100% Sourdough Spelt Bread made simple
100% Spelt sourdough loaf, sliced
My sourdough bread baking journey began over 2 years ago. Finally I’ve arrived.
Motivated by digestive issues that necessitated the exclusion of all bread except slowly fermented sourdough spelt from my diet, I began questioning bakers I came across in the blogging world about their experience. Many had dabbled combining spelt into their conventional wheat flour loaves but none had done a total switch to spelt flour. Their responses were sprinkled with doubt and caution. I was advised that the bread would be dense, the loaves wouldn’t rise much, the dough needed to be super wet, the starter would be sluggish, and so on. I took it all on board and ploughed on regardless. I found a 100% spelt bread recipe, unfortunately loaded with jargon, and beetled on for a few months accepting my brick heavy loaves as the best I could expect. The bread I made wasn’t worth the effort so I gave up.
Inspired and buoyed by the results from my recent attempt into the sourdough bread world using 100% spelt flour I’d now like to debunk the myths attached to the notes of caution I mentioned above. Spelt bread, slowly fermented using an active spelt sourdough starter, and baked under the right conditions will produce a loaf comparable to any artisan sourdough wheat bread. The crumb will be moist and open, the crust thin and crisp, the flavour slightly sour but with a deliciousness nuttiness not found in wheat bread. My dough is not super wet and there is no fancy footwork on my part during the kneading process.
In the short space of time since I wrote the post “Breadbaking Tips for Beginners” my 100% spelt sourdough loaves have leapt way ahead in quality thanks to a change in my fermentation regime. I was happy with my loaves 2 weeks ago, now am over the moon. I have to thank Sarah @ Say! Little Hen for her guidance with timing and a flare in my arthritis for the change in the way I handle the dough.
Sarah and I both live in Queensland, where the summers are long, hot and humid. I had already decided to experiment with slowing down the ultra rapid room temperature fermentation by reducing the proportion of starter in Sarah’s fabulous recipe when she posted the instructions for proving the dough in the fridge. My first overnight loaf was incredible, my second a downright miracle. It was exactly like a loaf I’d have paid big money for from one of Melbourne’s top notch artisan bakers. “Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!”
In the interest of sharing the spelt sourdough love…..( I wrote this on St Valentine’s Day)
100% Spelt Sourdough Loaves
Converting your sourdough wheat starter to spelt is simple. The proportion of wheat will diminish significantly with each bake if you only feed the starter spelt flour and bake with spelt flour. I kept a small portion of active wheat starter aside for a few months as insurance until my spelt starter was able to prove it had longevity and resilience.
I had been advised that the proteins in spelt flour may not keep the starter active. While the starter usually needs 2-3 feeds to make it intensely active in preparation for baking, it has proved to be resilient. If your starter seems sluggish, keep feeding it every 4 hours or so with 1/4 cup each spelt flour and filtered water until it becomes very bubbly. If you need to leave it overnight, feed it a cup of spelt flour and a cup of filtered water and that will keep it happy until the morning when it will be ready for use.
Activating your spelt sourdough starter Update April 2020
Take 90g of stored spelt starter, mix in 90g spelt flour and 90g filtered water. Cover the bowl and leave the it in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
Small bubbles should begin to appear on the surface after 2 hours. The starter will look aerated by the end of this time which indicates it is ready to use.
After mixing the bread dough weigh the unused starter and feed it equal amounts flour and filtered water then store in a covered container in the fridge for your next baking session.
Overnight Spelt Sourdough Bread – Update April 2020
200g active spelt sourdough starter
325g organic white spelt flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
170mls of filtered water
Method update April 2020
Measure the ingredients into a large mixing bowl in the above order. Mix to a shaggy dough, cover loosely with plastic or a damp tea towel..
After 20 minutes, wet you hands then grab the boule with both hands and stretch the dough then fold it over itself. Repeat this action twice more then re-cover the bowl and set aside.
Repeat the above twice at 20 minute intervals. The dough should be smooth and elastic
Allow the dough to proof in a covered bowl until increased in volume by 40%.
Line a bannetton with a clean tea towel.
Pre Shape Spray your bench with water, tip the dough from the bowl. Gently shape the boule into a fat oblong. Fold in three the flip the dough onto the folded side, cover and rest 20 minutes.
