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I grind my own flour and regularly make whole wheat breads at about 85-90% hydration to get an open crumb - not as open as with white flour, of course, but holey enough for me.

Anyway, I bought 6 pounds of spelt berries a couple of weeks ago and started up a spelt sourdough starter. I made a round loaf of 50-50 whole wheat / whole spelt at 85% hydration. Lovely crumb, lovely flavor. Big ole pancake of a loaf. It spread out something awful in the oven.

I've previously made a sourdough sandwich loaf with 50-50 whole wheat - whole spelt at 80% hydration, and it turned out great. A bit less of a rise than 100% wheat, but still acceptable, and the flavor was really nice. Tangy and nutty. But the loaf also had butter, milk and some honey in it, which could have made a difference, I suppose. The round was just flour, water, salt and starter.

I developed both the round and the sandwich loaf using the stretch and fold method described by Mike Avery (i.e., mix until all is hydrated, rest for an hour, then fold ever 45 minutes or so). I folded three times.

I see several possibilities for why the loaf spread:

1) I've read that spelt doesn't absorb as much water as wheat. Perhaps I added too much water?
2) I've also read that spelt's gluten is more fragile than wheat. But, as I said, the pan loaf rose just fine.
3) Perhaps I didn't develop the dough well enough? (again, though, the pan loaf was fine)
4) Maybe my shaping needs help. I was trying to be as gentle as possible, so maybe I was a bit too gentle.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience working with whole spelt and has tips and pointers, I'd be most appreciative.

I am trying to nurse my sick starter back to health and not getting the results I want.  About 10 days ago I started a vigorous attempt to revive my barely living starter.  I have been using 1/4 c. of starter, 3/4 c. flour and 1/2 c. water. I let it sit out for 12 hours and then refridgerate it for the next 12 hours. I then repeat the process day after day.   The starter has progressed some.  12 hours after feeding it has not doubled but has risen maybe half it's size.  It usually has very vigorous bubbles on the surface and 1/4 of the way down but not throughout.  What can I try to get it to double.  Any sugguestions?

Makes 16 flat Bread

1 Kilos flour,unbleached,whole wheat,or a mixture of the two

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 Tablespoon Baking powder

2 cups water

5 Tablespoons oil

1)place all ingredients in the bowl of mixer ,beat 10 minutes to make a soft dough.

2)cover,let rise in warm place until doubled in size ,about 1 hour.

3)Divide dough into 16 pieces. Roll each to a 20 cm round.

4) preheat the oven to 550 degrees. i do not  have a baking stone,so i use the grill pan

5) Bake for 1 minute per side.

6)Open the oven and place the flat Bread on the hot baking surface. They should be  puffy after 1 minute.

Zainab's  flat Bread+Arabic flat Bread

zainab

http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/