Einkorn hydration?

GeoffreyLevens

Just got first batch of Einkorn wheat (from einkorn.com). I grind my own flour and do not remove any bran, particulates, saw dust, etc  Not a lot of info online about using it but found this recipe

http://www.breadexperience.com/einkorn-sourdough-bread-revisited/

which calls for very low hydration. Started there and dough was like modeling clay, after an hour autolyse and some stretch/fold, so dense and tough I doubted it would rise. Also amazingly sticky.  Added water a little at a time and finally started getting workable dough at about 60% but ended at 70% which seems much better. Likely would be fine and maybe even better at 75% or even 80%...

I am amazed at how different it is from kamut and spelt which I have been using (also grind my own, whole grain only).  The einkorn is extensible as if made of rubber, almost like pizza dough and sticky like flypaper; I really have not tried using my hands since the first stretch/fold go round. Using a water moistened dough scraper to mash and fold but really so stretchy it is streeeeetch and fold.

Should be ready to bake tomorrow afternoon.

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GeoffreyLevens 2016 November 19

Actually, using the amount of water in recipe above was not even enough to dampen all the flour, there was a lot of dry flour in the bowl and the "wet" parts were barely damp enough to begin to consolidate.

Baked it just now. Used loaf pan as the dough was about as stretchy as pizza dough made from white flour but almost zero elasticity; stretch it out and it just would stay there. I made "sponge" using 1/2 the flour water and a Tbs of my seed culture from the fridge. After about 4 hours it was very bubbly and looked close to 2X in size so added the rest of the already autolysed flour water dough. The culture seems to love this grain and just rips through it. After about 7 hours, not a lot of visible rise but a lot of bubbles breaking through on the surface. So...

into 450F preheated oven in baking pan that I proofed it in. Sprayed a lot of water right onto top of the dough and covered w/ a glass baking dish that fit. After 15 minutes pulled off the cover and baked for another 30 minutes (45 total at 450F). Will slice tomorrow and see how the crumb came out but here is picture of it right out of the oven. Got quite a bit of oven spring!

 

GeoffreyLevens 2016 November 20

Here's the crumb shot. Flavor is excellent, a bit softer mouth feel than kamut. 

If you look carefully at photo you can see a slight double shoulder, the lower being where it was flat across top when I put it in oven. Everything above that is oven spring!  I did not bother to slash the top as I know dough so slack it would just close back up right behind the knife

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