If you intend to encrust the loaf with seeds or oats, spread 1/2 cup onto a piece of baking paper the shape of the banetton. If leaving the loaf plain, generously dust the tea towel lined banetton with rice flour
Shaping Spray the bench with water again. To create tension, plait the dough lengthwise pulling the outside edges toward the middle the take fold the dough lengthwise and gently pinch the edged together where they meet. This is the bottom of the loaf.
Holding the dough by the pinched edges dip the top into the seeds then put it into the bannetton cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 225C.
When the oven reaches temperature, tip the dough onto a sheet of baking paper and slash the top of the loaf with a sharp blade.
Lift the loaf on the paper into a covered roasting pan and bake at 225C for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200C and remove the lid of the pan. Bake for a further 25 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock on the crust.
Cool on a wire rack. Slice when cold
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90 comments on “100% Sourdough Spelt Bread made simple”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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Thank you so much for your commonsense, down to earth approach to spelt sour dough bread baking. Having had digestive problems with wheat for all my adult life, I stumbled on spelt and sour dough a few years ago, and realised that I could enjoy eating bread again.
With the need to stay at home, lockdown in Victoria has been an ideal time to practice the art of bread making myself, and after studying many different online tutorials, I happened upon yours. Hallelujah to simplicity and amazing bread every time!
Bread making, (now that I have managed to source the flour!), has become a great part of my life, and with the refrigerator fermentation, is easily fitted into my day.
Two things that work well for me are -using a little rye flour in the starter ( it really activates it well) , – only making enough starter for my recipe with just enough scrapings to start the next batch. I hate wasting good ingredients
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Thanks for your lovely comment Brenda. Every amazing sourdough loaf I pull from the oven seems a minor miracle to me, so I’m super happy to have guided you to success
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do you have any videos of your folds ? I’m a little confused as to how I’m achieving a thick sausage haha.
Also when I take the bread out of the fridge the next day is it meant to have risen ?
My partner like yourself can’t handle regular wheat flour so I use ancient grains mostly spelt being my favorite, and I’m determined to get more than a brick of a loaf ! Was so excited when I saw your recipe ! Nice to know there is someone else in the world going through my trials and tribulations !
Thanks so much for sharing.
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sorry no video. I still bake spelt sourdough but a few more years experience has changed my method a little. Shaping is the last step in the equation to perfect, but the idea is to achieve tautness on the outside of the dough and how bakers do that varies with individuals. I think the biggest trap to overcome making spelt bread is to only allow it to rise about 40% before shaping and retard in fridge as it has the tendency to bolt and overproof. I’m afraid my blog is a little neglected but I’ll add some more updates to that post later today that may help. Making spelt bread is really no different to any sourdough, you need to become familiar with the feel of the dough and trust your instincts. It WILL come together for you, be patient, every sourdough baker experiences frustrations at the beginning. Good luck
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Will this recipe work if i use whole spelt flour instead of white spelt flour?
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Hi, have you tried it with 100% wholemeal spelt flour, would I have to add more water? Thanks
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Hi Suzanne, I would begin by adding the specified amount of water, then if after mixing you think the dough is too dry and difficult to handle carefully add just a tablespoon or two more. Using wet hand during the stretch and fold process can also help. Spelt flour takes a little while to hydrate so allow it a time and add extra water carefully to avoid an unmanageable high hydration dough. Flour from different sources behaves differently so my best advice is trust your instincts and observe the dough, it will change as you stretch and fold. There is no right or wrong in sourdough bread making and remember measurements are just a guide, a starting point, the best judge if what is needed is the baker
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Ok this answered my question thanks
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Hi. Have baked bread for years and now after retirement am taking it up again with sourdough. I now have your spelt dough in the fridge slow fermenting. I’m in Melbourne where it’s cold. When I take it out for the final rising, can I prove it in the oven at 30 degrees for the 1 ½ hrs?
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I guess you had to make a decision before now. Hope it all worked for the best. May I suggest you join the FB group Sourdough Baking Australia and New Zealand for first class support
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No it’s still there – if you are 🙂 Due to take it out in 4 hours to rise for the 1½ hrs and then bake.
