This month I baked bread using the pre-mixed flour given to me by Schmidt from Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I choose Dinkelberger Vollkorn.
In this mix you find: spelt and whole wheat.
As most of you know spelt is a very old type of grain. The Celts and Ancient
Egyptians already cultivated it. Spelt emerged from the early types of wheat
called in Germany einkorn or emmer. The spelt kernel is tightly
surrounded by a grain hull, protecting it from pollutants, pests and during
storage, from the loss of nutrients. Spelt contains the ideal combination of
carbohydrates, fats, protein and dietary fiber. It has a nutty flavor and
taste.
The original recipe uses baker’s yeast which I
changed this for my own sourdough starter. I used the 100% sourdough starter. Normally
sourdough gives the bread a slight sour taste, but it seems to me that using
spelt this sourness balanced out.
I love to make artisan bread and love the shape
made by hand. Normally I don’t use the bread pan but today is an exception. When
I mixed all ingredients it became a soggy mass. The recipe said to mix it for
15 minutes, instead of the 5 minutes I’m used to. But, I followed the recipe. After
15 minutes it still was a soggy mass. I left it to ferment but couldn’t help
myself and gave it 2 stretch and folds with wet hands. At the end of
fermentation it was a well risen dough but still very sticky. At that time I
decided to use the bread pan. On the top of the dough, I sprinkled flour. This
broke open in the oven and gave the bread a nice appearance.
The crumb looks like a light version of dark rye
bread, it’s moist, and smells very nice without sourness. The taste of this
bread is mild which makes it bread for every day.
Next time I will add some
seeds such as linseed or sesame. It keeps the originality of spelt bread and gives
it a little extra flavor. Such healthy flour doesn't need too much extras.
