Spelt-Khorasan Country Sourdough

Ingredients

Levain (build the night before)

A small, young levain. You want it doubled and sweet-smelling, not sharp. Acid is what tears spelt gluten apart.

• 20g (1 tbsp) ripe sourdough starter, 100% hydration
• 40g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) water, room temperature
• 40g (⅓ cup) bread flour

Final Dough

Sixty percent ancient grain, forty percent bread flour. That ratio is the whole point of this loaf: real spelt and khorasan flavor with structure you can count on.

• 100g (½ cup) ripe levain, all of it
• 200g (1⅔ cups) bread flour
• 175g (1½ cups) whole spelt flour, fresh-milled or bagged
• 125g (1 cup) whole khorasan flour, fresh-milled or bagged
• 375g (1½ cups + 1 tbsp) water, cool, 20g held back for bassinage
• 10g (1¾ tsp) fine sea salt
• 20g (2 tbsp) rice flour, for dusting the banneton

Total flour: 540g including the levain

Hydration: 75%

Pro tip: Spelt and khorasan both drink slower than bread flour. Mix at 355g of water, give the dough twenty minutes, and only then decide whether it wants the last 20g. Fresh-milled flour usually takes it. Bagged flour often does not.

Equipment

Method

Build the Levain

Small build, bread flour base. A young levain gives you lift without the acidity that weakens spelt and khorasan gluten.

1. Mix the levain. Stir the starter, water, and bread flour together in a jar until no dry flour remains. Mark the level with a rubber band.
2. Ferment 8 to 10 hours. Cover loosely and hold at 72 to 76F (22 to 24C) until doubled, domed, and smelling like yogurt and ripe fruit.
3. Use it on the rise. Use the levain while the dome is still up. If it has collapsed and gone sour, feed it again and push the bake back a few hours.

Wait: PT9H

Tip: A levain that has gone flat and sharp will still raise the loaf, but it will also slacken the spelt. Young levain, tighter crumb structure, better shape.

Autolyse the Flours

Flour and water only. The autolyse gives the whole grain time to take on water before the salt and levain go in, which means less mixing later. Less mixing is the goal with these grains.

1. Combine flours and water. Mix the bread flour, spelt, and khorasan with 355g (1½ cups minus 1 tbsp) of the water until no dry flour remains. Hold back the last 20g.
2. Rest 30 minutes. Cover the bowl and leave it alone. The dough will look rough and that is fine.

Wait: PT30M

Tip: Use a dough whisk here if you have one. It pulls the flour together in about twenty seconds without working the gluten.

Add Levain and Salt

Squeeze and fold the levain and salt in by hand. Do not chase a smooth dough. Spelt gluten stretches well and then tears, and once it tears it does not come back.

1. Work in the levain and salt. Add all 100g of levain and the salt. Squeeze the dough through your fingers, fold, rotate the bowl, and repeat for 2 to 3 minutes until evenly incorporated.
2. Decide on the bassinage. If the dough feels tight or dry after a few minutes, work in the reserved 20g of water a little at a time. If it already feels slack and tacky, skip it. That single decision is what keeps hydration honest across different flours.

Tip: Target a final dough temperature of 76 to 78F (24 to 26C). Cool water in a warm kitchen, room-temperature water in a cool one.

Bulk Ferment with Gentle Folds

Three sets of folds in the first 90 minutes, then leave the dough alone. bulk fermentation runs 3½ to 5 hours at 72 to 76F (22 to 24C).

1. Fold at 30, 60, and 90 minutes. For each set, lift one edge only until you feel resistance, fold it to the center, rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat three more times. Stop the moment the dough pushes back.
2. Rest undisturbed. After the third set, cover and leave it. No more handling.
3. Call it early. Stop bulk at 40 to 50 percent expansion, when the dough feels aerated and you can see bubbles around the edge of the bowl. Do not wait for a double. Spelt and khorasan give up their strength when they go too far.