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Hi Peter, I’ve been working on streamlining my baking regime so it fits more neatly in my day and have discovered that the dough is very tolerant. I presume you haven’t yet shaped your dough. If this is the case, yes, once shaped it will need 90-120 mins further proofing although you will need to keep a close eye on it at 30C because the danger is it will overproof. I’d probably bake it after an hour. Oven bounce seems to be greater if the dough is still on the rise.
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Discovered your page when I went searching for recipes for Spelt Sour Dough bread, thank you so much. It does show though that you should read through the whole thing before commencing 🙂 I didn’t think to read down, found the bit about leaving to double in size prior to putting back in the fridge for the night 🙂 Now in the ‘wait and see’ stage, hoping to see something happen with the dough in the airing cupboard (we are in the midst of winter with variable room temps), hoping that there is an increase in size over the next little while. If not I will have a very typical brick and getting to more flour won’t be easy. However, confident that with help we will achieve something beautiful and edible 😀
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Baking sourdough bread is a journey with many peaks and troughs. Managing dough in the cooler months needs adjustment. Don’t worry too much about the bulk rise. If your starter was active and the dough has had about 20 hours fermentation I’d consider it ready to bake. The danger of waiting too long is that the yeasts will be exhausted and then you’ll definitely get a brick. Good luck…..😃
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Hi there I’m on the journey, thanks for getting back to me. I’m utilising the airing cupboard, in for the morning rest after being stretched, still smells great, can’t wait to see what comes of this. Will keep you posted 🙂
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Success with the first loaf, very edible, right down to the last crumbs, and this was over several days! 🙂 The loaf rose halfway up the tin (will see today what the extra resting period does prior to the overnight stage 🙂 ), fairly average loaf tin so not too worried. I’m thinking that I won’t need to put in the fridge as much as you in your rather warm Brisbane. We have a fairly cool winter laundry so will try there. I also wonder about using this for the overnight storage as well but you may advise otherwise? Overnight temperatures are getting down in the very low single figures celsius at the moment! However, we’re past the shortest day so heading upwards (albeit it slowly) towards Spring and Summer 🙂
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Fabulous! May I suggest you join FB group Sourdough Baking Australia and New Zealand for first class support
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Hi, can someone please help me with this recipe. Sourdough spelt is the only bread I can digest. I live in Belgium, not warm, and I would love to bake my own bread.
– How much is a cup in grams? Is it the same for flour and water?
-Which temperature do you mean for activating the starter (2 hours in a warm place: something like 24 Celsius? )
How much does it has to rise after those 4 hours?
For the bread: if it is around 21 Celsius , do I need to keep it in the fridge between the stretching sessions?
Do you know what I need to change if I use half white flour, and half wholemeal spelt.
Very glad I’ve found this, hoping I will succeed…..
Thanks, Gerd
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HI Gerd I hope I can help. The flour and water used to feed the starter should be equal whether you weigh in grams or measure in cups. 1 cup (250mls) is roughly 250g. Yes a warm place is best for activating the starter but it’s not temperature dependent. It will take a longer at a cooler temperature. You can encourage the starter by putting it in a container in warm water. The starter will have lots of bubbles on the surface when it is active. Some starters rise, others do not. With the bread dough, keep it at room temperature during the handling period. I have modified my method and now allow it to double in size at room temperature before shaping and resting it in the fridge overnight.
Wheat flour absorbs less water than wheat so reduce the volume a little. Good luck, Sandra
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can you send me the starter recipe please, I really would like to bake your recipe of spelt sourdough bread I live in sydney and is also very humid and hot so i will appreciate some advise. i have been baking Spelt bread for years as i am allergic to Wheat, gluten is not a problem for me. thank you
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Hi Ingrid, I was lucky and received dried sourdough starter flakes from a friend. I’m on holidays at the moment but will happily send some dried spelt starter to you when I return home at the end of the month. Meanwhile there is a worthwhile closed FB group worth joining, Sourdough Baking Australia & New Zealand. There is years of sourdough baking experience there, and someone is always willing to help.
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I followed this recipe to the letter and the last at was only part cooked.
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That must be disappointing for you. It reflects a difference in our ovens. You will need to adjust your baking time to suit your personal conditions.
