Sprouted Grains in Bread

[Chris Hennes]

Of the many zillions of inclusions they discuss in Modernist Bread, one that I'd honestly never considered was sprouted grains. Apparently I'm out of touch with the "health food" movement! Have any of you made bread with sprouted grains? Can you describe the flavor difference between sprouted versus just soaked? Right now I'm sprouting some rye, but I'm curious about what to expect from the finished product.

[gfron1]

There are two changes that I've noticed (the third change is digestibility, but I haven't noticed any changes there). First, is depending on the grain, my current wheat comes off almost like parmesan cheese by the time I'm done with it. I use that same grain for my wheatberry salad for that very reason. 

Second, is texture. I like the crisp chew of sprouted grains in my bread. Hard to explain but crisp chew is the best I've got for you. We grind to two different levels - one very course and one more refined.

[Chris Hennes]

Thanks, @gfron1. So when you are including it in your bread are you including the whole berries, or do you only use it ground? If ground, are you drying it first, or do you have a grinder that can work with wet grain?

[weinoo]

Not that this helps answer the question much, but I sometimes shop in a Russian supermarket out in Coney Island.  Their bread selection is quite amazing, and the last time I was there, a woman was offering samples and selling bread made with sprouted grains.  Took some home, and toasted it was really great.

Edited December 15, 2017 by weinoo (log)

[Chris Hennes]

@weinoo, did it have actual whole sprouted grains in it, or had they been ground to flour and then she used that flour? (My rye grains were sprouted and ready to go this morning, so I'm going to do some experimentation this weekend).

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Chris Hennes said:

@weinoo, did it have actual whole sprouted grains in it, or had they been ground to flour and then she used that flour? (My rye grains were sprouted and ready to go this morning, so I'm going to do some experimentation this weekend).

The Fresh Loaf  website has some interesting stuff about sprouted grains including drying them and grinding them.   There seems to be much concern about drying them very slowly at a low temperature. Anyway it’s worth read as it always is. 

Edited December 15, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[gfron1]

19 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

Thanks, @gfron1. So when you are including it in your bread are you including the whole berries, or do you only use it ground? If ground, are you drying it first, or do you have a grinder that can work with wet grain?

yes to all of that (whole and ground, and with a wet grinder). For drying we leave out overnight lightly covered.

[Chris Hennes]

Here goes nothing...

 

I took half of them and pressure-caramelized them. I also pressure-caramelized an equivalent amount of unsprouted grains. The current plan is then to make three loaves of the Modernist Bread "Farmer's Bread" with these three inclusions (it's a basic rye-flavored sourdough).

[Barrytm]

I have sprouted wheat berries, and ground them, and to me they add a sweetness to the bread.  The downside is that if you allow them to sprout too long, and you use a large percentage of sprouted ground flour, you run a risk of the dough collapsing.  I finally got around that by drying them as soon as they show signs of sprouting.  As Anna says, you do not want to get them too warm, so a food dehydrator is a good choice.    Also,  if you are grinding them in a typical stone or burr mill, you want them fully dried before you put them in the mill, otherwise, you will have to learn how to take apart the mill and clean off the stones when it gets clogged - so err on the side of being certain they are dried.   http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40502/peter-reinharts-sprouted-whole-wheat-bread  

[weinoo]

On 12/15/2017 at 10:27 AM, Chris Hennes said:

@weinoo, did it have actual whole sprouted grains in it, or had they been ground to flour and then she used that flour? (My rye grains were sprouted and ready to go this morning, so I'm going to do some experimentation this weekend).

It had definitely been ground to flour.

[Chris Hennes]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

It had definitely been ground to flour.

Got it. There are lots of different brands selling sprouted flours now, maybe I'll give one of them a shot (I don't have a mill).