As this month is Sourdough September in the UK, there’s no better time to be sharing this lovely spelt sourdough recipe from Ferment, Pickle, Dry. 
The aim of the month is to raise awareness, support this traditional way of making bread and encourage people to ‘go sourdough’ or to make their own. To help you get started, firstly try this bread starter recipe which you can then use as the basis to make a yummy loaf of spelt sourdough:
Sourdough bread starters
Sourdough bread uses a starter instead of commercial yeast. In essence, a starter is a colony of naturally present wild yeast and bacteria. If you do not have one and are not able to get one locally, then you can make your own.
To do this you simply need to create the right environment in which the wild yeast and bacteria can grow and multiply. It is a very easy process and although it will take about 5 days you will only need to do it once as it can then be kept in the fridge for future use. The rye starter is wetter and more active than the wheat and spelt starters so different proportions are used.
Spelt/wheat sourdough starter
Prep 30 minutes + 5-day process
Ready 5–7 days
30ml/1fl oz/2 tbsp filtered water
30g/1oz/2 tbsp spelt flour
Method
Pour the water into a sterilised jar
Add the flour and stir until there are no dry lumps. Cover loosely with a lid, then cover with a clean cloth to let it breathe.
Place in a dry spot in the kitchen away from the oven, radiators or direct sunlight.
Make the same additions of water and flour each day for 4 days. Don’t worry if you do the refreshment at a different time or even miss a day.
By day 5 the surface of the starter should be rippled showing that fermentation has begun. If not, then repeat the additions for another 2 days. It nearly always works but if it does not after a week, then it might be better to start again.
Production leaven
A production leaven is a necessary stage to create a larger body of active yeast and bacteria cells, which should be done before bread is made. It’s simply taking some of this spelt starter, which will have become dormant from sitting in the fridge, and refreshing it with new flour and water.
This will bring the wild yeasts and bacteria into activity and help to ferment the dough and make it rise.
Prep 15 minutes
Ready 6–12 hours
Spelt/wheat, make just less than 1kg/2¼lb – recipe can be divided to make different quantity
Ingredients
320g/11½oz spelt starter
240ml/8fl oz/1 cup filtered water
400g/14oz/3 cups spelt flour
Method
Weigh out the starter into a large bowl. Add the water and mix to form a thin soup or paste.
Add the flour and mix well until there are no dry lumps.
Cover the bowl and leave for between 6–12 hours.
If you do not have a water filter then you can remove the chlorine from the tap water by boiling it for around 15 minutes.
Sourdough starter is fairly hardy and will survive periods of inactivity. It is not necessary to feed it every day and it can survive for weeks in a fridge, but if you aren’t baking and refreshing the starter it would be good to feed it by stirring in 1 tablespoon water and flour once a week.
Once you have made your spelt starter and then turned it into the production leaven you can then make this yummy spelt sourdough bread:
Spelt is a member of the wheat family and was a popular grain nearly two millennia ago when it sustained the Roman army in the British Isles. It fell out of favour partly due to its lower yield per acre compared to more hybridised wheat varieties, but has become more popular over the last decade as people find they can eat spelt without experiencing the intolerances they might have with wheat. It still contains gluten, so is not suitable for people who suffer from coeliac disease.
Makes 2 x 900g/2lb loaves
Ingredients
1 tsp sunflower or vegetable oil, for oiling
700g/1.lb/scant 5. Cups wholewheat spelt flour
560ml/19fl oz/2. cups water
14g/.oz/1 tbsp salt
540g/1lb 3oz spelt production leaven (above)
Method
Oil two 900g/2lb loaf tins
Place the flour into a large bowl, add the water and stir until there are no dry lumps and a dough has formed.
Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes. This allows the starch in the flour to absorb the water and the gluten to begin to stretch
Add the salt, then turn out the dough on to the work surface and knead until it becomes smooth and stretchy, about 10 minutes.
Add the production leaven and knead until the dough is well combined.
Return to a clean bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for at least 1–4 hours.
Knock the dough down again to deflate the air from it, stretch the dough into a rectangle, then roll it up like a Swiss roll and place it seam-side down in the prepared tins.
Cover and leave to rise for at least 2 hours. This depends on the temperature of the dough, the room and the liveliness of the production leaven.
Preheat the oven at 230C/450F/gas mark 8.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and bake for a further 20–30 minutes.
Using oven gloves, turn the loaf out of the tin and tap it on the bottom. If it is sounding hollow then it is ready.
If not bake a little longer. It is good to bake the loaf for the last 5 minutes out of the tin as it firms up the sides of the loaf.
Remove from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.
This recipe uses only flour, water and salt but there is an important fourth ingredient – time.
Sourdough bread is improved by long fermentation times. The dough can be left in a fridge overnight before shaping or can be shaped in the tins and allowed to rise a bit before being stored in the fridge and then baked the next day.
The bread becomes sourer depending on the length of fermentation, so it is worth experimenting to find what tastes best for you. Sourdough bread which has had a long fermentation process will keep very well. Even when it naturally stales (about a week after baking), it will make good toast. It will also freeze well either as a whole loaf, halved or sliced.
In Londinium the Romans ate spelt bread, come and learn how to make it! https://t.co/XCRqr5fTIe #giftideas #e17 pic.twitter.com/0lpCttbouj
— The Fermentarium (@thefermentarium) June 3, 2016
This recipe extract is taken from new book Ferment, Pickle, Dry from Simon Poffley and Gaba Smolinska-Poffley. Out now and published by Frances Lincoln.
The post A must-have sourdough recipe for Sourdough September appeared first on Quarto Knows Blog.