PKD Recipes

Starter – Takes five days.
Starter Ingredients

¾ C water, room temp
½ C teff flour

Feed the starter ⅓ C teff flour and ½ C water and loosely cover with a lid. Allow to rest for 2 days.
Day 5: Starter should have separated into distinct layers. You may think that something has gone wrong – a watery layer on top and dense muddy flour at the bottom, exactly what one is looking for. Stir starter, it should be slightly fizzy and have a very strong grassy aroma. Feed with ⅓ C teff flour and ½ C water. Loosely cover and allow to rest for at least 4 hours before using to make Injera. You should have about 2 cups of starter by now.

Note: To go to Day 7, follow the instructions for Day 5. This will give left over starter to make Injera again in the future. Dark brown teff when made into porridge is said to taste something like dark chocolate, a hint of maple syrup.

Injera Bread Ingredients
¼ C teff starter
1 ¾ C water, at room temperature
1 ¾ C teff flour
¼ tsp Himalayan salt

Preparation
Heat a griddle over medium heat. To prevent sticking, a little oil maybe added to the surface. Roll the injera and slice. This is to be served later with lentils.

Ingredients
1 C Besan (chickpea) flour
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp Himalayan salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp olive oil for pan

Preparation
Whisk together flour, cilantro, garlic, salt, and olive oil. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to broil. Preheat a griddle for 5 minutes in the oven. Using hot pads to hold the griddle, spread the batter in the griddle. Cook in the oven about 4 minutes. Serve hot or re-heat socca in a preheated oven at 350º for five minutes.

Topping
Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon
½ clove garlic

2 medium zucchini sliced rounds
¼ onion minced
½ clove garlic

Preparation
Blend the vinaigrette. Sauté or grill the zucchini slices with onion and garlic. Pour vinaigrette over all and serve.

If using honey this is not vegan.
These are a little bit of a cheat.
Ingredients
¼ C warm water
1 tsp
Sekowa Backferment caution PLD
1 Tbsp tupelo honey or
10 dates chopped

Preparation
Place warm water, tupelo honey, and bach ferment yeast in a 1-cup glass measuring cup. Stir for a couple seconds and then set aside for 10 minutes. The yeast will double in size and should reach the 3/4 cup line.
RISE 10 minutes

Ingredients
¼ – ½ C almond milk (warm)
¼ tsp Himalayan salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 vanilla bean scraped or
1 tsp vanilla powder
½ egg replacer
2 C spelt flour

½ C tupelo honey
¾ C raisins

Preparation
Add warm almond milk, salt, olive oil, vanilla, egg replacer, flour to a stand mixer and reduce to low speed adding the flour. Mix for about 2 minutes.
Remove dough from mixing bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. The dough will be a little wet and sticky – knead about 2 minutes with your hands.
Add raisins.
Place dough in a large bowl dot with oil & roll the dough around so it is covered in oil. Cover set aside in a warm place until is has doubled in size
RISE 2 hours.

After 2 hours, punch in the center so that the dough deflates. Take dough out of bowl and place on a floured surface to let rest an additional 10 minutes.
RISE 10 minutes.

Ingredients
¾ C coconut sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation
Line a 9-inch round pan with parchment paper. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a roughly 20 inch x 13 inch wide rectangle.
Combine coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush melted oil evenly over surface of dough. Spread cinnamon coconut sugar mixture over oil. Roll dough up evenly. With the seam down, use a sharp knife to cut the log in half. Continue to cut each half into 6 equal pieces so that you have a total of 12. Place the rolls, cut side up, into the prepared pan, leaving a little space in between.  Cover place in a warm place until they have risen and expanded, about 1 hour.
RISE 1 hour

Preheat oven to 375º
Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the rolls. Let the rolls cool about 10 minutes before putting on the glaze.
BAKE 20-30 minutes

For the (optional) glaze
1 C vegan powdered sugar
1 Tbsp almond milk
½ tsp vanilla powder
Juice ¼ small lime
¼ tsp Himalayan salt

Take caution: Since writing this, I have read about sugar workers that have been harvesting sugar cane, these young individuals are dying from kidney disease.

