Help with spelt bread

Long--VERY long--cool rise == yes. The gluten is probably what your MIL is reacting to, and gluten flour is extracted from wheat.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Try that first, maybe? Spelt is supposed to make great sourdough bread. Spelt is a bit dry, I like it in things like Spelt Zucchini Bread where there are moist things in there with it. Is she intolerant to sprouted wheat? You could sprout wheat berries, make bulgur flour and bake with that?

Don't know of any good spelt recipes, but earthmama has a friend who makes cakes and muffins with spelt and uses applesauce to moisten them. I don't know that spelt makes such good regular bread.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

Hi Zillah,
This is the recipe that I use at home for spely bread, I think you will like how it comes out. The trick with spelt is not to overknead it. When using wheat flour it is almost impossible to knead "too long", but with spelt flour if you knead too long your finished loaved will come out heavy and crumbly. Remember to add the flour gradually and only use enough that you don't actually stick to everything as you knead. I usually add the last cup or so a bit at a time so I can stop when I think the dough has enough flour.
Hope you like it!

Blessings,
Lorrie
Lorrie@TLCLimited.com

Spelt Bread — by Rebecca Wood
Yield: Two 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaves

For a lighter flavor and texture, use up to 50% white spelt flour. Some people who are sensitive to common wheat are able to enjoy spelt bread.

Note: it is important that you don't over-knead spelt dough.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (105° to 110° F)
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons sea salt
6 cups spelt flour (use any combination of whole or white spelt)

Combine the yeast, water and honey in a large warm bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes or until the yeast softens. Stir in the butter and salt and 3 cups of the flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining flour in increments until the dough becomes too stiff to stir, then place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 6 minutes, adding any remaining flour as necessary, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Do not overknead.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for about 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Grease two 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaf pans. Punch the dough down to deflate it and divide it in half. Form each half into a smooth loaf and place in a prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for about 1 hour or until the dough has risen to the top of the pans.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Uncover the risen loaves. Place the pans on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until the tops are light brown and crusty. Remove from the oven and tap out of the pan into the baking sheet. Turn the oven off and return the breads to the oven to crisp for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Thanks for the advice fellow bakers! Lorrie, I'm going to convert your recipe into English measures (we don't really use cup measurements over here) to get the proportions of flour to water. You cook yours a a much lower temperature than I've been using, but I think your recipe has a higher water content so it wouldn't have the drying out problem we've had. Hmmmm.

Anhata, we've tried keeping a portion of the dough back as a starter for the next loaf, which is kind of the same technique as sourdough if using a different yeast, and things have been much more successful so I think you could be on the right lines there. The last loaf we made had a really nice structure, but the top was too cooked (perhaps we need that lower oven temp?)

Anyway, I'll muse some more and we'll bake some more, but I'm certainly encouraged that it can be done.

I'm going to try spelt banana bread, which would give me a wheat and dairy free cake. I'll let you know how it goes!

I've just noticed that DMIL has a load of raspberries in her freezer so I'm off to look up that spelt raspberry muffin recipe!

Zillah

pleez?

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Hi Zillah,
I actually found a website that sells spelt and spelt flour. It has some great tips on baking with spelt. I've tried it and love the spelt bread! (For those who aren't intolerant, like me) I sometimes enjoy mixing half spelt flour with half white flour. The bread is spongy and moist. (I admit I could eat almost the entire loaf myselft.) The site is www.histakes-spelt.com
Good luck.

And here is the recipe I use: (I'll add it under recipes later)
combine in mixer:
2 1/2 c. water
1/8 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
mix well
add
3 c. spelt flour
1 tablespoon yeast
while mixing add 3-4 c. more spelt flour within 3 1/2 minutes to optimize gluten
Knead for total of 10 minutes (in machine and/or by hand)
Grease bowl & top of dough. cover. let dough rise until double. Punch down and let rise until double again. Shape into loaves. Place into greased loaf pans. Let rise in pans until desired size. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-40 minutes. Makes 2-3 loaves.

I have a wheat intolerance but not a gluten problem. I use white spelt flour, add extra dopep gluten and use a sourdough starter and let it sit with flour and water for at least two hours. I also use barley malt syrup and lecithin because they strengthen gluten. When I have it, I add a little ascorbic acid because it also strengthens gluten. I found that also adding a little applesauce helps and doesn't change the flavor of the bread. For extra taste, I always add some sesame seeds.

Spelt flour is delicate and the gluten breaks down easily. It requires a light touch. My bread rises beautifully, is light, stretchy enough for sandwiches, hot dog buns, and hamburger buns. I also make a "killer" cinnamon bread.

If anyone would like the exact recipe, email me and I'll be happy to provide it.

Spelt grain is definitely much harder than whole wheat to make into good bread. The gluten is very sensitive. I have learned to make very good spelt bread most of the time. You just have to developed a feel for the dough. I have a Bosh bread making machine and I always grind my own spelt just prior to making the bread. I usually make 6 loaves at a time. I have made very good spelt bread in my food processor when I want only one or two loaves. I first started making whole wheat bread in the mid 1980's and I finally mastered the best whole grain bread any of us had ever tasted. I then learned that most people are sensitive to the lectins in regular whole wheat. It causes weight gain, allergies and arthritis in so many people, including myself that I turned to Spelt grain and have had excellent luck with this grain as far as health, however, it is more difficult to work with. I would never add more gluten to my recepie as it is full of lectins. Where I used to use regular loaf bread pans to bake the whole wheat dough in, I find it works better to bake the spelt dough in a free form loaf on oiled cookie sheets. You have to be very careful to not let it rise too much or the dough will fall and you will get a very heavy loaf of bread. Don't expect the spelt dough to raise like regular white or whole wheat flour. I use only water, yeast, sea salt, small amount of olive oil and spelt flour in my bread recipe. You need to keep the recipe simple when using spelt. I grind 8 cups of spelt GRAIN, 3-4 Tbl of Saf instant yeast, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 to 2 Tbl of sea salt and 2 Tbl of raw sugar, 1/4 cup of olive oil and about 3 to 3 1/2 cups of pure water. You need to knead until the dough turns very SMOOTH. Don't let the dough get too warm if you use a machine or food processor or you will spoil the dough. I usually let the Bosh or Kitchen Aid knead for about 15 minutes. I take the dough out of the machine and immediately make into oblong loaves and put on oiled cookie sheets. Cover with a towel or plastic to keep moist. Use olive oil to keep dough from sticking to your working surface and or your hands and don't use flour. It takes only 10 to 20 minutes (depends on how hot the day is) before I put in oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I am going to try to use a wild starter instead of commercial yeast as my next project and I expect it to be a challenge using all spelt flour. Fermented bread is supposed to be so much better for us to digest.

I am on a food allergy elimination diet right now, but I found that I can tolerate eggs. I tried a spelt/kamut bread recipe from the net and got a large hockey puck. Here's an all-spelt recipe from one of my bread machine cookbooks that rose nicely and had a crunchy tasty crust (Basic Bread cycle setting with dark crust):

2/3 cup water
2/3 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 eggs
1 3/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups light spelt flour
1/2 cup cornmeal ( I can't have corn, so I used 1/2 cup quick oats)
3/4 tsp bread machine yeast

Variation: For added texture and flavour, add 1/2 cup of flaxseeds or toasted almonds.