Thanks Melissa.
The overnight bulk worries me in that i’m not there to observe the progress so its leaving things to chance somewhat. I guess that once you have a stable and predictable starter, plus a consistent temperature then its much easier to gauge how long the process should take.
Easier…not sure I’d say “much” easier lol, but the window of time where the bread comes out delicious and reasonably attractive is pretty wide.
Eric, I’ve made the whole spelt recipe several times now, I really like the flavor. My last two attempts however (I follow the recipe pretty closely) I’m getting bread frisbees, not much “oven spring” at all, they rise pretty good in the proofing basket but when I put them in the baking vessel they just kind of spread out. still taste good but hard to make a sandwich with bread two inches high and ten inches across. (bacon sandwich maybe) John McMinn
I’ve been casually baking bread for a while. I tried this recipe over the weekend and the results were fantastic. The only change I made was substituting molasses for the honey. I stuck with 3 TBS. Three folds about 25 minutes apart. Let it rise over night. 1 hour 30 in the proofing basket, probably could have gone a little longer but I had to be out of the house and needed enough time to bake it. I used my dutch oven 35 minutes lid on, 10 minutes lid off.
My wife said it’s one of the best breads I’ve ever made. The crust is thick and has a nice crunch to it. The crumb is soft and little chewy. Overall flavor is rich and hearty. Great with butter, or butter and apricot preserves.
One failure was getting the dough out of the proofing basket. It landed sideways, so only half my loaf has stripes. I need to pickup some of that rice flour for the proofing basket possibly.
I’m really inspired to try this recipe. That is a beautiful crumb, and the crust looks great. I don’t think you could duplicate that split design if you tried!
I love this recipe and make It often. I was wondering how to adjust cooking time for baking this in a tin? The rye bread is also a favourite and would like to try this one in a tin too. Thanks for so many inspirational recipes!
Not sure if or how much, but my blanket reply to most timing questions applies here too, I think… when your instant read thermometer reads the internal dough temp at ~200ºF (94ºC), it’s done.
this is one of my favourite recipes . However, I dont have enough spelt on hand and want to mix in some whole wheat flour. So, dear experts, Would i need to increase the water. When modifying a recipe is best to do it by feel?
Cheers,
I would think that whole wheat needs more water than spelt. So for now change nothing except for doing a straight swap. Should the dough feel it needs more water then slowly add bit by bit till it feels right.
Easier than the other way round.
I got a request for a hundo spelt. this is the recipe I’m going to use. You haven’t failed me yet, Eric. Really appreciate this resource!
I have made two loaves of the Whole Spelt Sourdough Bread, and both have turned out beyond my expectations as far as taste and texture. The first I made with a spelt fed starter, and the second with my regular starter. Both turned out well, so no need to make an extra starter unless it was the spelt starter that made it more moist. The first flattened on me as was too moist. I’m blaming that partly on my vessel, which is a bread cloche by Emile Henry. Many successful breads baked in this vessel, but not this bread. So, I tried my cast iron combo cooker. I forgot to put a pan under the vessel, and the bread got a little dark on bottom but the shape was good. I did decrease the water the second time by about 10% and had much better luck.I decided to order the Breadtopia Clay baker. It came today, and I can’t wait to try spelt again and the rye bread. Thanks for all of the great recipes Eric. Your tutorials have been helpful.
Hello, I’m so thankful I found this site!
This recipe was going very well for me until the morning. I left the dough to rise in my oven with the pilot light on, because it is only 65 in my kitchen downstairs overnight. The dough rose substantially but was very hard to remove from the bowl and move and work with because it was incredibly STICKY! I had to move it in globs, basically. It wasn’t like this yesterday. Could this be because it was TOO warm overnight? I currently have it on the counter proofing as per the next step, but am afraid something has gone wrong.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. 
Since this was a long fermentation then better to err on the side of a bit cold and give it more time the next day if it needs it than make it very warm and risk over fermenting.
To proof the dough in the oven with the pilot light on is fine if one can keep an eye on it and the ferment is not an extended one. However to go to bed and leave it like that all night is not ideal.
One can always leave it for longer if the dough needs it but once over fermented you can’t do much.
If I were you I’d get it into a loaf pan as best as possible and bake it off. I’m sure it’ll still turn out to be a very fine loaf. Or you can turn it into a focaccia. Grease a large shallow pan, place the dough inside and spread it out as much as possible allow it to rest for about 30-40 minutes then with wet hands dimple the dough with your fingers and put whatever you like on it. Traditionally drizzle olive oil and season with herbs but you can get creative. Then bake in a preheated oven.
Thank you for all of this wonderful insight and information! I will for sure not leave it in the oven with the light on next time, as I am assuming it was over-proofed because of the result. I went ahead on with the instructions because I wasn’t sure what else to do - thankfully the loaf tasted absolutely fantastic, sour and nutty with a nice crust and spongy middle, BUT, it was quite flat. It was maybe 2.5 inches at the tallest part and only an inch on the sides. I need to get my hands on a smaller Dutch oven; mine was too large and the dough did spread quite a bit.
But I love the idea of making a focaccia, so I hope to try that at some point.
Would it be problematic if my kitchen is only 65-67° overnight? Or just perhaps make it take longer to rise? Thank you for your time and help!
What is the size of the proofing basket and could you do in a dutch oven?
You can definitely bake this in a dutch oven. I haven’t seen much in the way of different size proofing baskets. What size do you have?
Hi! Longtime breadtopia follower. Love the videos and recipes.
I have a question about the actual amount of time folks leave the dough to proof “overnight”. I’ve looked online for similar spelt sourdough recipes, and they leave it to proof for 12 hours or more, which seems like a really long time.
I mixed this up last night around 10:30pm, with stretch and folds at 15-20 minute intervals, and wondering when I should turn it out of the bowl to shape it.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the videos and recipes here.
I think you should go with your instinct. Room temp, water temp, starter strength (flour type and starter amount too) all impact speed of fermentation, so what’s written in a recipe is a guesstimate. You look for bubbles, webbiness and expansion in the dough, and then take a leap of faith, especially the first time you make a recipe. Observe the dough and the outcome each time, modify as needed.
Feel free to post pics here and people will try to diagnose your proofing
I love this website! I made the exact same recipe but wanted a “more traditional” loaf for sandwiches so used a 2 lb bread tin, doing the first rise as suggested and the second rise allowing it to rise a bit above the edge of the tin. I baked it for 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes then turned it out and put it in back the oven for another 5 minutes to crisp up the rest of the
crust. I also put a pan in underneath while it heated up and added water to steam before putting the loaf in. I’m happy with the results.I’ve noticed that recipe calls for honey or sugar. Is that an optional ingredient or has a specific purpose?
