Spelt

[Tiff]

Hi there,

Kinda repeating myself from another topic forum, but I am looking for good spelt recipes. I am doing a lot of baking at my work as I am alone in the kithcen with no budget for a pastry chef, as is often the case these days, and I need some help in the low gluten, no gluten , wheat free area of baking which is so foriegn to my sensibilites. I like working in a healthy vegetarian enviroment but I miss the more passionate immediacy of cooking mains on a line. The things I make are packaged and have to last a week or so. My boss said she wanted someone classically trained who could learn about vegetarian and vegan eating as they go. I have found it a challenge and have learned way more than I thought I would need to learn in order to cook the way I must at work. Any advice, recipes or similar experiences would be appreciated.

[guajolote]

I love fresh spelt in the spring - right out of Lake Michigan, coated in some flour and cornmeal, and deepfried.

Oops, those are smelt.

[Kikujiro]

Spelt makes great salads, but that doesn't help much as you were asking about baking.

[Rail Paul]

I love fresh spelt in the spring - right out of Lake Michigan, coated in some flour and cornmeal, and deepfried.

Oops, those are smelt.

I had EXACTLY the same thought. That's dangerous...

[Jinmyo]

Tiff, sorry. I've never even thought of spelt flour.

My experiences with the grain have led me to cook it about three time as long and with twice the liquid (chicken stock) as I would for rice and people still find it vile because it is so dense and chewy.

Best of luck.

[thebaker]

Hi there,

Kinda repeating myself from another topic forum, but I am looking for good spelt recipes.

what kind of recipes are you looking,

I worked in a vegan/healthy restaurant for about 1 1/2 created there entire dessert menu.

SC

[oraklet]

tiff,

i'm not sure if i've got it right, but it seems that spelt has a very high gluten content (somewhere between 35% and 39%)...i've never baked with it, but my very competent breadbaking book tells me that it will give you a tasteful but rather heavy bread, and that preferably the spelt should be mixed with lighter flour (tipo 00, ?). it doesn't give any recipes, though. personally i think i would first try 1/3 spelt, 1/2 tipo 00 and 1/6 duro.

very little yeast, lots of water, and a slow rising. perhaps a biga, or sourdough?

[Marlene]

I bake with spelt all the time, and I tend to use slightly LESS water than a recipe calls for. I notice a slightly nuttier taste, but certainly not unpleasant, and I don't find it any heavier than regular flour. I just usally substitute spelt flour for regular flour in a recipe with about an oz less water, and it comes out fine.

[oraklet]

marlene,

"I bake with spelt all the time, and I tend to use slightly LESS water than a recipe calls for"

i stand corrected, then! ok, but this is tricky, apparently, as i believe that more gluten means that a flour will hold more water. am i wrong there, too?

[Marlene]

marlene,

"I bake with spelt all the time, and I tend to use slightly LESS water than a recipe calls for"

i stand corrected, then! ok, but this is tricky, apparently, as i believe that more gluten means that a flour will hold more water. am i wrong there, too?

Since I put my flour right into Tupperware containers, I don't have the package in front of me to give me the ingredients listing. But if a flour like spelt holds more water than regular flour, it make sense to use less, because otherwise you've got soggy dough.

Next package I get, I'll look it up. I use spelt because my son's friend is allergic to wheat, so I do a lot of bread baking when he is here. The first time I used the regular amount of water, and it was a disaster. Using less but not much less seems to work fine. I honestly can't tell you why!

[thebaker]

I bake bread with a 50 -50 mix of whole spelt four and white splet flour.

I prefer my dough a bit wet.

[Jinmyo]

There's white spelt flour?

I'd try white spelt as a grain if I could find it.

[Marlene]

There's white spelt flour?

I'd try white spelt as a grain if I could find it.

There's white and "whole grain". They are both great.

[oraklet]

"There's white and "whole grain" "

maybe this opens a way out of my embarressment, as i've found that whole grain makes for a wetter dough. my belief that strong flour holds more water than soft flour ("holds" meaning "needs", really) is based on using varying amounts of durum wheat flour in bread doughs, and what i've been told in baking books. hardly scientific, i'll admit.

[Tiff]

Hi there,

Kinda repeating myself from another topic forum, but I am looking for good spelt recipes.

what kind of recipes are you looking,

I worked in a vegan/healthy restaurant for about 1 1/2 created there entire dessert menu.

SC

I need rcpes that stand up to 7 days in packaging. We have very little choice in the way of organic fruit this time off year;namely apples, oranges and bananas. I have a variety of different flours to choose from but whole and white soelt recipes are prefered by the boss. If you have a recipe of 2 that really stands out I would love to have them. Thanks

[thebaker]

SC

I need rcpes that stand up to 7 days in packaging.

[Marlene]

SC

I need rcpes that stand up to 7 days in packaging.

Wow 7 days, my recipes are all free of preservatives etc.

the breads really need to be eaten within a day or so but i will look around my recipes and see what looks good.

SC

[hummingbirdkiss]

no one has talked about spelt since this thread? why not? I did a search just for "spelt" and it is not a big topic for EG apparently but it should be a bit more popular spelt is good! 

 

in my opinion it is much easier to bake with than WW  and tastes so much better…I adore spelt and would love to know why it is not more popular ?