Gluten Free Flour Blend
6 C. (32 ounces) brown rice flour
2 C. (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch
1 C. (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch

If following a gluten free diet, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oat and some with gluten intolerance also have a crossover intolerance to corn and eggs.

Some Gluten Free Flours
bean flour
black rice flour
brown rice flour
buckwheat flour
chia flour
garbanzo bean flour or channa flour
Jerusalem artichoke flour
lotus root flour
quinoa flour (↑ oxalates)
red rice flour
tapioca flour
teff flour

Ingredients
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup sweet rice flour
½ cup of brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch or flour
1½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
1 Tablespoon tupelo honey
2 teaspoon guar gum
1 cup of starter or 1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup warm water (105 – 115 degrees)
Preparation
In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients. Add the starter, olive oil and egg whites and mix to incorporate. Add the lemon juice and most of the water. Beat for 2 minutes, adding the remaining water if needed to make this a soft dough. Spoon the dough onto the pan and carefully shape with a spatula. Because the dough is soft, it will go through the small holes in the pan. Don’t press hard when shaping. If you like, you can brush the top with beaten egg white. Use a sharp knife to cut several slits in the top of each loaf. Place the pan in a cold oven on a middle rack. Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and begin timing for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool the loaves on a wire wrack before slicing.

Will Need
½ C. brown rice flour
½ C. room temperature filtered water
4 C. brown rice flour
large bowl (approx gallon-size) with lid

Day 1

In a medium to large bowl, combine ½ cup rice flour with ½ cup water and stir until all the lumps are gone. The mixture will be very thin and soupy. Lightly cover the bowl with a lid, leaving it cracked so that air can flow freely.

Feed the starter ½ cup flour with enough water to mix thoroughly (¼-½ cup). At each feeding, stir well, oxygenating the mixtures and allow it to sit. The starter may or may not go through a bubbly stage and if it does, it may not be very noticeable. The starter may smell foul around days 2-4, very much like rotten eggs. The smell is not an indication of contamination, rather the natural smell of wild yeast combining with brown rice flour. The smell should subside and become pleasant by day 6-7.

The starter will go through a bubbly and frothy stage and eventually subside. The starter will smell like yeast and/or wine, but the smell will be pleasant. If the starter begins to smell sour or rancid, it has been contaminated and should be thrown away.

Day 2
There are some large bubbles, some small bubbles visible through the side of the bowl. This is wild yeast. The surface will resemble cracked clay.
There may or may not have visible bubbles on the surface of the starter.
Day 3
The wild yeast is multiplying at an exponential rate.
There are more of the larger bubbles and even more of the smaller bubbles.
Again, the surface will look like cracked clay and there may or may not have visible bubbles on the surface of the starter. You will notice that as you stir, the starter will lack the stringy, spongey feel that traditional sourdough has. This is normal. The starter may begin to have an odor. Keep feeding the starter.

