This is the comment thread for the Breadtopia blog post originally published here:
This is super! Thanks, Melissa! I was so happy with the results of your whole wheat ciabatta, I will definitely try the spelt version - love spelt. Really interesting to see the adjustments you made for this version. The great photos are much appreciated.
Thanks, Wendy!
That looks really good Melissa, hadn’t thought of making ciabatta from spelt. It’s now on my list.
As an aside, how did your pickles turn out?
Stu
The pickles are great! Thank you for asking and for your coaching on them. They’re saltier than my non-fermented pickled jalapenos, so I like them in sandwiches. The vinegar-based ones are still my favorite for nachos because I like how the vinegar interacts with the melted (already salty) cheddar. I keep debating whether to set aside a day this fall to make kimchi…
I am glad they turned out for you. Sometimes I grab for the Clausssens send simply because that is the taste wanted. The kimchi sounds good and one nice thing about making your own is that you control the mix of vegetables and the spiciness, I have had some do hot that you can’t taste what you are eating.
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Guess what? I gave the fermented jalapeños another try a couple days ago and ended up eating the entire jar. 
They improved so much sitting in my fridge fermenting for the past month. I guess more acidic.
Things sometimes do imorove with cold storage. Fermentation does not stop until freezIng temps and cold promotes acetic acid production which is why your pickles are more sour. I am glad the jalapeños worked out for you they can be addictive especially when added to refried beans and smeared on tortilla chips. Now I’m getting hungry for them and it’s only 6AM.
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Started this recipe yesterday and ended up with 4 hour rt, 12 hour frig, 4 hour rt autolyze. I used my white flour starter and also mixed in my stand mixer vs by hand. All else per the recipe including bake time and temp.
YUM!
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What is the second to last photo of the set, with the tighter crumb?
If I read this right, you did a 4 hour (true, sans-salt) autolyze. I’m more used to either a short, say 30 min autolyze, or a longer soak but with the salt included. Was it anything specific to the spelt that dictated a fairly long (true) autolyze, or is that just typical for your process?
The more open crumb spelt ciabatta is the one where I used all purpose sourdough starter. The tight had the spelt starter.
Looking back at this recipe, I would restrict the autolyse to an hour. Not do four-ish hours. I don’t think there’s any need to soften up the bran for that long and and the fermentation is going to happen quickly with all of that starter, so no major need to get amylase activity boosted.
Wow that’s a huge difference just from the starter. Though I guess with the amount of starter in this recipe my “just” isn’t warranted.
Have you done any tests wrt varying soak times of whole grain flour and the effect on the crumb? I’m always finding myself adding a longer soak to recipes out of neurotic uncertainty about softening the bran enough. Perhaps I should do a test myself instead of lazily hoping someone like you will! ;^) Anyway, thanks for the info, Melissa, and the excellent recipes, as always.
Ask and you shall receive 
That said both these experiments could use repeating and also could/would yield different results with different wheat varieties.
I did see that when you first posted it, though I don’t think I extracted a conclusion about the bran-softening question, or really fully digested it. Reading it again, it reminds me of one of the reasons I haven’t done my own test: so many variables! Thinking of all the different options and confounding factors makes me lose steam. I have some thoughts about your results, and about future tests, but I think I’ll post them in the topic for that post.