KAMUT SOURDOUGH BREAD
Published: 2020-04-11
Prep time: 4.0 hours
Baking time: 60 minutes
Serves: 1
# of Ratings: 2
Adding Kamut Into Your Sourdough Bread
Kamut is an ancient grain related to wheat; there is some evidence to suggest that it is actually the original wheat strain. Its berries are three times the size of the modern red/white wheat kernels. In addition to the size of the kernel, Kamut also contains significantly higher protein concentrations than its wheat counterparts, making it a highly nutritious alternative/supplement when baking sourdough.
As well, the nutty flavor that Kamut grains impart into a dough pair quite well with everyone’s favorite bread topping — butter.
Other Additions
In this loaf, I also recommend adding some oatmeal — the sweetness that oats impart in any bread makes a fine addition and pairing with the Kamut’s nuttiness.
Ingredients
- 360 g Kamut flour (you can use a coffee grinder to make flour out of the dried grains)
- 455 g water
- 200 g levain / sourdough starter
- 100 g oatmeal
- 180 g spelt flour
- 450 g sprouted Kamut / sprouted Amaranth (optional)
- 25 g salt (or to taste; some people prefer the less intense flavor provided by 20 g salt)
- oatmeal flakes to top
Steps
- If sprouting grains, begin the process 2 days before baking by soaking the grains in water overnight, draining in the morning, and then rinsing in cool water at the start and end of each day. Sprouted grains are ready (roughly) when the sprouts coming out of the grains are roughly the same size as the grain itself.
- The night before baking, mix the Kamut + spelt flour + oats and water together. Kamut benefits from a long autolyse!
- The following morning, add the 200 g of levain/starter into your budding dough mixture. Set a timer for 30 minutes
- After the thirty minutes is up, add the salt in by hand, gently squishing the dough with your fingers to incorporate the salt throughout
- For the next 4 hours, fold the dough gently every 30 minutes by pulling roughly a quarter of the dough over itself, spinning your bowl after each fold until all 4 “edges” have been folded over the center of the dough. Gentle folds help to aerate the dough and encourage sourdough fermentation while minimizing the production of gluten (maximizing the bread’s digestibility).
- After the four hours are up, either continue to let the dough rise untended for another 4 hours, or refrigerate it overnight. This ends the bulk rising section
- For the bench rest, turn out the dough onto either a lighty floured, oiled, or watered cutting board. The truly hardcore baker will want to always go with water, for fear of incorporating unmixed flour particles/unwanted flavors. Using a dough scraper, lightly round the edges of the dough by running the scraper around the dough, using just the tip of the scraper underneath the dough to shape it into a rough circle. The trick is to avoid disturbing the gas bubbles in the dough while taking advantage of the circular motion to “round up” the dough into the middle of the cutting board. Cover the top of the dough with a towel and let sit for 30 minutes. It will spread out in this time — that’s ok!
- For the final shaping, start with the side of the dough nearest to you. Grab a third of the dough and fold it over the center of itself. Pull the outside edges slightly more outwards, then also pull the outsides over the fold you’ve just created; if starting with the left edge, pull it clean over to the start of the right edge, covering the fold you’ve just made in the middle of the dough. Now grab the right edge and pull it clean over to the other side of the dough, covering the right edge and center fold you’ve just made. The only thing left is the farthest edge of the dough, which should be pulled up and over everything you’ve just done. Now roll the dough over and smooth down the sides. When done correctly, the dough should now be in a taut, rolled ball.
- Flour a towel with brown rice flour or starch, and oats to decorate, and flip the dough onto the towel so that the seams you just created are seam side up. Gather the edges of the towel and gently lift the dough into your proofing bowl/banneton. Let rise for 3-4 hours (alternatively, if you didn’t do the bulk rise overnight, you can do an overnight rise in the banneton).
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with your dutch oven cooker in there. Once the oven has preheated, remove the dutch oven and carefully tip the dough from the banneton into the dutch oven, seam-side down. Be careful to do this with the minimum possible force, to preserve the delicately built gas bubbles!
- Score the bread decisively with a very sharp knife/razor. Scoring the bread helps to ensure the bread rises evenly by providing an avenue for moisture content to escape uniformly upwards
- Bake for 30 minutes. The higher the moisture content of your dough, the longer you should bake each section (top on/top off); an 80% hydration dough can bake for just 30 minutes in each section … a 90% dough may require 35 minutes. A 100% hydration dough (easily achieved with porridge breads!) may take up to 45 minutes baking with the top on!
- Remove the top from your dutch oven and lower the temperature. Bake for 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden brown.
- Check the internal temperature of the dough. It’s very possible with sourdough and high hydration to have the crust fully develop but for the inside to be underbaked. Put the top back on if the internal temp of the dough is less than 208 degrees Fahrenheit and keep it in the oven, checking every 5 minutes on the temperature.
- Enjoy!
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