Days 4-7
The bubbles begin to become equal in size and evenly distributed throughout the starter. Odors should subside and the starter should smell like sweet yeast by day 7.
Approximately 2-3 hours after feeding, the starter should reach its peak and create a dome on top.
MAINTENANCE MODE
The frequency of feedings is determined by how much starter you need and how often you plan to use it.
At a minimum, the starter can be kept in the refrigerator and fed once a week merely to sustain life of the captured wild yeast.
You can continue to feed it daily as you have been, and in another seven days there will be enough starter for another batch of bread.
You can also feed starter as little as one tablespoon of flour and water for every two cups of starter – enough to continue daily growth but not produce a large quantity of starter. (One quart of starter would be fed with two tablespoons).
However frequent or infrequent you decide to feed your starter, the yeast thrives best when it’s fed regularly and consistently. Choose your time frame and quantity and stick with it as best as you can.
METHOD: Prepping the refrigerated starter for baking
Yeast grows incredibly slow at refrigeration temperatures, which is why you can get away with feeding it only once a week. In order for the yeast to successfully leaven a batch of bread, it must be “revived” so to say. The steps are below; along with an example to help you better understand the time frame involved.
Three and a half days before you plan to bake bread, remove the starter from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. (i.e.Monday night)
Once the starter is at room temperature, feed with equal parts flour and water. (i.e., Tuesday morning)
Feed the starter two more times that day, around lunch and again before bed. (i.e., Wednesday)
On the morning of day three, feed the starter again. If the starter domes after 2-3 hours, you are ready to bake bread. If the starter does not dome, continue feeding three times daily until there is foam and liquid. (i.e., Thursday morning)
. . .
ANOTHER GLUTEN FREE BROWN RICE STARTER (CHEF)
This is a Brown rice chef from the web. I have not tried this recipe but have posted it for our gluten free friends.

A knowledgeable gluten free sourdough baker suggested to feed the chef every 8 hours and use a fermented drink called Water Kefir add it directly to the chef on the first day. Water Kefir is a culture that is used to make a dairy free drink much like lemon soda. I purchased my grains and made the water kefir using water, tupelo honey, raisins and lemon. It fermented in less than 48 hours and I put a few tablespoons of it into brown rice flour and water. I built the chef gradually feeding it every 8 hours until I had the amount I needed. I was happy to see activity beginning shortly after 48 hours. Each subsequent feeding created increasing activity with large and small bubbles and hissing sounds when I stirred it down. This very live chef easily leavened the bread recipe without the use of eggs, commercial yeast, baking soda, or baking powder which was of prime importance to me being allergic to eggs and sensitive to the other ingredients.

I call this chef Boosted Brown Rice Chef because I have boosted its activity with Water Kefir. I find I can get a dependable chef every time when I use water kefir as a booster.

Rudolph Steiner on Bread
If you do not want to add flour and water for 4 days to make a CHEF then if you are lucky enough to live in Germany, this honey based yeast creates a lactic acid ferment that is also permissible. Sekowa Special Backferment is available on this translated page.

Rudolph Steiner on Bread baking.
“Honey and salt stand at opposite poles . . .and create a dynamic field. Salt and honey take their place and the bread rises under the influences of tension between them. The bread rose steadily around 6 am, whereas yeast bread rose at midnight.” I also freshly grind my flour from grains.
. . .
WATER KEFIR RECIPE
You will need water kefir grains
Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons tupelo honey, stirring to dissolve
Add 20 raisins
Add a slice of lemon or lime
Add the contents of your bottle of water kefir grains into the quart jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, scoop them and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store in fridge and use as needed.
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar and pour the water kefir grains plus the liquid their in right into the new jar, cover and ferment.

Water Kefir is a good tonic that strengthens the digestive system. Try drinking small sips before meals. 2 tablespoons is enough for a bread chef. Water kefir gets fizzy with time. It’s a tonic with probiotics and enzymes.

Gluten free bread will need to bake in a pan with form, like a bread pan. Otherwise the dough will expand sideways.
Ingredients
3 C. gluten free flour blend*
3 Tbsp Tupelo honey
1 C. gluten free sourdough starter
or 2 tsp yeast (avoid with PLD)
1 tsp Himalayan salt
1 ¼ tsp guar gum
½ C. warm almond milk
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 large eggs

Preparation
Place the flour blend, honey, sourdough starter, salt, and guar gum in a bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix till combined. Using an electric mixer (stand), drizzle in the almond milk, beating all the time; the mixture will be crumbly at first, but once all the milk is added, it will come together. Add the olive oil and beat until thoroughly blended. Beat in the eggs or egg substitute one at a time, beating thoroughly before adding the next egg. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then beat at high speed for 3 minutes, to make a very smooth, thick batter.

