Rustic Sourdough Spelt Bread

After learning that the gluten of spelt flour is more delicate, I decided to shorten the kneading time to 4min on lowest speed and thereafter perform 4 stretch & fold with 15min intervals.  I've increased the spelt flour to 30% and hydration to 68%.  In this recipe dough was shaped, retarded 5hours, and baked straight from the fridge in pre-heated dutch oven - cold dough & hot oven.

The oven spring is comparable with my previous 16% spelt bread.  Crumb is very soft and flavourful.  

Further reading:   Health benefits of sourdough & How to make sourdough starter

                             Health benefits of spelt
                             How to trouble-shoot bad bread                             

Ingredients

  72g      Active Sourdough starter
116g      Bread flour
  54g      Spelt flour
  10g      Rye flour
110g       Water

    3g      Salt  
  12g      Soften Butter


Instructions

1.    Add sourdough starter, all the flour and water into the stand-mixer bowl (I'm using KitchenAid).
2.    Using a wooden chopstick, stir to mix well.
3.    Use our hands and the dough scrapper, briefly knead the dough until a shaggy mass is formed. 

4.    Autolyse for 45min - 1hour.

5.    Add salt and soften butter.
6.    On speed 1, using the dough hook, knead the dough for 4min.
7.    A windowpane test.  Dough is already pretty extensible.

 8.   Transfer the dough to a glass bowl.  

9.   Cover the dough.  Every 15min, perform stretch & fold.  Repeat this step 4 times.

1st stretch & fold, windowpane test after first 15min proofing, 

10.  Proof another 90min. or until double in size  (Total 2.5hrs-3hrs)
11.  Cover the bowl and chill in fridge for 1 hour - 1.5hrs

12.  Pre-shape the dough into a boule.

13.  Cover and rest the dough for 15min.

14.  Final shape the dough into boule, using tension pull.

15.  Dust a proofing basket with rice flour.  This is my homemade proofing basket, a plastic bowl and a linen cloth fastened to it.

16.  Place the boule into the proofing basket with its seams facing upwards.

17.  Proof the dough 30min.  I placed the proofing basket into my oven with the light switched on.

18.  Cover the dough and finish proofing it in the fridge for 5hr.

19.  Preheat the oven with the dutch oven to 240°C for 40min.

20.  Tip the proofed cold dough onto parchment paper.

21.  Score the dough.

22.  Take the dutch oven out from the oven.

23.  Remove the lid of the dutch oven and carefully lower the baking paper together with the dough, into the dutch oven.

24.  Put the lid back and put the dutch oven in the oven. 

25.  Bake for 30min at 220°C (the highest my oven can reach with a dutch oven in it).  As I don't like my bread to brown too much, I normally won't further bake my bread after removing the lid.

26.  Transfer the bread onto a cooling rack.  Cool for at least 2hrs before slicing.

 27.  Voila!  Rustic Sourdough Spelt Bread is served with creamy avocado, topped with chopped roasted almond, cranberries & raisins.