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Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread
This post is both a recipe and also a technique experiment.
Einkorn is likely the most ancient of ancient wheats, and while its flavor is absolutely delicious — nutty, slightly sweet, zero bitterness — it handles very differently from modern wheat. I used to be convinced that you could only bake a whole grain einkorn bread inside a supportive loaf pan; that this ancient wheat was too sticky and low gluten strength to stand up on its own. Then I saw the einkorn hearth loaves of Mark Woodward, including his test bake using the strategies from his article, Bread Baking with Low Gluten Wheat. All the breads were relatively tall and open-crumb, and the bread with refrigeration during the bulk fermentation and no final proof (baking immediately after shaping) had even more score bloom and grigne (a French term for when the lip of the score pulls away from the bread).
[Jump to recipe]
This past week I experimented with these variables:
In all three of the doughs I made, I added ascorbic acid in the form of a pinch of crushed vitamin C tablet to strengthen the gluten. I learned this from Mark’s article on baking with low gluten wheat. You can see the pinch amount in the photo gallery after the recipe.
Left and Center: no final proof. Center and Right: no dough refrigeration
Results
Refrigeration seemed to give the dough more strength and created the tallest bread with the biggest score bloom (left). This bread was also a bit darker perhaps due to more enzymatic activity over time. The refrigerated dough (surprisingly) was not more sour than the two breads with much shorter, entirely room temperature processes.
The bread with a one-hour final proof (right) flattened when turned out of the banneton and stayed flat while baking.
Skipping the final proof resulted in the taller breads (left and center) and didn’t appear to compromise the crumb despite the doughs looking compact when loaded into the oven.
While not dramatically different, the crumb of the refrigerated dough that didn’t have a final proof (left) seemed to be the most open. The left and center doughs expanded by 75% during their bulk fermentation and went directly into the oven after shaping. They were the same temperature when shaped because the refrigerated dough needed to warm up again the next day to finish expanding.
As expected, the dough with the final proof had the most evenly open crumb likely due to being the most fermented. This dough also expanded by 75% during the bulk fermentation, but it continued to ferment/expand during a one-hour final proof.
Future Experimentation
I’d like to confirm that the successful breads here came from skipping the final proof rather than from fermenting less in total. By skipping the final proof, the dough shape was tall when it entered the oven heat, and it set relatively quickly. Thbbis helps explain why it didn’t flatten. But perhaps by reducing the bulk fermentation and essentially transferring that last portion of the fermentation to the final proof stage, the dough would also be able to hold its shape when turned out of the banneton.
In a future test, I will use an aliquot jar and let one of the doughs expand by only 50% during the bulk fermentation, then I’ll shape and proof until the dough in the aliquot jar reaches 75% expansion. Meanwhile with the other bread, I’ll repeat the success of this experiment: bulk to 75% expansion, shape, and bake with no final proof. I probably won’t refrigerate either dough to keep the process (and comparison) as simple as possible.
The recipe below has instructions for baking the whole grain einkorn sourdough hearth bread on the left. Make sure you check out the Photo Gallery after the recipe for more photos of all three breads.
Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread
Einkorn is such a flavorful wheat, with a sweet nuttiness that resists souring and has no hints of bitterness. Here's a recipe for making a hearth bread with nutrient packed einkorn whole grain flour.
Ingredients
Instructions
Shopping List
Einkorn Wheat Berries
Einkorn Whole Grain Flour
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Dough and Storage Bucket w/Lid – 2 qt. Square
Bench Knife by Dexter — Resin Handle
$14.50Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00UFO Lame (Bread Journey) by Wire Monkey
$27.95Breadtopia Hearth Baker
Breadtopia Banneton — Oval
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread