Gluten Free Fermented Buckwheat Bread

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Looks amazing. But no yeast or starter? Yet there’s still a rise?

Intriguing, right? It basically IS a starter of sorts made from wild yeasts and bacteria in the air and on the groats.
Similar to Indian dosas (fermented lentil and rice) and Ethiopian injera (fermented teff grain).

The pan holds it together while it cooks because there is no gluten structure. But it’s relatively light and airy because of the fermentation air bubbles.

Injera and dosas are two of my favorite things, so I look forward to trying this!

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We love buckwheat and and appreciate the non gluten, low lectin qualities of it and have used it in our no knead sourdough recipe. When we saw your recipe we knew we had to try it. Thanks to this super simple recipe and one of our favorite kitchen tools, a Brod and Taylor proofer, here’s proof (no pun intended) of our first loaf. This will be our go to bread now!

Azaniah,

I’m so excited to see your fermented buckwheat loaf! It looks great. Thanks for sharing the pic and your enthusiasm about the recipe.

I’m curious what temp you set the proofer to and how long you fermented the buckwheat for.

I was also curious about lectin, which you mention, and i read some stuff on internet that left me thinking I’ll soak my beans longer before cooking. (I recently started using kombu seaweed in my pressure cooker with the beans.)

So glad you’re happy with the recipe!

-Melissa

Hello Melissa,

The proofer was set at 70° and the loaf fermented for 24 hours. The second raise fo forty minutes in the oven with the pilot on which is probably about 100°.

Yes, lectins seem to be a new concern for the health gurus. I don’t think we have any problems with them but we also sprout a lot of seeds/nuts and culture veggies including garlic which is supposed to keep their damage to a minimum.

I have thought for several years that there must be a way to make 100% buckwheat bread but never found a way before you sheared this. Thanks again.

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I want to make this too. It is beautiful and I love buckwheat anyway I can get it. I’m really happy to have a gluten free buckwheat loaf recipe.

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Your loaf is gorgeous.

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I’m just curious as to the reason for not using toasted buckwheat. Is it because it doesn’t ferment as well?

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I know fermentation relies on some yeast/bacteria on the grain or seed as well as what is in the air, but I’m guessing it would still ferment. Please update on how it goes. The flavor and color will be different and I’d love to hear about that too.

Buckwheat is one of my favorites. I just made buckwheat crepes last week, so when this recipe appeared in my Inbox I had to try it. It was amazing how it rose and it is very tasty, but I do enjoy my gluten. We love the spelt sourdough recipe from Breadtopia and make it on a weekly basis. This was a fun experiment, the end result reminded me of a polenta foccacia I made once. I wish I had spent a little time adjusting the parchment paper so the loaf wasn’t so wrinkly.


Linda,

That looks great - thanks for sharing your pics and experience with the recipe!

Without a doubt, the hardest part of the recipe for me is folding the parchment paper. :slight_smile: I’ve done it four times now and am finally getting better at it.

Buckwheat crepes sound interesting! Do you use buckwheat flour only or a mix?

-Melissa

I use mostly buckwheat flour and a some soft white wheat. I’ve been grinding my own grains for nearly 2 years…no mixes for me!

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Do you think this would work with other grains like quinoa, teff or millet?

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I did it with quinoa actually :slight_smile: It worked but perhaps I should have fermented it longer. At the 33 hr mark, it had grown by 1 cup. The finished loaf was okay but I prefer the fermented buckwheat. (On a side note, today I ate the fermented buckwheat with cream cheese and strawberries and was wowed. I thought butter and honey went well, but that combo was even better!)

I’ve fermented teff and made Injera bread. I should try a loaf, but haven’t yet. Also haven’t tried millet. Let me know how any of it works if you try it.

Here are the pics I took of the quinoa adventure


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Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing this. I must try this bread with other grains. I do love the buckwheat flavor though, especially when the bread is toasted!

You’re welcome! I prefer toasted too

In your instructions you mention that “The Batter expansion is roughly from 5 to 6.5 cups”

Do you mean that the batter will double in size from the existing 5 cups to around 10-11-1/2 cups or that the batter will expand from existing 5 cups to 6.5 cups, a total of 1-1/2 cups of expansion?

Good question! It’s 1.5 cups of growth. From the starting point of 5 cups to ending at about 6.5 cups.