In My Kitchen-January 2016
Happy New Year.
I hope 2016 bring delicious fresh produce, exciting cookbooks and sleek new equipment into your kitchen.
sourdough spelt loaf
I am totally in awe of the In My Kitchen community.
Wheat intolerance has prevented me from indulging in the joyous alchemy of sourdough bread baking. Six months of frustrating experimentation in 2014 led me to conclude that 100% spelt loaves would always be dense and heavy.
After relocating to Brisbane I found a source of spelt flour that was much whiter and lighter than any I had previously used so I was considering trying again when fortuitously, Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial offered to share her wondrous sourdough starter Priscilla.
Further reading of December’s IMK led me to Sarah @ Say!Little Hen. She bakes beautiful 100% sourdough spelt loaves so I wrote asking for some pointers. Both Celia and Sarah generously and unhesitatingly shared. Celia’s starter gave me hope, Sarah’s gold plated advice and formula delivered beautifully textured, dark brown 100% sourdough spelt bread. I didn’t even need to use the super refined flour.
I’m keeping a little of Priscilla’s progeny, Lulu W, 100% wheat as insurance, but she has a funky brown twin sister Lulu S who is now bopping away very nicely.
My loaves are getting better with each bake, although there is much fine tuning still needed, mainly with shaping and baking, but hopfully the bannetons I’m waiting to be delivered will help. The Falcom roaster a bought on line arrived last week but I’m yet to test it. Watch this space.
I can say without hesitation my very best Christmas present was the gift of sourdough bread. Thank you Celia and Sarah I am forever in your debt.
In My Kitchen is 100% spelt flour sourdough bread with a crisp crust and light moist crumb. My tummy and I are very happy.
Maureen the Orgasmic Chef is hosting the monthly IMK now, click the link and see what’s happening in the kitchens of from around the world.
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56 comments on “In My Kitchen-January 2016”
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I am totally out of the sour dough thing as I don’t eat a lot of bread. I did have fun making matt prestons overnight bread tho. No kneading. Yay.
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No Knead is very effective. Arthritic hands stop me from being too enthusiastic pummelling the dough, but it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s good to have bread that doesn’t give me a belly ache.
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I’m so excited to read this post – Francesca of Almost Italian is a lovely friend of mine and she gave me your blog details as I need to start a low FODMAPS diet and am a bit scared! I look forward to exploring your blog and experimenting with spelt sourdough. Thank you!
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Hi Rachael, Any friend of Francesca’s is welcome at PPTR. ! I’m sure she will share a little sourdough starter with you so you can get started. Feeding the starter with spelt and discarding the extra volume will soon eliminate any gluten. I’ve been following the FODMAP diet for a couple of years. The food sensitivities seem to vary from person to person, unfortunately it’s a slow process working it out, but you will soon adapt. Becoming familiar with irritating additives is important, and so is reading labels. This blogger has helped me enormously. http://www.saylittlehen.com/2016/01/recipe-100-spelt-sourdough-bread-photo.html Good luck with it all Rachael. I’m happy to answer any questions, Cheers Sandra
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Thank you Sandra – I’m making my way around your site, feeling positive that there’s lots of good things to eat as I adjust to dietary changes. Yes Francesca is sending me a bit of starter – I was supposed to collect some when visiting her recently but had to cancel as I was unwell. Thanks for your offer of answering any questions and the other reference too, and I look forward to following and learning! Rachael ☺️
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Take it a day at a time Rachel. It seems daunting at first, but as your symptoms lessen you will begin to feel empowered by your wellness. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon, the FODMAP diet is tricky to get a handle on. I can highly recommend the Monash Uni app for phone and iPad to help when shopping, planning and choosing from menus. Sandra X
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Hi again Sandra, I just received Francesca’s starter in the post and keen to get onto it! Is there somewhere on your site that tells me what to do to start of with, with the dried starter? And should I feed it with spelt to start with, or half wheat and half spelt? Look forward top any tips on how to get started when you have time! Many thanks, Rachael
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My few bread baking experiments have been only with Woolies Macro Organic Wholemeal Spelt and yeast… I’m a complete novice, but I successfully used this recipe https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/spelt-bread/ and even the G.O. a white bread fan happily ate it toasted. I hope to soon have time to experiment further and have now bought a largish bag of white bakers flour to practice with but will continue also with spelt and a new batch of Priscilla soon to arrive from Celia.
