How I Felt About Spelt

[Yeasty Boy]

I had a bag of Bob's Red Mill spelt and figured I'd try it in a Sicilian pizza dough. I found a representative YouTube video featuring a guy speaking Italian, so I figured he was my best chance to follow for success. 

Ingredients -

500 g spelt
100 g KABF
150 g semolina
450 g water
18 g salt
3 g IDY

Post bake - Topped with balsamic vinaigrette-dressed arugula

Process -

• I mixed all ingredients together for 7 minutes in my Kitchen Aid. Although it crept up above the bowl several times, it always dropped back down inside.


• I performed a few stretch and folds, rested the dough for 30 minutes, then performed a couple more stretch and folds until the ball was pretty tight.


• I rested in a rectangular container for 4 hours


• I removed it from the container and stretched it out on the counter top.


• I then placed it in my 11 x 17" Sicilian pan and let it rise for 4 hours.


• It rose very nicely I dimpled it, added some lightly spiced and salted uncooked tomato sauce and par baked for 9 minutes @ 550 F on a preheated stone.


• I pulled it from the oven and added spinach, grilled onions, ricotta, fresh mozzarella, sausage, parmesan and pepperoni.


• I placed it back in the 550 F over for another 8 minutes. Once done it popped nicely out of the pan and onto a cooling rack.

How I felt? - The spelt had a nuttiness to it. Otherwise, it was a lot similar to regular whole wheat. The crust was denser than my normal KABF Sicilians for sure. But still lighter than I'd expected. The bottom crust was very crunchy. The upper crust was softer. But with the "wet" toppings I'd used, I guess it was to be expected. If I wanted the super-crunchy crust everyone seems to get on their YouTube videos, I'd drain the ricotta, pre-cook the spinach, and use a standard mozz.

Overall, it was still an excellent pizza. I added balsamic vinaigrette-dressed arugula to the slices before serving. It definitely helped the slice "pop".

Spelt makes a great pizza. If you were thinking about making one for dietary reasons, or just to try something different, I think you'd like it!

Below are pics of the process -

[TXCraig1]

Nice.

I don't think I've ever gone more than 3% spelt.

[Timpanogos Slim]

Nice.

I don't think I've ever gone more than 3% spelt.

The flavor is that strong? I have a couple pounds of spelt berries here but haven't milled any yet.

[Yeasty Boy]

Nice.

I don't think I've ever gone more than 3% spelt.

Thanks. I went with such a high percentage because I was going for the health benefits of a whole grain over standard flour. I'm sure at the lower % it would add some texture and nutty notes? I have a little leftover, so I'll try it and see.

[TXCraig1]

The flavor is that strong? I have a couple pounds of spelt berries here but haven't milled any yet.

It adds a nutty richness even at low levels. When I use it, I don't really want to taste it per-se, I just want to add depth of flavor.

[foreplease]

Great work Yeasty Boy. I typically use spelt at 15-20% of total flour and pre-soak it with a big portion of the total formula water. At those levels I get the nuttiness and crunch without the dense texture, FWIW. Spelt is a great addition to bread and pizza.


I'm on my third bag of sprouted whole wheat that I like to use at 20% in bread. It produces a soft and mild crumb. I have not tried it in pizza.