Recently I’ve been busy moving to a new home (really home, not blog~), and have not settled to bake (more truly I am more focused on home cooking this moment : P). Though there’s no bread to make, I am still enjoying some great bread blog on web. Here’s one:
http://mariana-aga.livejournal.com
After dinner here, but mouth watering … :)…
Compared with Kamut Levain and Kamut Bread, I like this bread the most. 
It is in fact Jeffrey Hamelman’s Poolish Ciabatta, but I replaced 30% total flour by kamut (adding to final dough, all poolish is regular flour). I also increased the hydration from 73% to 83%, as water absorption of kamut is higher.
Apparently I overrated kamut’s water absorption ability. 
I added too much water and the dough was very slack. Hence instead of folding the dough 2 times (1 time every hour) in the 3-hr bulk fermentation, I folded the dough 4 times in total (1 time every half hour).
Though kamut’s gluten is low, the crumb is satisfying. It is less chewy than a regular ciabatta, but is pleasantly moist. Crust is not crispy (after cooled down), and I will try to bake the dough longer next time (20mins at 460F this time for 420g dough). The dough is also too flat for a ciabatta.
However, the taste is wonderful. The ciabatta has a stronger wheat flavor than regular ones, at the same time with a subtle but unique kamut flavor. Right balance between kamut, white flour and poolish. Yum~~ (I finally served it with smoked duck breast, happy dinner :D)
Recipe based on: “Bread” by Jeffrey Hamelman
As I think sourdough flavor does not match with the light flavor of Kamut well after I made the Kamut Levain last week, I tried to make Kamut bread with pate fermentee this week.
According to Richard Bertinet, the original name of Kamut should be Khorason, hence the recipe I used from his book is called “Khorason Bread” in fact. The amount of Kamut in this recipe is high, which is about 1.2:1 to bread flour. As protein level of Kamut is high, its water absorption is also high. The overall hydration is approx. 74% in the dough. However, the dough is not wet at all, and is similar to regular dough. As gluten of Kamut is low, after kneading to the incidated time, I found that no window pane is formed, and the dough has moderate gluten developed instead.
I do not like the taste of the bread. Kamut flavor is too strong. Besides a strong “buttery” flavor, I can also feel a strange “tangy” flavor (not sourdough tangy flavor). I think I would prefer a lower proportion of Kamut flour in the bread. Crumb of bread is denser, but there is still moderate chewiness, which is fine for me.
Recipe: “Crust” by Richard Bertinet
This is a direct dough, using few ingredients, easy to make, but has a great flavor. It is actually Dan Lepard’s “Simple Walnut Tin Loaf”, but I bake it on hearth instead. The crust is cripsy, and the crumb is very tender and moist. There are many walnuts in this bread, and so the walnut flavor dominates (wheat flavor is weak). As there is red wine, I can taste a slight red wine flavor too. I like this combination. 
The liquid used to prepare the dough is interesting. It is 50g walnuts, 125ml red wine, 75ml water and 2tbps olive oil blended together. I cannot taste the walnut flavor from the liquid, but the red wine flavor instead. So without eating the walnut bits, the dough has only red wine flavor. During kneading, my dough was a bit dry, so I added more water to the strength I wanted.
(I baked the proofed doughs at 200C for 20mins on hearth, each weighs about 160g)
Recipe: from Dan Lepard’s Forum or The Guardian
Though both spelt & kamut are acient grains, the flavor of kamut is not as strong as spelt, and is light instead. However, it does has a unique flavor. All of the resources I found describe the flavor as buttery, but I think there is difference. I cannot think of any flavor similar to Kamut yet, maybe buttery is already the most suitable description. Anyway, the light and unique taste is good for summer. I sprinkled the dough with Kamut, but the taste is just similar to plain flour even after baking.
One thing I would like to point out is, as the taste of Kamut is light, I think strong soughdough flavor can overwhelm Kamut easily. Hence I would prefer not to retard the dough overnight, and to prepare a less sour levain. I will also try to make the bread with pre-ferment next time, which I believe should be a better partner with Kamut.
Recipe: “Local Breads” by Daniel Leader
 | Nat on Ciabatta with Kamut |
 | Flo Makanai on Ciabatta with Kamut |
| Nat on Ciabatta with Kamut |
 | Jude on Ciabatta with Kamut |
| Nat on Ciabatta with Kamut |
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