Wait: PT4H

Tip: Use a straight-sided container and a rubber band at the starting line. With ancient grains the clock lies more often than the dough does, and 50 percent is easier to see than it is to guess.

Pre-Shape and Bench Rest

One gentle gather, then twenty minutes of rest. This is where a weak dough gets a second chance.

1. Turn out and gather. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Use a bench scraper to gather it into a loose round without pressing out the gas.
2. Rest 20 minutes, uncovered. A light skin makes final shaping easier. If your kitchen is dry, drape a towel over it.

Wait: PT20M

Tip: If the round spreads flat within a few minutes, bulk went long. Shape it now anyway, bake it, and cut 30 minutes off bulk next time.

Shape and Cold Retard

Shape with tension but without force, then send it to the fridge. The cold retard firms the dough so a 60 percent ancient grain loaf scores cleanly.

1. Shape a boule or batard. Fold the edges to the center, flip seam-side down, and drag the round toward you a few times to build surface tension. Three or four passes, not ten.
2. Into the banneton. Dust the banneton with rice flour and set the dough in seam-side up. Pinch the seam closed.
3. Chill 10 to 14 hours. Cover and refrigerate. Bake straight from the cold.

Wait: PT12H

Tip: Rice flour does not absorb moisture the way wheat flour does, so it keeps a whole-grain dough from gluing itself to the basket overnight.

Bake the Loaf

Hot and covered first for steam and spring, then uncovered and a little cooler so the high-bran crust browns without burning.

1. Preheat. Preheat the dutch oven with the lid on at 475F (245C) for 40 to 45 minutes.
2. Score and load. Turn the cold dough onto parchment. Score one decisive slash about ½ inch (1cm) deep at a shallow angle, then lower it in by the parchment.
3. Bake covered. 22 minutes at 475F (245C) with the lid on.
4. Uncover and finish. Remove the lid, drop the oven to 450F (230C), and bake 20 to 25 minutes more until deeply browned.
5. Check the temperature. Pull the loaf at 205F (96C) or higher in the center. Whole-grain loaves read done on color before they are done in the middle.

Tip: Khorasan browns fast because of its carotenoids and sugars. If the crust is where you want it at the 15-minute uncovered mark, tent it with foil and finish on temperature.

Cool Completely

The crumb is still setting when the loaf comes out. Cutting early on a high ancient-grain loaf gives you a gummy center that was never actually underbaked.

1. Rack it. Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing. Three is better.

Wait: PT2H

Tip: Listen for the crackle as it cools. That is the crust contracting, and it is the only part of this bake you get to enjoy without waiting.

Shape the Loaf

This dough holds a shape better than 100 percent spelt but worse than a bread-flour loaf. Pick the shape that matches how much handling you trust yourself to do.

Round (Boule) (recommended)

The safer shape. A round supports itself through the cold retard and gives the most oven spring from a dough with moderate strength.

1. Fold the edges in. Bring each edge up and over to the center, working around the round twice.
2. Flip and drag. Flip seam-side down and drag the round toward you three or four times to build tension.
3. Basket it. Lift into a rice-floured round banneton seam-side up and pinch the seam shut.

Oval (Batard)

Doable and handsome, but the extra length asks more of the gluten. Shape it in fewer moves than you would a bread-flour batard.

1. Letter fold. Flatten gently into a rectangle, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
2. Roll and seal. Roll from the top toward you, sealing lightly with the heel of your hand as you go.
3. Basket it. Set seam-side up in an oval banneton and pinch the seam closed.

Proof test: Straight from the fridge, press a floured finger about ½ inch into the dough. The dent should fill back slowly and stop about halfway. A dent that springs back fast means it needs another hour at room temperature before baking. A dent that stays put means bake it now.

Bake

Covered for steam, then uncovered and cooler so the bran-heavy crust browns instead of scorching.

