Spelt

[captain wassname]

Hi people.

My bread is made using mainly wholemeal spelt (still work in progress) but on Sunday my wife wandered into a supermarket and found,without bying any , some white spelt flour. Has anyone out there used this and how does the flavour compare withe wholemeal and how did it rise. Im thinking in terms of a 50-50 loaf or maybe 40-40 with 20%rye

Jim

[Griselda]

I had a go at some white spelt, from Allison I believe it was. I much preferred it over genuine white flour as it made a much smoother dough and the dough rose beautifully. In the past I have made the 40 � 40 � 20 % recipe you mention. That is 40% white spelt, 40% wholemeal, 20% spelt. The 20% rye gives it a nice rich and firm structure and provides, making a well nourishing loaf.

I have just discovered the oat flour from Allison. That makes a very tasty loaf too. Again, I added 20% rye to make it a little more robust.

[captain wassname]

Hi:thanks for your input The loaf I am trying to perfect to my taste is a wholegrain spelt and rye 80-20 mix. The reciepe Iam using is 310ml. water 2tsp.lemon juice 3 tbs.muscavado sugar 40gms butter 1tsp salt and 1.75tsp fast action dried teast. 400 gms wholegrain spelt and 100gms rye this gives me the flavour I am seeking but is very dense and refuses to rise to an acceptable level. However when I use 300 gms spelt and 100 gms strong white it bakes well. It looks like the white spelt may be my missing link The oatflour and rye sounds nice Did it riseo.k? Any chance you might divulge the reciepe? ill get myself into Keswick at the weekend and get some white spelt.Many thanks Jim

[Griselda]

I don't have any problems with the rising of my dough. But I do remember one instance where my dough ended up rather sticky and heavy and as you say it did not rise very well.

I tend to use warm water rather than cold as yeast does not like 'cold weather'. The yeast I use since I cannot get hold of any fresh yeast any more is Allison's 'yellow pot'. I do dissolve it in some water before use, about 3 tee spoons to 1kg of flour.

I would love to give you my exact recipe to my bread, but I only go by feeling. Although to keep an eye on how much flour I use I do measure that so:

200 gr of rye
800 gr of wholemeal
+ some strong white to balance and dry if necessary.

or

200 gr of rye
500 gr of whole meal
300 gr of oat flour

The water contents is purely added by feeling and look of the dough. It is about 7 dl per 1kg of flour, I guess.

Two things are really important when making bread by hand. Knead it very very well. When you think your done, give it another go. Kneading is not bashing, be nice to your dough you want to enjoy it after all.

Second, never let your dough get cold. Use warm products but not hot. And keep it always in a warm area, not droughty preferably.

I am sure you'll be fine.

[captain wassname]

Many thanks for the advice I had already started a loaf last night with only 10% white and a bit more yeast and it was perfect. Iam now confident that I can do away with the white altogether. Sometimes all that is needed to succeed is the knowlege that others can produce the results that you are striving for. I will definitley add the oat flour to my shopping list for the weekend. I have a friend who bought me some fresh yeast a few weeks ago it camefrom Morrisons in Jarrow,though it is not available in all Morrisons so it maybe worth a look if you happen to be passing a branch just incase they do stock it.

Jim