigerated the dough during the bulk fermentation so I only let the loaves proof in the refrigerator for about 5 hours. Then I took them out of the refrigerator and let them warm up to room temperature for about 2 hours.

 

Prepare the oven for hearth baking:

At least 45 minutes prior to baking, place a baking stone on the bottom shelf of the oven and a steam pan or iron skillet on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Carefully flip the loaves from the banneton baskets onto parchment paper. Score the loaves in the pattern of your choice.  I had two rounds loaves and one oval loaf. I scored one of the round loaves with an M (sort of) for my friend and the other round one (not shown) with a B for (bread). I scored the oval loaf straight down the middle

 

Using a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet, carefully transfer the loaves to the preheated baking stone. I baked one round loaf and the oval loaf together and baked the other round loaf separately. 

Quickly throw 3 or 4 ices cubes into the iron skillet and shut the oven door.  Bake the loaves for about 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the loaves.  The loaves should be dark golden brown in color and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Repeat the process with the remaining loaf. Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

Here is a shot of the crumb.  It was delicious!

 

It was dark when I finished baking the loaves so I didn’t have the wonderful sun shining through my kitchen to capture lovely photos.

My friend had arrived by the time I took the loaves out of the oven, and we had fun photographing and tasting some of the bread. He helped create the still life display. I like the shot even though the lighting is a little yellow.  The crumb shot was taken the next day.

The lighting may have been a bit off, but the bread was “on the spot!”

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Sourdough KAMUT Crackers

I got the urge to make these Sourdough KAMUT Crackers on Super Bowl Sunday. I started the dough a couple of days earlier and let it ferment in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it.

 

I’ve been baking with KAMUT flour a lot lately because I bought a bunch of it from Montana Flour & Grains.

The bag of whole wheat KAMUT is pictured in the photo below. I also got a big bag (25 pounds) of white KAMUT. I’m not sure what I was thinking, except I wanted to experiment and I got a good price buying in bulk. The only problem was finding a place to store it all. I put as much as I could in the freezer and the rest is for pure baking pleasure.

 

Now that you know how much flour I got, I have to tell you a funny story. I received the bags of KAMUT flour over the Holidays. I was so excited!  I told a friend about it and mentioned that I got a 25-pound bag of White KAMUT flour. I also told him about the delicious Cheese Biscuits I made with it. He asked me how much flour the biscuits took and I said “2 cups.”  He said “you’re going to have to make a lot of biscuits to use up all that flour!”  Lol… well yes, and crackers, breads, or whatever my little heart desires and I’ll post about too!

This is what KAMUT looks like. In the photo above, the grains are in the back, whole wheat KAMUT is on the left and white KAMUT is on the right.

 

The recipe I used for these crackers is a variation of one of my favorite cracker recipes. It’s so easy and tastes so good.

These Sourdough KAMUT Crackers are similar to the sourdough semolina crackers I made several months ago.

I rolled some of the crackers thinner than others and I do believe I like the thicker ones this time. They would make good bread sticks. I almost tried making some bread sticks with some of the dough, but the crackers were so good, I decided to stick with the crackers this time.

 

Sourdough KAMUT Crackers

Adapted from: Kitchen Stewardship’s Sourdough Thin Wheat Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup discarded or fed sourdough starter * (I used my apple starter)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup KAMUT Khorasan Wheat Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
• Fennel Seeds, or sesame seeds (or both) for topping
• Kosher or Sea salt for topping

* I’ve tried this recipe using discarded sourdough and recently fed sourdough.  It works great with either one.

Directions:

1) In a medium bowl, combine the sourdough starter and olive oil.

2) Add about 1/4 cup flour and the salt and mix thoroughly. Depending on the hydration of your sourdough starter, you might use all of the flour or you might have some left over.  Just add as much as necessary to make a stiff and workable dough.

3) Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a lid to keep it from drying out and let it rest at room temperature for at least 7 hours. I let mine rest on the counter for a few hours, then I placed it in the refrigerator to develop the flavor.

4) Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up a little bit before rolling. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces and place each ball on a greased piece of parchment paper. 

5) Roll the dough out thinly. Brush it with olive oil, using a pastry brush or your fingers, and sprinkle it with fennel seeds or sesame seeds. Press down lightly on the seeds to help them stay on. I also sprinkled some sea salt on top. There is only 1/2 tsp. of salt included in the dough so in my opinion, it needs a little on top as well.

6) Cut the dough into squares or diamonds using a pizza cutter.

7) Bake the crackers in a preheated 350 degrees F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes until just golden brown. Bake them in batches, rotating the baking sheets if you are baking two at a time. If you want crispy crackers, let the crackers cool down completely in the oven. If you want to do this in an electric oven, leave the door slightly open so the crackers don’t keep baking while the oven is cooling down. 

8) Transfer the crackers to a wire rack. They will shrink some in the oven and come apart on their own which makes it’s easy to separate them.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy