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After trying my hand at a 50% spelt loaf - see

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/72889/50-spelt

I made a similar loaf with 50% einkorn flour. The stone-ground flour comes from a local restored water mill.  I've read a lot, mainly on this site, about how einkorn flour is runny and sticky and won't hold its shape.  E.g.,

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/recent-blog-entries?page=1

I did recently make a loaf of mostly einkorn that I had to bake in a loaf pan - it had a very fine taste -  and I wondered if I could make a 50-50 formula hold a shape better.  I have also read that you won't really taste the einkorn difference until you get to a much higher percentage of einkorn flour.

The formula and procedure were nearly the same as for the 50% spelt loaf, with one exception I'll talk about in a minute.

Formula
========
220g sifted einkorn (Locke's mill)
all the soaker
200g white flour
150g white sourdough starter
270g water
10g salt

I increased the salt from 9g to 10g in the hope of strengthening the gluten.  My kitchen sifter sifted out about 7% of the flour weight, the same as for the spelt flour from the other post.  I poured 150% of the weight of the bran in boiling water to make a soaker, which I added back during initial kneading.

The big difference with the spelt loaf was that I didn't use bread flour for the 50% white component  By a mental lapse, I started adding all purpose flour, and only realized when I had put in 150g of the planned 200g. The remaining 50g was King Arthur bread flour, and I added another 10g for good measure.

Otherwise, the dough and its development went almost exactly like it did with the 50% spelt loaf.  I did proof it about an hour longer (I was out on a visit to a local farm market), and the bulk ferment volume had tripled.  Nothing wrong with the rising ability!  Overall, I did two stretch-and-fold sessions as for the spelt loaf.

Now for the shaping - gulp - the dough was pretty extensible and sure enough, didn't want to hold its form.  I rolled it and re-rolled it about 4 times and finally got to a point where I thought there might be some chance for a free-standing proof.  If it didn't work out, I figured I would convert the loaf to a pan loaf.

After 45 minutes, the loaf was proofed enough but it had spread out a lot sideways.  I suppose that was to be expected.  I thought it could make a successful bake anyway, so I went ahead and slashed it and baked with steam.  It baked to an internal temperature of 208° F in 30 minutes at 410° F.

You can see from the pictures that although the loaf did end up very wide, it rose decently and the crumb is quite open for this kind of flour.  I think this bread would work well in a pain rustique form factor.

The flavor?  It was very pleasant, but I thought the distinct einkorn taste was not very prominent.  This fits in with other's remarks that a higher percentage of einkorn is needed to let its distinctive flavor come forward.

einkorn_50-50_1.jpg

einkorn_50-50_slice.jpg

Hello everyone,

I've posted the latest recipe on my blog for a type of bread we have in Egypt called "Eish Senn". It's a pocket-style bread with lots of wheat bran mixed into the dough. Have a look and let me know if you give it a try and what do you think of the flavour?

The Breads of Egypt - Eish senn

For my first foray into baking with spelt flour, I made a loaf with 50% spelt, 50% bread flour.  The spelt was stone-ground from a local water mill.  Using a kitchen sifter I was able to sift out a little bran, which I scalded with water and left overnight.  The amount of extraction was only around 6 - 7%, though.  The bread flour was King Arthur's.  The total amount of flour exclusive of the starter was 420g plus a few more for the bran scald.

To try to counter the lower amount or grade of gluten that spelt is reputed to have, I used a little more salt than I usually would, a lightly lower hydration - 70% including the starter ingredients - and more starter (35%) than I otherwise would have to get a faster fermentation.  I also included the starter and salt in the initial mix.  This was a hand mix, just enough to hydrate the flour and mix everything reasonably uniformly. 

After a rest of 30 minutes, I kneaded and stretched the dough briefly, and then did two more S&F sessions after 30 and 45 minutes.  For this last one, the dough had enough extensibility that I stretched it between my hands so I could pull it out further than I could have using coil folds in its tub.

The dough had doubled in 4 hours, and I shaped it without needing a preform.  I stretched it and worked it enough that it seemed to have enough elasticity to proof free-form, and I shaped the dough into a batarde loaf.  After proofing covered for 45 minutes, I slashed it and started the bake with initial steam.

You can see from the photos that this all worked very well and produced an attractive, well risen loaf with a reasonably open crumb for this kind of flour.  The crumb seems a little soft. and it has a good flavor subtly richer than ordinary whole wheat usually does.  

spelt-50-50-1.jpg

spelt-50-50-crumb.jpg

I attempted to make pizza with King Arthur 00 Pizza flour using their recipe on the back of the bag. The recipe was called "Detroit Style Pizza". I have no idea what that is but I had hoped it would make 1-12" pizza if I halved the recipe. It did not. Also, this was my first attempt at homemade pizza dough. It is not pretty and way too crispy. But for better or for worse here it is.

Next up, I made another 123 sourdough bread in a bread pan. My additions were: milk powder,regular Hershey's cocoa powder, and maple syrup. The liquid was a Guiness stout. The flour as mostly all purpose, with 20g rye, 10g wholewheat, and 30g bread flour.

Here's the recipe:

100g starter

200g Guiness beer

300g Flour (as said above)

2T of hershey's cocoa powder (regular kind)

1T milk powder

1T maple syrup

1tsp of salt

I mixed it all together for a bit, maybe 5 minutes. Then I let it sit out for an hour and then popped it into the fridge over night. This morning about 9am, I took it out and let it warm up. at 10am I did a lamination with it. Since I could stretch it thin, I shaped it and left it to rise in the baking tin. I then baked it at 350F for 10 minutes and then at 325F for 40 more minutes. I brushed butter on it at the 30 minute mark. My pans are dark, so I have to bake at a lower temperature. The internal temperature was 201F.

The bread is soft, with a light chocolatey flavor. It was not overly sour as it as last time when I made a plain white bread with a Yuengling lager. I'm guessing the "smooth" on the label means something? I don't know anything about beer. All I know is that I hope my father in law likes the other beers I had bought since I don't drink. I did find a non-alcoholic Guiness black label on the shelf, but I was unsure if it would perform the same or not.

So far the bread is good, but I think I'll leave the pizza part up to Dominoes for now since I may have gotten myself into a baking frenzy starting next week. Our church is having a fall festival and I volunteered to help them out if they wanted bake sale items for their pumpkin patch.I casually mentioned 3 dozen muffins and cookies. I'm thrilled they want some samples but also super nervous at the same time. Either way this will be a good way to test out if there is actually a demand for non-cake mix muffins in my area.

In other news, I've been working on a garden box and it's almost done. As soon as hubby puts the last of the supports in I'll order the compost/dirt from a local place that delivers. My kids want to plant sunflowers and other colorful flowers. I'm going to put veggies on my side, and being that I'm in zone 9 means I can still plant beans, corn, tomatoes, and possibly little squash if the weather stays warm this year. the kids are excited to see broccoli trees growing too. I try to grow interesting looking things, so I'm on the hunt for long eggplant and sesame seeds. One year we grew yard-long beans and we didn't harvest them soon enough. The kids ran around with "dreadlocks" on their heads. :D