Here’s my second attempt at making sourdough bread at home. I made it with the einkorn mini-starter that I started, and I also used einkorn flour.
It’s pretty, I’ll say that much.
If you’re not familiar with einkorn flour, here’s Carla Bartolucci, einkorn expert, from her book, Einkorn. (I highly recommend this book for some beautiful recipes and information on einkorn wheat.)
- Einkorn is the most ancient species of wheat and its husks protect the inner seeds from mycotoxins.
- Einkorn has simple genetics, with fewer chromosomes than other wheat. Einkorn has never been hybridized.
- Einkorn is more nutritious than modern wheat, with nearly 30 percent more protein and more antioxidants, B vitamins, and minerals. It also has less starch, meaning fewer carbohydrates.
- In genetic testing, einkorn was found to lack certain gluten proteins that people with wheat intolerances cannot digest. More specifically, neither of the two gluten-forming proteins behaves as it does in conventional wheat and so the gluten in einkorn can be tolerated by many people with sensitivity to wheat.
- In German, einkorn means “one grain” because each grain is attached individually rather than in clusters, to the stalk.
So, you see it’s pretty amazing stuff if you don’t suffer from celiac disease. And, if you feel like you’re gluten intolerant, then you might not be with einkorn. As you can imagine, I figured that using einkorn, which is easier to digest… in the form of sourdough bread… well, that’s even easier to digest… sounds perfect.
Except, well, it wasn’t. (User error, to be sure.)
I should blame Noble Bread, our local bakery that spoils me with true artisan loaves of awesome sourdough bread. Their bread is so perfect. So airy. So flavorful. So. Good.
My bread was heavy, dense, and almost kind of doughy except that it was cooked all the way. Clearly not a good “crumb” and I think I know what that means now.
Then, I accidentally killed my starter.
That means no more bread making for now. I take it as a sign from the universe to relax my bread making ambition. It was a bit stressful. I expect that someday it won’t be and that’s probably when I’ll make my best loaves.
Until then, I’m going to buy my sourdough bread at the farmer’s market.
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- Sourdough Starter Mini-Me With Einkorn Flour. Oh, and Sourdough Rye Crackers
- Sourdough Bread Fail – I’m Baking My First Loaf. Whoops. Not What I Expected.
- Sourdough Thoughts On My Failed Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Bread – I Didn’t Expect to Be Making It. Here’s Why and How.
- Square Sourdough “Starter” Biscuits Recipe