Cover the entire bowl with a plastic bag, and allow the batter to thicken.
Rise for 1 hour.
Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, gently deflating the batter in the process. Line a bread pan with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into the pan. Press it level, using a spatula or your wet fingers. Cover with a plastic bag and set in a warm place to rise until the loaf barely crowns above the rim of the pan. Rise 45-60 minutes.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 38 to 42 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out of the pan, and cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 loaf

Tips on baking this bread.

*Gluten Free Flour Blend
6 C. (32 ounces) brown rice flour
2 C. (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch
1 C. (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch

If following a gluten free diet, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oat and some also have a crossover intolerance to corn and eggs.

Some Gluten Free Flours
bean flour
black rice flour
brown rice flour
buckwheat flour
chia flour
garbanzo bean flour or channa flour
Jerusalem artichoke flour
lotus root flour
quinoa flour (↑ oxalates)
red rice flour
tapioca flour

Ingredients
Soak
1 ¾ C.spelt flour
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp tupelo honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ C. water
Add last
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp Himalayan salt

Preparation
Large bowl add all the ingredients except the flour. Slowly add flour and begin kneading the dough. Cover and place in a warm area for 12 hours.

Preheat oven 350º
Sprinkle baking soda and salt evenly on dough. Knead dough. Divide dough into 4 parts. Flatten one dough ball with hand. Allow dough to rest while you line a 12 x 17 inch cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough as thin as possible. The thinner the dough, the more like crackers it will taste. You can roll out the cracker dough directly on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Score the dough into a grid pattern and prick with a fork. Bake at 350º 10 -15 minutes until golden. Break into pieces and serve.

1 ¼ C. spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp Himalayan salt
2 tsp tupelo honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ C. water

Preparation
Preheat oven 350ª. Mix all the dry ingredients then make a well in the center add the wet ingredients: water, dissolved salt, tupelo honey, olive oil. If too dry add a little more water.

Allow dough to rest for about an hour. Line a 12 x 17 inch cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough as thin as possible. The thinner the dough, the more like crackers it will taste. You can roll out the cracker dough directly on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Score the dough into a grid pattern and prick with a fork. Bake at 350º 10 -15 minutes until golden. Break into pieces and serve.

Ingredients
¼ tsp Himalayan salt
2 tsp Tupelo honey
½ C. cold water
1 ½ C. spelt flour

Preparation
Preheat oven 350º. Dissolve salt and honey in ½ cup of water. Stir in the flour and knead the dough until a ball forms. Allow dough to rest for about an hour. Line a 12 x 17 inch cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough as thin as possible. The thinner the dough, the more like crackers it will taste. You can roll out the cracker dough directly on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Score the dough into a grid pattern and prick with a fork. Bake at 350º 10 -15 minutes until golden. Break into pieces and serve.

Starter I have received some links to a website called Breadtopia. I found the videos very instructional and seemingly easy to make starter.

Acquire sourdough
Acquire sourdough starter.
Managing your starter.

Drying starter There is also a video on drying your starter for long term storage or for something that might take with you on extended travels.

Spelt Bread
So now you have your starter and are ready to bake non yeasted spelt bread.

Ingredients
5 C. fluffed up whole spelt flour (530 grams)
1+½ C. water (350 grams)
1½ tsp Himalayan salt (10 grams)
2 Tbs Tupelo honey
¼ C. sourdough starter

Preparation
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and allow to rest for an hour and a half. Following this do a stretch and fold technique on the dough and repeat in 15 minutes then again in 15 minutes. Then place the dough overnight covered in the refrigerator. It will then need to rest about 18 hours in the refrigerator or overnight to diminish phytatic acid.

