Bread - Number 30: Easy Spelt

Bread - Number 30: Adjusted recipe delivers tasty results

This is a nice, easy recipe and performs well even with adjusting for a starter instead of commercial yeast. I did include some vital wheat gluten but only because I have an extra box. I am too cheap not to use it, though I have thrown out ingredients that seemed past their peak. I really should put a date on the bags when I purchase flour and not just put bags in the freezer as though they will last forever. [Photograph of my starter.]

This is a recipe that early on originated in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, always a reliable source. (Reviews of various bread books appear on the book and website review page.) I like that their breads can be made in one day or overnight, and they offer refrigeration advice. Generally, their recipes are foolproof. I basically dumped in a an amount of sourdough starter measured for balancing the kitchen temperature and how long the desired duration for the bread rise. Worked like a charm.

I did not start any dough or preferment on Saturday evening, so I was looking for a bread that could be made in one day. Saturday night was a fun meal out and then, of course, Sunday turned out to be all work and no play. I ended up leaving the dough in the fridge for a day and baked on a Monday night. I was thankful not to be held up with an extra phase or rise, but I tasted a difference in the result - not worse, just less tangy.

Ingredients
27g vital wheat gluten
323g spelt flour
151g bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
102g starter
273g yogurt
160.2g water

Instructions
Mixed all ingredients and let rise - loosely covered with plastic - for five hours in a warm kitchen. This would be an overnight rise in a wintertime kitchen. It rose well.

I put the dough in the refridgerator for almost 24 hours and made one good-size loaf. The Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book advises one shaping of 20 to 40 seconds with a final rise of 90 minutes if the dough has been refridgerated (about 40 minutes for unrefridgerated dough). Since I had not used this book in a while and I was craving easiness over experimentation, I eschewed the rising in a basket or any stretch and folds.

As the dough is wet, I recommend the use of parchment paper. Put some parchment on a baking peel. Shape the dough and place on the parchment paper; loosely cover with plastic. Let sit for 90 minutes for dough that has been refridgerated.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees an hour prior to baking. Write a note next to the oven to remind to reduce the heat to 450 degrees when putting the dough in the oven. Put in the oven the top of la cloche to heat on the baking stone. [Photo of a random previous bread.]

Baking
Reduce heat to 450 degrees when ready to place dough in oven. Removed parchment paper at 35 minutes. Removed top of la cloche at 40 minutes. Left uncovered for three minutes. Total oven time: 43 minutes.

There was good oven spring, a nice opening on top (thank you), which I was thankful for as I had totally forgotten to slash the top of the dough before placing it in the oven. The taste is good, though not as tangy or sour as a bread with a dough or preferment left to rise overnight. [Another random, previous bread photo.]

Great reviews from all family members on this one. Nice, multiple comments. My daughter sees no reason to ever buy bread and feels all store-bought, and even the farmers market, breads are inadequate. My husband offered high praise. The dog, I am afraid, is an unreliable judge; he will happily eat all breads (though his favorite is challah).