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I felt the oven temp given was too low. I will now try it out of a baking pot and in a tin. I think, as per my rye sourdough, I’ll get the oven hot at the hottest, then reduce it to 210ºC and cook for roughly 1 hour. Does that sound sensible to you?
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Spelt bread can be baked as in the same tempertures as wheat bread. What is written in the recipe works for me every time, 225Cfor 20 minutes, then 180c for 25 minutes. As I am not familiar with your baking conditions I cannot judge how your adjusted estimates will work. One question, what material is your covered roasting “pot” made of?
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Hi, thanks for the advice. The covered pot I used is enamel ovenware. The oven is electric. I bake a lot, usually following recipes from various sources, and it’s always reliable so I’m scratching my head over this one! Clearly the recipe works for others so I can’t work out what went wrong for me. I’ll try it at wheat bread temp, in an uncovered bread tin, and report back!
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Is the pot cast iron or tin?
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The pot is fully enamel.
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Hi Sandra, thank you for sharing this recipe – a BIG hug for you! Are you able to post some spelt sourdough starter to me in Melbourne, Victoria? Please let me know how I get my contact details to you. Thanks so much, Marie
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Hi could i get some spelt sour dough flakes off you? I live in nz and am making normal spelt bread well but tasted sour dour spelt from a market and it was beautiful. With hope Prue Fisher 53 King Edward Street, Sandringham, Auckland 1025
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Hi Prue, happy to mail you some spelt sourdough starter. Allow a few weeks, I don’t have any dehydrated ready to post. I’ll let you know when it’s on the way. Cheers Sandra
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Hi I notice you have use a high percentage of starter in this recipe… is there a reason behind this or just your preference?
Thanks
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Hi Jemima, yes my percentage of starter is high compared to the average wheat flour recipe. I’ve found it to be the most reliable formula using 100% spelt.
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Thank you Sandra, I’m looking forward to starting my spelt starter now 🙂 Had to pin in case I don’t remember 😉 Thank you for sharing such an instructional post, love it! xx
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I was pretty new to it when I wrote that post, I’m a much more confident baker now, so if you have any questions once you get started don’t hesitate to ask 😃
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Oh I will 🙂
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Hello Sandra, I would love to make my own spelt sourdough bread & would love some of your starter! I live in US,NH is it possible to mail it I am glad to pay!
I use different types of flour for my breakfast loafs. Like Spelt, BrownRice, Oat, Almond, Amaranth, WW, Coconut. & Zucchini & Carrots an for fruit orange, cranberry, blueberries. I freeze the muffins & little loafs😊 Now I would like to try my hand at my favorite Sourdour Spelt, love it but not the $ for a loaf. I am new at this,like to experiment pray I do not mess up! Thank you for the knowledge hope I use it wisely!
Rose
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Hi Rose, I tried to respond to the email address attached to your comment but it bounced. If you click on my avatar you will find my contact details. Email me your postal address and I’ll send some starter granules, it’s just a small package. 😃Sandra
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This was a delicious terrific bread! Thank you!
The next time, I doubled the recipe, starter and all, and ended up with a terribly sour bread. Where did I go wrong?
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Hi Aron, The chemical reactions in fermentation that determine sourness are quite complex and I’m afraid I can’t give you a specific answer as to why one loaf was sweet, the other sour. The information on the link might help. Good luck.