Preparation
In the morning take the covered dough out of the fridge. Heat the oven with a baking ceramic or clay pot and its cover to 450º. While oven is heating the baking dish, transfer the dough to a rising dish. Sprinkle with flour and pinch sides up. This will de-gas the dough a little bit, it will rise up in the oven. Then into the proofing basket.

Line the proofing basket with parchment paper or coat the basket with oil & sprinkle with flour or one can use brown rice flour or sprinkle a little spelt flour; then add rice flour on top of that. Put the dough into a basket seam side up so when put dough into baking vessel the seam will be on bottom. Put plastic bag over it and let it rise for an hour-hour and half.

Put dough into oven at 450º for about 35 minutes, then remove the top of the baking dish and continue baking uncover for the last ten minutes.

Ingredients
4 C. old fashioned thick oats
2 C. spelt flour
1 C. non sweetened coconut
1 C. raisins
¾ C. Tupelo honey
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp Himalayan salt
¾ C. olive oil
½ C. chopped almonds

Preparation
Pre-heat oven 375º Mix together well and firmly press mixture on cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375°F until puffy and soft. Cut into rectangles while still warm. If you wait until they cool they will become too difficult to cut.

This is traditionally served with the cheese course throughout France. It is called Pain Au Noix.
Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing.
Making CHEF
Rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.
Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Four steps to bake non-yeasted spelt walnut bread.
CHEF Step1-One begins with CHEF
LEVAIN Step2-Second is the LEVAIN
BAKING Step3-Third step is BAKING the bread
CARING Step4-The final step is caring for remaining LEVAIN

CHEF Step1 (Takes 4 days to make)
Day 1
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour.

Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well to make a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours. Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the rising CHEF. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning.

CHEF Step1
Day 2
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. Add water first then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF. Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.

CHEF Step1
Day 3
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.

CHEF Step1
Day 4
CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days. After 3 days, bring the CHEF again to room temperature, add ⅓ cup water of water and ½ cup flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF.

LEVAIN Step2
Rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼  cups of spelt flour
All the CHEF
Bring the CHEF to room temperature.  2 hours will bring refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF.  Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff form is important for ripening the LEVAIN.

LEVAIN Step2
If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.

BAKING Step3
Ingredients
1 C. spring water
1 C. LEVAIN (save remaining *LEVAIN for baking another day)
1 Tbsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
1 C. roasted chopped walnuts
3 C. spelt flour

Preparation
Bring LEVAIN, flour, water, and the mixing bowl, all to room temperature. If your flour is cold from being kept in the fridge, warm it a little. Taking these extra steps helps the bread to rise nicely. It behave quite differently when all ingredients are first brought to room temperature. Mix LEVAIN and water with a wooden spoon or a wire whip. Continue stirring until the mixture is slightly frothy and the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until well combined. Add salt and just enough of the remaining flour to make a thick mass that is difficult to stir. Add roasted chopped walnuts. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead or put in a bread mixer with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Add more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. Stop kneading when the dough is soft, and a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Lay it aside while you clean the bowl and drizzle the clean bowl with olive oil Shape into a ball.

BAKING Step3
RISE THE DOUGH (2 hours)
rise 2 hours
Cover and let the dough to rise for 2 hours. Try a deep wide bowl, cover with a huge plate to keep drafts away. If you have a bread machine, lightly oil the inside of the machine. Keep the bread machine turned off with the door closed, a perfect place for a 2-hour rise.

BAKING Step3
LET THE DOUGH REST
Rest 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on the sides. Knead the dough very lightly to form a tight ball. Place it on a lightly floured board. Cover with a clean damp canvas or linen cloth. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º draft free spot for 30 minutes.

BAKING Step3
SHAPE THE LOAVES (5 minutes)
Rest 5 minutes
Knead dough very lightly to form a ball. Flatten with the heel of your hand on a lightly floured surface into a disk about 8 inches in diameter. Shape dough into a torpedo or fit it within an oiled bread pan. Knead it tightly.

