Kamut

Well, until now for me Kamut was triticum durum from old egypt....tr.polonicum is a new info, I must check some time..
Kamut is expensive, right.
For that, I' ve done only a few experiences.
I used it for pizza, "Schrittmacherbrot" (whole grain bread with rye, splet, kamut and amaranth and for cakes.
Because of being a durum (hard grain) I 'd problems to mill (flour isn't offered here), I only got a sort semola with a glissando feeling so my semola needs a bunch of soak time.

For pizza I tried only once, it's too expensive, durum (ital. semola rimacinata) plus ital. "00" is good for me.
Cake (100 %) or, coupled together with other mmaterial, wholy bread ;) , that are my turns. If I ever get some satisfaction with my "Schrittmacher" experience I post the reciepe, until now I'm struggling against amaranth, it makes a strong aftertaste.
Quinoa I never used.

Hi I use spelt and kamut in baking as DH has a wheat intolerance but can handle both of these.
Kamut used to be cheaper than spelt  but it became hard/impossible to get at my normal organic haunts in Melbourne.
Since I decided to start sourdough baking I found Santos in Byron Bay have both but Kamut is heaps cheaper. $2.95 Kamut VS $4.10 Spelt Per KG

I quite like normal non-bread baking with kamut and planned on trying different combo of spelt/kamut as I start this sourdough experimentation.
Kamut doesn't tend to be as heavy as Spelt IMHO. I have made successful sponge cakes from kamut whereas spelt ones turn out to be pancakes <chuckle>

Kamut is much more sensitive than wheat or spelt it normally needs less mixing time, less of a bulk proof and a lower water temp it also needs a high hydration level. I have found that variations in kamut flour are much more pronounced than wheat or spelt.

Forgive me if I just cut and paste my post on my other food forum:

Last night I tried two batches of dough using 100% organic kamut flour. Using my usual wet sourdough starter (1 part by volume of water to 1 part by volume of flour), I began with my usual 74% hydration recipe, but pretty soon realised that it was waaay too dry. I ended up making one 700g loaf at a massive 88% hydration, and another at 81% hydration. Because I'd read that kamut was similar to spelt and other ancient grains, and therefore unlikely to be high in gluten, I added a tsp of vital gluten to the 81% batch.

Very long bulk proving time - 12.5 hours. Minimal kneading - I gave the dough a quick 30 second knead, and then a couple of folds before I went to bed. (I'd also read that kamut doesn't like to be overhandled). This morning, both doughs had risen substantially, but neither seemed to have the elasticity that regular bread flour doughs have, nor were there any big air bubbles in the dough. Proved both in my pvc wicker baskets (I love these!), which had been sprayed with oil - no flour. Allowed to rise for an additional 1.25 hours.

Baked on preheated pizza stones in a 220C FF oven for 20 minutes (sprayed the oven with water), then dropped the heat to 175C for an additional 15 minutes. The loaves baked very brown. Not much oven spring, and interestingly the added gluten didn't seem to make much difference to the loaves (the gluten loaf may possibly have risen just a little bit more, but the higher hydration loaf spread more).

The baking loaves gave off an interesting and delicious, almost sweet, aroma, quite different from regular flour loaves. The loaves came out pretty solid, but well cooked. When cut, they presented a really interesting crumb - not gluggy, but perhaps a little cakelike in texture, and very tender. The slices were delicious - reminiscent of rye in flavour, but without the overwhelming heaviness of a 100% rye loaf. They passed the peanut butter test, and the cheese test. The bread also has a lovely sourness to it, probably because of the long overnight prove. I really like this bread. It's probably a little heavy for every day eating, but it certainly makes a nice change. It surprised me that it wasn't very much like spelt at all - I guess I'd linked the two in my head. For next time, I won't bother with the gluten, but will definitely stick to the higher hydration dough.

There was an interesting piece about Kamut in Richard Bertinet's new book CRUST:

Khorason (or Kamut) - This is another ancient wheat which, like spelt, fell out of favour and has been reborn.  In America, where is is grown organically in Montana, it is called Kamut, and the story is that it was used in ancient Egypt and rediscovered by an American airman in the 1950s.  However, at Shipton Mill, where I buy the flour, they have done their research and discovered that its true name is Khorason, and it probably originates in northern Iran.  In parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, it has been grown in subsistence farming systems for centuries.  The flour is slightly more fibrous than wheat flour, with a sandy golden colour and a lovely earthy flavour - almost a taste of the fields.  You can use Khorason on its own, but it contains a less strong form of gluten than wheat , which can make for heavy bread, so I find you get much lighter results when you blend it with strong white flour.

Teep, I made some fougasse with it, but haven't tried a mixed loaf.  On my very limited experience, I'd recommend using a very active starter, extra water and a looooong bulk fermentation if you're planning a straight kamut bread.  From memory, it makes a very cakey bread - don't expect big holes!

I'd be interested to see how you go with a 50:50 loaf.  I've been making a lot of mixed wheat/spelt loaves, and the boys have really loved them.  Actually, I don't know if you'd need 50% kamut - you might get away with less - that way your small bag might go further.. :)

Can't wait to see how you go - make sure you post pics!

I've just dragged my 5kg bag of kamut out as well, Teep.  Will try a mixed loaf tomorrow to keep you company. :)

It's just so ridiculously cheap here for some reason.  $2.95/kilo at Santos Trading!

Dough is rising as I type.. :)

I've got it rising at 50:50 kamut:wheat, using the L'Ancienne recipe from the ciabatta thread.  No real reason why, but I'm still fascinated by how the ice water changes the way the dough develops. 

I've been baking kamut commercially the last few years.

I have more success employing a long knead, a tightish dough & pretty much the same time-frame as 100% wholewheat.

I use Four Leaf's "Egyptian Gold Flour". More info here:

http://www.fourleafmilling.com.au/products.php?id=38 

 

I'd never considered using Kamut for pasta before...interesting link, thank you.

Here are today's loaves - 50:50 kamut to white bread flour, using Dom's ciabatta recipe.  The kamut makes the loaf much denser, so no big holes this time, but a nice textured crumb nonetheless.





Whilst this has a distinct flavour, I think I prefer the straight kamut, simply because it's so different in both texture and flavour.  But mixing it with the bread flour certainly made it easier to work.

Celia

TP, that looks like my first loaf did.  Interesting crumb - looks dense, but it's actually very tender, almost a bit cake like.  I needed a really high hydration as well - the flour seemed to soak up the water!

Pete commented that the kamut bread is best when eaten with something, rather than on its own.  I think that's true - it certainly seems to work best with a topping.

I hope you enjoyed the experiment - your bread looks great! :)