http://brodandtaylor.com/make-sourdough-more-sour/
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Hi Sandra, very impressed by your bread here, and just wondering if you changed your fermentation regime over winter? I tried making a few batches of spelt sourdough recently and got exactly the brick like loaves you were talking about at the beginning, but think we are too cold here in Canberra (certainly at this time of year) to retard the proving as much as you suggest…
Any thoughts? Beck
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Hi Beck, I haven’t changed much at all to compensate for cooler temps but here’s what I’ve observed that’s different between now and then. My starter is super bubbly, keep feeding until it’s partying. My starter to flour ratio is higher than the average wheat flour formula and I still follow the overnight fridge fermentation regime, anywhere between 12-16 hours. I’m kneading only a minimal amount. After stretching and shaping in the morning I bake it after 2 hours regardless of how much it has risen and always get fantastic oven bounce. I haven’t stressed too much about quantities, temperatures and times, I guess I’m fortunate to have hit on a workable formula and regime. Good luck, hope the spelt bread gods smile on you. Sandra x
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Thanks Sandra, I might give it a go, because certainly the first couple of times the starter seemed to basically pine away when I gave it spelt, and is partying away now it has wheat flour – might try feeding an extra ‘practice’ one… 🙂
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You may have hit the nail o the head with the wheat flour. For the first month or two of the life of my starter I added a spoonful of wheat flour along with the spelt flour feeds because I was nervous about it dying. Now it’s well established I use only spelt flour. Also in the early days I fed the starter multiple times before I used it to get it bubbling away vigorously. Fingers crossed x
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Hi,
I am new to sourdough baking, got involved with it because my husband is sensitive to gluten. We found that as long as he doesn’t overdo it, he has no problems with it. I have a question; do you preheat the covered roaster before putting the dough in it to bake? Thanks Joyce
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Hi Joyce, baking sourdough bread can be a frustrating journey, but like riding a bike, once you’ve found your groove there is no looking back, just loaves of delicious gentle on the tummy crusty bread. If you are using a covered cast iron dish you need to preheat it, but if it’s just an old fashioned enamelled tin, the shaped and proven dough can be added cold. Good luck
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I would like some spelt sourdough started please! I am on a low FODMAP diet due to digestive issues. I am grateful I found your site! Thank you : )
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Hi Susan, you’ll find my email address in contacts on my blog. Send me a postal address so I can mail you some spelt sourdough starter. You’ll find loads of tasty Fodmap recipes on my blog
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I think congratulations are in order, Sandra. Your loaves are beautiful and the crumb looks great! You’re to be given credit for sticking with it until you get the results you wanted. I, too, love my bread, though, so I can understand the motivation. I’ve a recipe for “regular” bread that, once mixed, is kept in the fridge for up to a week. It allows me to make a small loaf every other day or so, rather than 1 or 2 large ones that will go stale before I can finish them. Again, congrats!
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Thanks John it’s been worth the frustrating journey. Baking a small loaf every other day would suit me too John. I looove fresh bread.
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Great post Sandra and your bread is looking amazing! I thought you must be using white spelt as your bread looks slightly different than mine….mine is made with whole spelt as I grind the grain fresh before baking. I’m keen to purchase some white spelt at some point to have on hand for different loaves from time to time. I can’t stop experimenting it seems 🙂
My loaf is about to come at the oven as I type….I can’t wait to cut the crust off and slather it in butter…mmm! Cutting the loaf to see the crumb is one of the most exciting parts, I reckon 🙂
Sarah x
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Thanks Sarah, I’m totally hooked, the overnight fermentation has made an enormous improvement to the quality of my bread. White spelt is still quite mealy compared to white wheat flour and the flavour is quite nutty, sadly I found the fibre in the wholemeal spelt a bit aggressive for my dodgy gut. I have begun to think about hot X buns, have you tried using the starter to make sweet buns?
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Oh yes sourdough makes the most delicious sweet buns! Here’s my recipe for cinnamon scrolls, you could probably just use the dough recipe and add some fruit, then shape them into buns to make hot cross buns. http://www.saylittlehen.com/2015/10/recipe-spelt-sourdough-cinnamon-scrolls.html
You can make the cinnamon scrolls using the overnight method too, I just mixed up the dough, let it sit for 20 minutes in the fridge, then kneaded and returned to the fridge overnight. In the morning I mixed up the filling, rolled out the dough as usual and shaped and baked. They were delicious! And ready in time for morning tea due to the head start the night before 🙂
The recipe is written with rapadura but you can of course use whatever sugar you prefer.
Sarah x
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Thank you so much Sarah X
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Wonderful post!! We are at the heavy brick stage with our rye sourdough and I am not sure what we should be doing different.
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Thanks Bernice. There are a few things that made a major difference to my loaves. Make sure the starter is super active before starting, just keep feeding her until she really starts dancing, in fact it might help to feed it a few doses of wheat just for encouragement. NOT kneading but stretching and folding instead, and overnight fermentation also contributed enormously. The other thing that might help is to increase the proportion of starter, wheat recipes don’t translate well to other grains. Good luck
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okay…thanks! I will try a few of these suggestions.
