Kamut khorasan Wheat White Flour Pizza by bigMoose

[bigMoose]

I have been inspired by Jsaras to try my hand at making a pizza wholly from Kamut Brand khorasan White Wheat Flour.  Though there is no one in my house with a true gluten problem, there is some evidence that there may be some problems with the wheat here in 'merica.  So the thought was to try some "ancient wheat" for pizza and bread.

I scoured jsaras's old posts for tips and such and contacted the manufacturer's representative for sample recipes.  Well I emailed Jamie of Kamut flour and he sent me links to a couple of pizza recipes using KAMUT® Brand khorasan wheat flour.  I have 10 lbs of the white flour from Montana Milling and I am ready to go!

Dubbed as Sicilian Pizza: http://www.kamut.com/en/recipe-detail.html?recipeId=51
7 1/2 Cups KAMUT® Khorasan Wheat Flour
2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
2 Teaspoons Sea Salt

Bake in a 450 degF oven.

Second titled a KAMUT® Brand khorasan wheat pizza: http://www.kamut.com/en/recipe-detail.html?recipeId=269
4 ½  cups KAMUT® Brand khorasan wheat flour
1 ½  cups warm water (100⁰ F-110⁰F)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ½  Teaspoons salt

Bake at 500 degF in greased pan

So that all said, I came up with my own recipe based on what we think we know of this flour.
300g    100%  Kamut khorasan white wheat flour
210g      70%  Water
    3g        1%  Olive Oil
    3g        1%  Sugar
 7.5g      2.5% Salt
 0.8g    0.28% IDY

I mixed it all together in my KA with the paddle blade.  It immediately came together, but was like a weak play dough.  I kneaded it a few times on the bench for grins, then let it ferment at room temperature for 2 hours.  I balled it, oiled it put it in a container and cold fermented it in the fridge for 2 days or 48 hours or so. 

More in next post with pictures.

[bigMoose]

I timed the bake to coincide with my pizza making buddy coming over to snatch his 50# of GM Full Strength, a case of 7/11 tomato puree, and 17.5 lbs of Ezzo 51mm pepperoni.  The pepperoni was supposed to be 38mm Ezzo SS cup and char, but the wrong SKU was used and the dispatcher was not in any mood to consider trading a measly case when the semi's were piling up behind me... and I don't blame him!

So let the dough come up to room temperature over an hour and a half in it's container (pix1).  Dusted it with my usual dusting mixture of 50% AP/50%Semolina.  The dough seemed more fragile than a GM FS dough, but denser.  It was not bucky, but I was afraid of tearing it.  I forwent a knuckle stretch, and just opened it with my fingers and a few "thumps" on the bench. (pix2)

I opted for a parchment paper launch because I felt if it stuck, it would tear.  I opened it as best we could.

Launched into a well preheated 525 degF oven.  After 3 minutes I pulled it out to remove the parchment as it was really starting to darken around the edges.(pix3 ready to go back on the stone)

Pix4 right out of the oven, garnished with garden basil and some romano.  Total bake time 10.5 minutes, that included the time to take it out of the oven, remove parchment, and relaunch on the stone.

Pix5 bottom shot, and looked good to me.

Pix6 Not much oven spring in the cornice, but the cornice has some bubbles and openings.

Pix7 sort of a top view of the cornice.  I sauced it pretty far out.

Pix8 a better shot of the crumb around the cornice.

All in all an interesting pie.  It had a nice crunch on the bottom, and a pretty decent "chew" to the center.  There was no gum line.  This was a hearty, filling pie.  No way you are eating  a whole pie yourself.  We are two big guys, and we left 1/3 for my wife.

I thought the pie a little bland, and think it threw off the balance that I have had with my sauce and other toppings.  I would add more salt to my sauce, and up the spice package for the next one.  I think this wheat needs a real hearty sauce, perhaps Red November #2.  My tasting buddy thought it was just fine.  Next time more salt and spice IMHO.

I think the 70% hydration might be pretty optimum.  I think I can work with this flour.  It will never produce a light pie, but it is a flavorful flour for sure.

[jsaras]

Thanks to the information I received from the San Francisco Baking Institute the best Kamut pizzas I ever made were:

White Kamut Flour – 100%
Water – 85-87%
Salt – 2.5%
Yeast - variable

FWIW, Slice Truck, who used to make marvelous thin American-style pizza with it, did not use oil, so I think the no-oil approach is a valid avenue.

I'm glad to see someone else wading into the Kamut world.

[bigMoose]

Thanks Jsaras.  Very interesting reaction to eating that pizza today... All I had to eat was 1/3 of it around 11:30am; it is now 7:15 and the wife asked what I wanted for dinner.  My response: "Nothing, I am not hungry..."  I would bet if I checked my glucose that this Kamut Khorasan wheat may not be a "fast reactor" and might digest slowly.  It was a very "filling" pie to me.

Thanks for the recipe. I'll ditch the oil the next time.  Can you share your experience in opening them?  Did you finger/palm open or were you able to knuckle stretch?  I feel like such a newb with how irregular my pie was.  When I slung it onto the peel with parchment, it stretched like crazy in the direction of my "throw."

[jsaras]

The handling has varied depending on how much it was handled on the front end.  I've had everything from very loose to fairly elastic.  With the 80% hydration, mix as usual and then try doing three stretch and folds separated by 15 minutes.