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Hi EllaDee, Once you’ve activated Priscilla, if you’re keen to continue baking spelt bread I highly recommend Sarah’s recipe. It uses a higher proportion of starter to flour that usually used for wheat bread. The loaves a light despite being wholemeal, and the crust is deliciously chewy. I have family staying at the moment and am baking every second day. They clain it’s the best wholemeal bread ever. Good luck with it. The link will take you to Sarah’s recipe http://www.saylittlehen.com/2016/01/recipe-100-spelt-sourdough-bread-photo.html
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Thank you 🙂 I’ve pinned the recipe and also subscribed to Say Little Hen.
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P.S. Here’s the link to Celia’s dehydrating tips… http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2015/10/10/stress-free-sourdough/
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Sandra, thanks for sharing your sourdough trials and experiences — I learned loads from your comment section, too! (And yes, the IMK community is THE best, xo.) I love making/baking bread but can’t eat it (drat), however that hasn’t stopped me from playing with “Priscilla.” My offshoot “Prissy” is alive and well and I have two people who LOVE sourdough (they mentioned not being able to find good sourdough bread in this area… hello!… win/win.) As for when you’re traveling, you may want to give Celia’s “dry out your starter” method (which is how she shipped Priscilla.) My worst fear is killing off Prissy (lol!) and I’m going to give it a try this week (a second chance at keeping her going in dehydrated form in case I mess up the live version!) Hope that helps.
P.S. Your oat cracker recipe sounds marvelous, too. Happy New Year!
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I’m having a ball baking sourdough loaves, they are improving with each bake, and truly, without IMK it would never have happened. Thanks for the link to Celia’s post about drying the starter too, I’m keeping the wheat flour starter going but it would be far more sensible and economical just to dry it out for storage. Thanks for visiting Kim
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Happy new year Sandra and it looks like you have already gotten off to a delicious start. Your sourdough spelt loaves look fabulous 🙂
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Thanks Moya. Sourdough made with spelt was a major kitchen hurdle for me..
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I may need to pick your brain for spelt sourdough baking too as I’m getting into grains and fours made from them this year. Spelt is something I’ve been dying to try! Lulu W looks amazing! Keep up the great work Sandra x
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I’ve managed to kill off two lots of starter this year. I’ve lost my confidence a bit to be perfectly honest – I need to get going again with it and I’ll check out Sarah’s blog again. I’m glad you can eat bread again though!
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It’s early days here, hopefully we can keep the starter rolling, although not sure what to do when we travel, that we be another thing to learn
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I, too, have an offspring of Priscilla. Her progeny seem to be a hardy lot and, most importantly, tasty! Glad that you persevered, Sandra, and are now baking loaves, spelt, no less. For me, the best part of baking with sourdough is that the loaves will only taste better over time.
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I can taste the difference already between loaf 1 and loaf 4. The tricky bit for me is consuming the loaves quickly enough to bake frequently and keep the starter active. I’m thrilled with the bread I’m baking….
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No matter how many times I try and make any type of bread, it never turns out right. I just gave up. But your bread looks amazing, keep up the great work!!
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Bread baking seems to be alchemy, but it’s definitely a skill worth mastering, especially when you consider the price of an artisan sourdough loaf
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This is so true.
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The bread looks wonderful – well done!
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Thanks Josephine, It’s been worth it..
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I’m very please to read that you have mastered a bread that you can eat. I might split my starter in two and give a 100% spelt a go too. A close friend buys big 25 kilo bags of spelt from BAS foods and has often asked if I want to go halves. I’ll experiment.
Your loaves look lovely and I look forward to more bread posts.
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Celia was a bit doubtful about spelt flour keeping the starter active. Sarah said she gives her starter a feed of rye if she sees it slowing down, but my reaction to rye is worse than to wheat, so I’ve been feeding my wheat starter, keeping aside 150g for ron, then tipping the remainder into the spelt starter. I figure at worst my loaves have 5% wheat. My gut doesn’t seem to mind and the flavour is distinctly spelt
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So so interesting. Looking forward to see the next stage in the spelt process – your loaves already look lovely. Happy New Year.
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Spelt isn’t safe for celiac’s.