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hello, so excited to read your post about spelt sourdough and would absolutely love a starter!
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Send me an email, you’ll find the address in contacts, include your postal address and I’ll send some dried starter flakes.
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wonderful but I’ve not yet found the ‘contact’ tab – perhaps I’m using man eyes – help!
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Sorry about that, WP has made a few subtle changes to my theme including the exclusion of contact details it seems. I’ll work on fixing it but meanwhile my email address is sandrajgay@yahoo.com.au
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The slow overnight proving of bread in the fridge is one that I also recommend for all sorts of bread as it improves the flavour, as well as making it more digestible, A few years ago I had a discussion with a baker from St Andrews, who studied sourdough baking and practised it in San Francisco for 12 years, who felt that long overnight proving was a definite plus in a bread’s digestibility due to the chemical changes that take place. For those who use yeast in pizzas and other breads, overnight proving in the fridge, up to 24 hours, also makes the dough more digestible.
Thanks for the recipe. I am about to do one separate tub of converted spelt starter to see how it goes in my life. The recipe differs quite a lot from my proportions, with more starter and less water, so it will come in handy. The method, otherwise, its the same.
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Your baker was right! The big downside of having delicious bread in the house after years of going without is I’m eating it and on rolls the weight. Sarah’s bread does use a lot more starter than the average wheat loaf. I did a test bake a couple of weeks ago, I made 3 loaves each with a different portion less starter. The texture was generally heavier, my recipe is the best result from that bake. Because my spelt starter needs a couple of feeds to really get it going, the high proportion starter recipe works perfectly. I hope you do find spelt bread digestible Francesca because it’s delicious
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I also give my unspelted starter three feeds and end up with loads of the stuff. ( hence pancakes).Three feeds makes it very happy. Shall do a conversion this week.
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Thanks for the tips, I too have been discouraged by all the artisan bread books out there. My house is usually a lot cooler, around 68 F (20 C), so I’ve had to do a lot of adjusting of the proofing times.
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I just kept thinking as I read those books, “speak plain English!” Hope your bread is working out….
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So excited to see this post. I may have to pick your brain, if you don’t mind!
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Happy to help if ai can…
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Totally inspiring reading Sandra. Super result.
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Thanks heaps Cheery, it really is a fabulous outcome
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Thank you for such a comprehensive post! It’s wonderful to benefit from all your hard-earned knowledge and it makes sourdough bread seem a lot less mysterious!
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You’re welcome Lauren. Don’t be intimidated by bread baking books and their pedantic jargon like I was initially , it’s a process you should enjoy
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Thank you, I feel inspired to give it a go! 🙂
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So glad you finally arrived at the perfect 100% spelt sourdough – a long road, but so worth it. I, too, have had to start putting the dough in the fridge to slow down the fermenting as Athens is SO different from the cool UK, even in winter. And, like you, have found that the quality of the loaf (even though I use conventional – local – wheat flour) is far superior and bakes beautifully.
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Debi I’m so excited about my bread, I can’t believe how “professional” it is. Slowing the fermentaion made a significant difference. Enjoying the delicious loaves may have added a kilo or two….
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My daughter in law finds she can’t tolerate ordinary bread. I wonder if spelt bread might satisfy her yearning for this staff of life? I’m going to give it a try, I like the whole process involved in bread making.
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Hi Yvonne, Slow fermentation of spelt sourdough makes it much more digestible than bread raised with yeast, it isn’t gluten free though. Good luck trying baking spelt bread, I hope you SIL enjoys and tolerates it
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You deserve loads of praise for your perseverance, Sandra! Those loaves are amazing. My starter arrived today and I’m shopping for ingredients tomorrow. Unfortunately I got rid of my covered roaster a year or so ago so will have to try and find another one. We leave a week from tomorrow for a short trip to Melbourne then are back a week and leave for four weeks, so I’m not at all sure I should embark on this adventure yet, but will see how I go. Congratulations, you’re a legend!
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Thanks Ardys, don’t rush it, wait until you can get into the breadbaking groove, the dried starter will be happy in the fridge for a month or two. A covered roaster isn’t essential, just an easy option for creating a steamy baking enviroment
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