I made the enriched version yesterday: used my “white” starter (WheatMontana AP & water, 100% hydration), Kefir instead of milk (had more kefir than milk in my frig), Breadtopia milled whole wheat Einkorn. All measures the same as the recipe states.
I used a stand mixer: 10-12 minutes approximately. Dough looked like a very thick cake batter. I scraped into a new bowl and the bulk went close to 7 hours to double.
My bread pans are smaller than the recipe calls for and looking at the dough volume, I decided to bake in my Breadtopia oblong clay baker vs bread pans. I scraped the dough into an oblong banneton lined with parchment. Followed the wet spatula routine to smooth the top and let it rise for about 1.5 hours.
Then into the preheated oven/baker: 500F for 5 min, 450 for 30 min, uncovered and 425 for 10 minutes. At that point, even though internal temp was 199.5 vs called for 205, based on aroma, crust, how the temp prob went in cleanly … I stopped the bake and cooled overnight.
When I make this next time, I might try 1.5 recipe to fill out the baker. But WOW - very happy with texture, crust and especially taste. I’ve not had Einkorn previously and I really love it. I don’t have gluten issues so will stick with the white starter for the extra rise and crumb. This sliced easily, is not crumbly, makes great toast!
I have made this “enriched version” twice with great results. The dough though does not proof up to the size in the instructions and the first loaf was over-proofed (see pictures.)
The second time I made it did not rise at all in a warm room after 8 hours so I mixed in a teaspoon of instant yeast, scraped into a 9x5 pan let rise to the top and was perfect. Should have taken a picture but spouse wanted it too quick.
Interesting - perhaps our pans are slightly different in shape. Not sure why your second loaf didn’t rise with only sourdough. Your final bread looks good though, nice save!
regular 9x5 loaf pan. My starter was not active enough and I hoped it would do so in the long fermentation BUT I found out different. MY BAD! LOL
I managed to get a picture of the last of the frozen slices before my better half gets them this morning.
As far as proofing is concerned I have gone through about 60#'s of Einkorn in different recipes and I have never (not even once) been able to get it to rise like in the pictures of the Naturally Leavened recipe. It gets fermented, and raises but only I would say 20% more of its original size. When panned (this loaf) it is about 3/4" from the top of the pan and I have found if I let it rise just to the lip it has a nice dome to it. It will go a little further but will sink in the middle. I have read that this 20% or so is typical of the grain. Also through my trial and errors (mostly errors) I have learned not to mix too much or knead much either.
I had to look back at my photos to get a sense of how far I pushed the proof My endpoint is about 3/4" under the pan edge too from what I can tell. I agree that if you go much farther, you risk a flat or even sunken middle.
I once tried an einkorn “microlevain” (tiny amount of starter) which i see as comparable to your attempt with somewhat inactive starter. It was very flat. Enzymes in the dough won out over whatever bit of structure was being built through the very slow fermentation. That’s my narrative-type explanation “it was an epic battle!” rather than scientific lol.
Hi @Fermentada,
I’m new to bread baking and am wondering if this recipe would work with home-milled Emmer Wheat Berries? I don’t have any Einkorn on hand.
Thanks!
@Fermentada, one more question. Wondering why there is a need to add honey to the Emmer bread. I haven’t seen sweetener added to most other Sourdough recipes. Thanks again!
I have not used Emmer often but I do believe it can be bitter. However it’s been a long time and perhaps I need to revisit Emmer to jog my memory. My baking skills have been through a learning curve so trying Emmer again could bring different results. Interesting that while i’ve never heard of adding honey particularly to Emmer recipes I do know that it’s traditional to add honey to Spelt and Spelt originally came from an Emmer and a Wild Goat Grass hybrid.
Einkorn needs time and as little handling as possible. Give it both and you’ll get a wonderful bread. If anything is off the taste can be bitter, the crumb close and damp with a bread more like a brick. My best recipe is:
Completely dissolve the starter in the water.
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well and add the water/starter.
Combine into a dough and knead. Not too much though. As soon as the dough begins leaving residue on your hands after coming together then stop!
Cover and leave till well fermented. It should have tripled, have a craggy top and lost all it’s form of being a dough. What was once a dough now looks like a sponge.
Portion it out into a prepared loaf pan and smooth it over with the back of a wet spoon. Like you would with a rye.
Leave to final proof till the dough crests the top and a few holes just begin to appear on the surface. Not too many though or it’ll over proof.
Bake covered, or steam, for the first 20 minutes and finish off till ready. I like to remove the dough from the pan and return it to the oven for a nice all obver crust.
Fully cool before cutting.
I just want to say that the Einkorn in the UK appears to be slightly different to the Einkorn in the USA. The protein is weaker and mineral content higher I believe. I have only tried this with UK grown Einkorn.
I find whole grain emmer fairly sweet and have used it for chocolate chip cookies, but I included honey in the emmer bread recipe because of it being used in Eric’s whole grain spelt bread. Like @anon44372566 mentioned, I think it’s a customary thing for spelt. And I was figuring it might give a good fermentation boost, to the emmer. I don’t think it’s necessary, though, if you’re trying to avoid added sweetness.
@anon44372566 and @Fermentada Thanks so much for the tips! I have so much to learn about this. Can’t wait to start some experimentation this week! @Fermentada, do you have a link to your chocolate chip recipe? Would love to try that too. My favorite currently is the Americas Test Kitchen version with brown butter. Simply amazing! I bet it would be even better with a home milled flour.
I think I used the recipe on the chocolate chip bag and substituted half the flour with whole grain emmer.
If you substitute all the flour, then consider adding a tiny bit of water. The good thing is if you’ve made the recipe before, you know how wet the dough should feel.
Lately I’ve been making this chocolate chip recipe that uses whole grain rye flour – it’s quite delicious (and incorporates Sarah Keiffer’s pan banging strategy from the Vanilla Bean Blog).
The last time I made Rye Chocolate Chip recipe, I increased the portion of whole grain rye flour to about 75% and I did need to add a tablespoon of water.
I am pretty new to baking with Einkorn and Sourdough, this recipe is wonderful. I chose the enriched version hoping to have my grandchildren enjoy a good healthy bread. All went fine, nice rise, handled the shaping well just by wetting my working service and hands, no sticking at all. I used the pan size stipulated in the recipe, my only problem with the baking is that my loaf came out way too dark. It did not burn but the crust is a very dark brown not golden like your photos.
Do you have any suggestions as to how I may avoid the way dark crust. Any suggestions would be appreciated, again thanks for a great recipe, Theresa
As Melissa (@Fermentada) wrote, I go longer covered and less time uncovered if I want a lighter crust.
But, another consideration might be how photos are displayed on your monitor. I’m seeing Melissa’s post photos as having a medium dark brown (rusty?) crust. My own bakes of the enriched version have had rusty brown, fairly dark crust. There are some photos in comments that are the “plain” version and also some that were not taken in natural light. Photos in artificial light appear more “yellow” in cast.
Thanks Liz, I did go back and look at Melissa’s photo hers is a bit darker than I thought but not quite as dark as mine. I will keep it covered longer next time as she and you suggested. Thanks so much,
Theresa
