Sprouted Spelt Sourdough Bread

Sprouted Spelt Sourdough Bread

Recently, I bought spelt and rye berries.  Instead of immediately grinding them into flour, I chose to sprout them first, hoping to raise their nutritional value and digestibility.

Sprouted Spelt Berries

The berries were first soaked for 8hours, then drained and placed in a strainer.  Then they were rinsed every 6-8hrs.  16-18hours later, these berries would have sprouted.  It takes slightly more than 24hrs to sprout these berries.  After that, I will spread these sprouted berries on a lined baking tray and baked in the oven at 60-70 for about 6hrs or until fully dried.  (They can also be dried in a dehydrator)  These dried sprouted berries weighed roughly about the same as before they were soaked and sprouted.  They will then be frozen at least 8hrs before ground into flour.  To retain their freshness, the flour is kept in the freezer. 

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

Ingredients

  54g      Active Sourdough starter (30%)
120g      Water (66.7%)
130g      Bread flour
  40g      Sprouted Spelt flour
  10g      Sprouted Rye flour

    2g      Salt
  12g      Butter 

Instructions

1.    To the stand-mixer bowl, add water and sourdough starter.  Using the wooden chopsticks, stir to mix well.
2.    Add bread flour, sprouted spelt flour and sprouted rye flour.  
3.    Using the wooden chopstick, stir to mix well.

4.    Use our hands and dough scraper, briefly knead the dough until a shaggy mass forms.

5.    Autolyse for 45min - 1hour.

6.    Add butter and salt.
7.    On speed 1, using the dough hook, knead the dough for 2min.  
8.    Then on speed 2, knead for another 2min.
9.    Transfer the dough to a glass bowl.

10.    Cover the bowl.  After 30min, perform the first stretch & fold.   Repeat the stretch & fold for another 3 more times with 15min intervals.

11.  Proof another 1hr 45min or until double in size  (Total timing from start of proofing approximately 3hrs-3.5hrs)

12.  Cover the bowl and retard in fridge for 12-16hours.

13.  Pre-shape the dough into a boule.

14.  Cover and rest the dough for 30min.

15.  Final shape the dough into batard.

16.  Dust a proofing basket with rice flour.  

17.  Place the shaped dough into the proofing basket with its seams facing upwards.

18.  Proof the dough for 1hr-1.5hr or at least 1.5times larger.

19.  Wrap the proofing basket and finish proofing another 3.5-5hrs in the fridge.

20.  Preheat the oven with the dutch oven to 240°C for 50min.

21.  Tip the proofed dough onto parchment paper.

22.  Score the dough.

23.  Take the dutch oven out from the oven.

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

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

26.  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 bake my bread too long.

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

28.  Voila!  Sprouted Spelt Sourdough Bread is served!