Oven: 245°C / 475°F. Internal temperature when done: 96°C / 205°F.

Dutch Oven (recommended)

The most reliable way to get spring out of a 60 percent ancient grain dough at home. Trapped steam keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to open up.

Equipment: Dutch oven with lid, parchment paper

1. Preheat. 475F (245C) with the pot and lid inside, 40 to 45 minutes.
2. Bake covered. 22 minutes with the lid on.
3. Uncover and finish. Drop to 450F (230C), uncover, and bake 20 to 25 minutes to 205F (96C) internal.

Baking Steel or Stone with Steam

Works if you can generate real steam for the first 15 minutes. Expect slightly less spring and a thinner crust.

Equipment: Baking steel or stone, steam pan, lava rocks or towel

1. Preheat. 475F (245C) for 45 minutes with the steel and a steam pan on a lower rack.
2. Load and steam. Slide the loaf on, pour a cup of boiling water into the steam pan, and shut the door fast.
3. Vent and finish. Remove the steam pan at 18 minutes, drop to 450F (230C), and bake 22 to 25 minutes more to 205F (96C).

Note: Bake to temperature, not to color. Khorasan darkens early and will convince you the loaf is done ten minutes before it is.

Storage

• Room temperature: Cut-side down on a board for up to 3 days. No plastic, or the crust goes soft.
• Refrigerated: Not recommended. The fridge stales bread faster than the counter.
• Frozen: Slice first, then freeze in an airtight bag for up to 2 months.
• Refresh: Toast frozen slices straight from the bag, or mist a whole loaf with water and warm it at 350F (175C) for 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this 100 percent spelt and khorasan with no bread flour?

You can, but bake this version first. Drop the bread flour and you lose the gluten backbone that holds the shape through a 12-hour cold retard. If you want to try it, go to 300g spelt and 200g khorasan, pull water back to 340g, cut bulk to about 3 hours, and bake it in a loaf pan the first time so it has something to climb.

My dough went slack and spread out on the counter. What happened?

Bulk ran too long, nearly every time. Spelt and khorasan gluten stretches beautifully and then tears, and unlike bread flour it does not rebuild. Next bake, end bulk at 40 percent expansion instead of 50, and use a straight-sided container so you are reading the dough instead of the clock.

Is khorasan the same thing as Kamut?

Same grain, different name. Khorasan is the wheat. KAMUT is a registered trademark for a specific organic khorasan grown to a set standard. If your bag says Kamut, use it exactly as written here.

Do I have to hold back that 20g of water?

It is the easiest insurance in the recipe. Fresh-milled flour drinks more than bagged flour, and one bag of spelt is not the same as the next. Mix at 355g, wait through the autolyse, and add the last 20g only if the dough feels tight. Nothing goes wrong if you never add it.

Can I use fresh-milled flour for both grains?

Yes, and it is the better loaf. Mill on the finest setting your mill offers, use the flour the same day, and expect the dough to want that reserved water. The crumb runs a touch tighter and the flavor is worth it.

Why does the recipe say to use the levain young?

Acid tears weak gluten. A levain that has peaked and fallen is more acidic, and on a dough that is 60 percent ancient grain that shows up as a slack dough and a flat loaf. Use it while it is still domed and smells like yogurt rather than vinegar.

My crust is dark but the inside seems damp. Did I underbake it?

Probably not. Whole-grain loaves need at least two hours on a rack before the crumb finishes setting, and khorasan browns early so the loaf looks finished before it is. Check that you hit 205F (96C), then wait out the cool. If it is still gummy cold, add five minutes uncovered next time.

Can I skip the cold retard and bake the same day?

You can, but score it knowing the dough is soft. Proof at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes after shaping, then bake. The cold retard is doing two jobs here: flavor, and firming the dough enough to take a clean slash.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 slice (about 70g)): 155 calories, 31g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 1g fat, 3g fiber, 325mg sodium. Makes 12 servings.