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You are absolutely correct Elisa, spelt is NOT gluten free, however I have fructose malabsorption and spelt after fermentation, works for me
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oh cool fodmaps 😀 Just wanted to be sure so someone new didn’t try to eat it.
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Your loaves look so beautiful. So glad you are able to join in the sourdough baking excitement. I just bought some spelt flour to experiment for fun. I’m finally ready to play around with my sourdough a little more. Bannetons may be next on my wish list.
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Sarah advised to almost double the amount of starter if baking whole grain flour. It made such a difference to the results of my previous dabbling in sourdough.
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Your persistence has certainly paid off: that sourdough looks great!
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Thank you it was worth the effort, I’m chuffed
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Happy New Year. How good does your bread look. I’m yet to embark on the sourdough baking but you are giving me hope that I can do it too.
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Vicki, the bread was excellent from the outset, Celia and Sarah were so helpful. Go for it…
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I’m so glad to you’re enjoying baking (and eating!) your sourdough Sandra! It looks beautiful. What a colour difference there is in the two starters! And I love their names 🙂
Baking with bannetons is fun, although it’s taken me a while to be comfortable tipping the loaf out. A rather nerve racking experience the first time!
Happy baking!
Sarah x
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Thanks Sarah, I really owe you one. I’m planning to test your recipe and method tomorrow, I’ll let you know my thoughts when done. I’m going to try the refined spelt too, I’m curious to see how it bakes and tastes.
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Hi Sarah, I couldn’t agree more. I have trouble tipping the loaves out too, and find the little baskets need quite a lot of dusting with flour to prevent them sticking. I find my hand shaped loaves easier to deal with.
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Hi Francesca,
I find bannetons great now I’m used to them. I line my baking tray with paper, then stick it paper side down over the bannetons and then turn the whole lot upside down, like tipping out a cake. Then I gently remove the banneton, slash & bake 🙂
Yes you have to use plenty of flour when they are new, but now I’ve had mine for several months I use barely any flour at all as they are “seasoned”.
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So if you preheat the oven, are the trays b( and the paper cold when you do this tipping? I find I need to heat my trays to get the right bounce in the bread. Then, with tipping a semi stuck loaf onto a very hot tray, I often lose some precious residual heat. I’ll keep trying though, in the hope that the baskets become seasoned.
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I preheat my oven to 220C but the trays don’t go in and I get great oven spring. After the first 15 minutes I drop to 180C for the rest of baking.
I can imagine it would be difficult to use the upside down with hot trays. Are your baskets cane or plastic? Flour them really liberally, and dust the side of the dough that touches the banneton with flour too.
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I haven’t tried it our yet, but I read that rice flour is the best for dusting the bread and creating a non stick barrier, I’ll let you know how it goes…
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Yes I’ve heard that too, I’d love to know how you do. Oh, and sorry about hi-jacking your post Sandra 🙂
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You’re expertise is welcome here, thanks!
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Wow, that bread is gorgeous! I’m eager to give this a try for a gluten intolerant friend of mine. She would love me forever if she could get a ‘real’ bread to eat.
Thanks heaps for being a part of the In My Kitchen group.
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Always love making an IMK post Maureen, it’s such a privilege to be part of the caring and sharing community. Spelt isn’t gluten free, but those who have wheat intolerance are often more able to tolerate it.
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Happy new year lovely and well done you on the spelt loaves! I find spelt flour a little $$$ here… happy baking xx PS book is coming along.
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Thanks Liz I buy spelt flour in bulk, it’s much cheaper but more than wheat. I small loaf is $7.50 here so it’s much much cheaper to make my own…
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Oh, it sounds so promising… the only time I bought some spelt flour and tried using it, though, it didn’t agree with me, in fact was worse than wheat. But I’m almost tempted to try again at some stage. So lovely that the IMK community is generous and experienced with all kinds of things. Your results look amazing Sandra!
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Hi Ardys, Monash have just updated their app. They only give sifted spelt, available at Woolies, the green light. The heavier flour is only OK if it’s fermented as in Sourdough because the fermentation consumes the irritants. That may explain your reaction. It might be time to join the sourdough revolution.😀
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That is great news Sandra. Bring on the starter!!
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Once I’m sure my spelt starter is robust Ardys, I’d be very happy to share…
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I would love it. I will have to relearn bread making I think. No rush Sandra.
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