When I make a loaf of spelt and give it away I am always given a look of surprise because people have not even heard of it let alone baked with it..but I also get rave reviews and not a crumb left with bred I give away so I am thinking it tastes really good to others as well? 

 

Especially with sourdough I get a much deeper nuttier flavor and wonderful texture to the crumb ..hydration of bread with spelt flour vs ww is so much easier to predict …. in sourdough baking I can not even imagine not having it in the repertoire of breads and baked goods..I find sweet breads when you want to go "whole grain" are also easier and more tasty with spelt vs WW ….

 

in the past i was able to get 5lb bags at a local grocer and now I have to go to Whole Foods and hold my own ankles at the register for a bag of spelt! it is horrible to have to pay so much for flour. But I do because if I am baking with whole grains other than rye i will  grab spelt 

 

I am on a baking jag as always this time of year even with out an oven I on a baking jag with my spelt (it goes with fall to me) and started perusing EG and could not find much at all about it at all ? 

 

I am not the only spelt baker am I ?  please share your adventures if you are? 

 

would anyone besides me choose spelt over whole wheat? or am I alone in this ? I never make whole wheat bread. if no spelt or rye it is white 

 

 

back to my sourdough spelt toast  and coffee and wondering why the world does not have spelt in the forefront of backing or even on any bread rack as pre made unless it is in a health food store $$$ …am alone in my difficulties finding fresh good spelt flour to bake with? I saw it on the KA site but have not gone back to investigate….. i have a local health food I like to shop in but it is so far off the path these days and I use a lot of four on these baking jags ..even baking on a grill it seems I can run through a bag of flour in no time.

[Franci]

I use spelt to make italian cookies and "pasta frolla" for crostate. Maybe use more buckwheat than spelt. Since I don't have a lot of time for bread baking recently, I use these flours more for breads in a pan.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Franci (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

Franci I would love spelt cookies!

 

ok….

/

guess I love backed goods that taste like a mid 70's health food store 

 

spelt is easier to digest than wheat I guess so it surprises me that the anti gluten trend did not meld with more spelt food products 

[food mom]

Hi there. To reopen a topic -

 I bake outside of Munich, Germany. Lots of grains grown around here, so lots of variety and accessibility.

 Lots of Spelt, and other Ancient Grains.

 I have a cooking class on American Pizza coming up, and my Director told me to have some spelt on hand, in case someone is allergic to/intolerant of wheat. I know, they should ask/say in advance, but one thing at a time.

 Does anyone have a good recipe for a pizza dough with spelt? Either thin crust or thicker (not Focaccia, please). I'd prefer one w/o rice or any other flour, if possible.

 This class is on American Pizza, so any/all help is welcome.

Thanks in advance,

-betsy

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Many years ago when I was having serious problems with my stomach, I went on an elimination diet to identify which foods were the culprits. Turned out I was sensitive (I'm reluctant to say "allergic") to wheat, caffeine and red wine. (I know, I know.) After experimenting with alternative flours--buckwheat, barley, rice flour pastas--I discovered spelt, which is sort of a distant relative of wheat that seems to have a different molecular structure. I substituted spelt for wheat straight across and had excellent success. Later when I discovered white spelt flour it was another revelation. I like whole grain flour as much as anyone, but sometimes you want something a little less robust.

 

I still can't tolerate caffeine or red wine (alas) but after all these years I can once again eat wheat. I did find that spelt seemed to have more gluten than wheat (in my not-very-scientific experience), which would make it unusable for anyone sensitive to gluten.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro 

[food mom]

Hello Nancy,

 thanks for responding. I'm sorry to hear about your dietary limitations, but happy to see that you make the distinction between "sensitive to" and "allergic to".

 Spelt is one of the "ancient grains", along with Kamut and Emmer. They are "awned grains" (reference to appearance), and seem to be more digestible to many people throughout the world.

 Spelt will yield a softer dough (one is often tempted to add too much flour when kneading, as the consistency is different), but spelt usually calls for less liquid.

 It can often be substituted for wheat 1:1, but those are usually bread recipes. Pizza dough seems to be an entity of its own.

-betsy

[trfl]

Spelt is a great grain to work with but it is surely not gluten free.  Oftentimes it is used by people who are allergic to wheat proteins (but not allergic/intolerant to gluten). May be hence the wrong association of spelt with gluten free baking.

As others mentioned in this thread, it has a nice rich flavor which is a good reason to use it even if you are not allergic to wheat.

In general for bread, you can use any whole wheat recipe and replace whole wheat flour 1:1 with spelt flour. We make a nice no-knead, no-shape spelt loaf with LoafNest once in a while. You can see and example on the recipe book (page 24) with 80% hydration.

[food mom]

@trfl: thank-you, but I am still looking for a pizza dough recipe, not a bread recipe.

I personally first started working with spelt a few years ago after being allergy tested (not the method that invades the skin, I may add), where we found that I had an allergic reaction to wheat, but not gluten. It was to the glyphosats used in wheat production. Spelt, being an ancient grain, has not been modified, and is rarely sprayed/fertilized here. Without going into depth, it is tolerated by most people. Most people here who have this intolerance and know of their intolerance are aware whether or not they can tolerate spelt products. Common sense dictates that one would not sign up for a class on pizza w/out first inquiring as to the ingredients, but we all know what passes for common sense these days.

 But again, thanks.