With practice and a carefully maintained routine it becomes easy to produce a consistent loaf of sourdough bread. This is especially so if we use the same timing, the same flour, the same banetton or loaf tin and the same oven. It can also become boring and lacking in challenge. Eventually our interest might wane and we move onto some new project like brewing beer or making sauerkraut. I have tried the latter with some success but have not yet turned my hand to craft brewing.
Instead, over the past few months I have been challenging myself with perfecting high hydration doughs and experimenting with a range of different flours. One of the hits was making a Spelt bread.
I used our standard sourdough formula (650g flour, 13g salt, 300ml starter, 300ml warm water) to make this loaf although the flour was a little thirsty and required an extra 50ml of water. To ensure a good rise in the bread I kneaded the dough conventionally but added two sets of stretch, fold and turn during the three hour fermentation
(see https://www.kingsleysullivan.com/post/the-texture-of-bread); the first after one hour and the second after another hour. The dough was then shaped into a loaf and placed in a banetton for overnight proving in the refrigerator. The next morning it was left in our warm kitchen for three hours prior to baking.
Spelt is an ancient grain with properties our modern wheat varieties don't have. It has a sweet, nutty flavour and although more expensive than wheat flour is well worth using on an occasional if not a regular basis. I was talking to a fellow bread maker the other day who made a remark about the cost of some flours and I was able to point out that regardless of how much we might have to pay for special flours, it is still not as expensive as paying for most artisan loaves. At least we know our sourdoughs are real sourdoughs, not the pretend sourdoughs found in supermarkets!
Another flour I was really excited about was a white stoneground flour from a local bakery here in Perth. When Miller and Baker set up their artisan bread operation they also installed a stoneground flour mill and made the production and selling of flour part of their offering. I bought some of the flour they use to produce their very good baguettes and tried my hand at producing something similar. For a first attempt I was more than happy with the result.
The flour is a lovely creamy colour with a slight gritty feel. I used the stretch, fold and turn technique, bypassing traditional kneading due to the high level of hydration I wanted. I used 600gm of flour, 250ml starter, 400ml very warm water and 12gm of salt. After mixing I rested the dough for 45 minutes then did the first of four sets of stretch, fold and turn with a 45 minute rest between each set. After the last set the dough went into the refrigerator overnight in the dough bowl. Next morning the dough was rested in our warm kitchen for two hours then divided into four 320gm pieces, rested a further 30 minutes then rolled into baguettes and placed into baguette trays. After full proving I baked the baguettes at 240C giving them an extra 10 minutes than the planned 25 minutes. The result was a great flavour and a wonderful texture.
For those in Perth you can find Miller and Baker at 236 Lake St Perth just off Bulwer St. Their website is https://www.millerandbaker.com.au
For those who live elsewhere I suggest researching for local artisan millers to see if you can obtain some different and artisan flours and start experimenting. Spelt flour is normally available at your local supermarket or health food store.
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