BAKING Step3
SECOND RISE OF THE DOUGH (2 hours)
Rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down in a traditional bread-baking pan that has been lightly oiled or place the loaf seam-side up in a well-floured couche within a basket. A basket or bowl with a diameter of 8 inches and a depth of 3 – 4 inches will do. Lay inside a clean, lightweight even linen towel dusted with flour. By letting the dough rest in a cushioned, floured container, this will give a loaf that will take on the shape and markings of the basket. The crust will be thicker and bolder from the extra flour becoming embedded in the dough upon rising. This creates a rustic, earthy looking crust. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º F draft free spot until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes I wrap everything with a thick towel to protect the rising bread from any drafts. Cover and allow it to rise for an additional 2-4 hours until doubled in size. Or place it in the fridge overnight if you wish to bake the bread the following morning.

BAKING Step3
REFRIGERATED DOUGH
Rise 2-4 hours if refrigerated
When the dough is shaped it is at this point that the dough can be put into the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerating overnight is an important step to decrease the phytic acid content. The following morning (if you have placed the loaf in the refrigerator overnight) allow it 1-2 hours to come to room temperature and allow it to rise an additional 2-4 hours.

BAKING Step3
IMPORTANT STEP
Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along the surface. I always seem to forget this. If baking in a basket or free form, use a well-floured smooth linen or smooth cotton towel (called a couche) as an aid, gently roll one loaf from the couche (towel) onto a lightly floured wooden plank (known as a peel) so that it sits seam side down. Use the peel to slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone. At this point if you want a free form flatter rounder bread, just place it on the heated stone. I sometimes prepare my breads free form by braiding the dough and allowing it to rise. Once I preheat the oven and pop it in, spray the walls, I pull up a chair and watch the show unfold as the bread beautifully starts rising taking on a golden brown color. This glorious piece of dough made with water, salt, and flour suddenly are transformed as they begin to expand, inflate and take on a life of their own. The aromas fill my kitchen.

BAKING Step3
About 45 minutes to an hour before you are going to bake, pre-heat the oven to 450º F. Position the baking stone in the center of the oven. When the dough is first put into the oven spray the oven walls with water from a sprayer. Repeat this in about five minutes and again in another five minutes.
Preheat your baking stone or oven to 450º.

BAKING Step3
CREATING STEAM
Quickly spray the inner walls and the floor of the oven with cold water from spray bottle or splash water into the oven from a bowl. The idea is to create an abundance of hot steam. Avoid hitting the light bulb in some ovens, or it may burst. Close the oven door to trap the steam, wait three minutes and repeat the process. Alternatively get an old pan fill it with clean rocks and pour water over the heated stones. I use both techniques.

BAKING Step3
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Rap the baked loaf with the back of your knuckles. If it sounds hollow, it is done, if not bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
NOTE.
Now I try to bake bread on flower days according to the bio-dynamic methods described by Rudolph Steiner. There is an online calendar here. Or Marie Thun’s calendar can also be purchased. The days for tasting wine also correspond to fruit day or baking days. An iTunes app is available.

CARING FOR LEVAIN Step4
Once you have measured out the LEVAIN for the Spelt Bread Recipe, you will have a bit left over. Add to what you have left-over, 5 tablespoons of water (⅓ cup) and 8 tablespoons of flour (½ cup). Add the water first, then flour. Mix to aerate. Allow it sit out while the bread bakes; then place in a cool place like the refrigerator. This becomes your new CHEF.

CARING FOR LEVAIN Step4
For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Early on I did a taste test. I thought my first loaves were flat and I assumed the taste would also be flat. I compared a slice from a commercially made loaf of non-yeasted spelt bread to my own, and my own won hands down.

When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development.

Serve these warm at breakfast with tupelo honey. The origin of its name, baps, is from the 16th century. Baps baked by the Scots is not sweet; the Irish have sweet baps made with currants. This recipe makes about 5 baps.

CHEF
Rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.

Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Levain
Rise 6-10 hours
Take the entire levain that you have previously mixed and after allowing it to rise 10 – 12 hours, add 1 cup spelt  flour. Stir vigorously. Allow to rise in a covered glass jar for 6 – 10 hours. Use ½  cup of this Levain. Put the remainder aside for another baking day. It will keep in the refrigerator. I store mine in our wine cooler.

Ingredients
½ C. levain or
3 tsp yeast
¼ C. warm almond milk
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey

4 Tbsp coconut oil
2 C. spelt flour
¾ tsp Himalayan Pink Crystal salt

¼ C. warm almond milk
¼ C. warm water

½ C. raisins
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp date sugar

Preparation
Rise 1 hour if using yeast
If using yeast, warm the milk so you can stick a finger into it easily. Dissolve the honey in the water and sprinkle the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a larger bowl mix together the flour and ¾ teaspoon of salt rub in the oil. Add to the now bubbling yeast, the warm milk, warm water and mix in the flour salt butter mixture with your hands to get a soft dough. Stretch the dough. It should be sticky. Invert the bowl onto the countertop and knead adding more flour if necessary.
Flatten the dough with a rolling pin then add the raisins to the dough. Roll dough to disperse raisins throughout. Then roll dough flat again. Sprinkle with cinnamon and Tupelo honey. Roll into a log so cinnamon is in a spiral throughout the dough.
If additional water is needed add to your hands as you work the dough. Cut into 5 pieces. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Rise 1 hour.

Both Methods
Rise 30 minutes
Preheat oven 400º. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth. Cut into 5 pieces and shape each into a ball. Put the balls on a parchment lined pan cover and set them aside to rise for 30 minutes while the oven warms.

Bake 15-30 minutes 400º
Bake in a preheated oven until the baps turn golden brown. Serve hot from the oven. Serve with a pitcher of honey.

Left Over Levain
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing the chef while they are traveling.

For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Serve hot from the oven with a little pitcher of tupelo honey.

Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing.

CAUTION With PLD yeast can be harmful. To avoid this try baking on a bio-dynamic flower day and using some left over chef from bread baking.
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Chef (or 1 tsp Sekowa Bachferment yeast)
¼ C warm water
1 C spelt flour
½ tsp Himalayan salt
½ tsp tupelo honey
Preparation
Dissolve Sekowa yeast in warm water. Add honey and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 5 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine salt and spelt in a bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Slowly add additional flour until well kneaded. Coat large bowl with olive oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough around so all is coated.
Allow to rise in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size. Once doubled in size, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Form pieces into balls. Place balls on floured surface.

Preheat oven to 500º. While oven is heating, let balls sit covered for about 10 minutes. Preheat your baking stone. Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes or until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 additional minutes. Remove each pita with a spatula and add additional pitas for baking. Take spatula and gently push down puff. In order to remain soft, immediately place in storage bags.

Ingredients
1 quart water
2 ¼ C. chickpea flour
2 tsp olive oil
¾ tsp coarse Himalayan salt
olive oil, for frying
coarse Himalayan salt
freshly-cracked pepper

Preparation
Lightly oil a 9-inch square pan. Heat the water with the oil and salt in a saucepan. Once the water is hot, but not boiling, whisk in the chickpea flour. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens, about three minutes. Use a wooden spoon continue to cook, stirring constantly, continue 10 more minutes until very thick and the batter holds its shape. Scrape into the oiled pan and allow to cool. Unmold the solidified mixture on a cutting board and slice into longitudal fingers. To fry the panisses, unmold the solidified mixture on a cutting board and slice into batons about as wide as your little finger and as long as your middle one.

In a heavy-duty skillet, heat olive oil. Once the skillet is hot, fry the panisses in small batches, by not crowding them in the pan. Once the bottom is nicely browned and crisp, turn with tongs; continue frying the panisses until they are deep-golden brown on each side. Remove from pan; drain on paper towels, season with salt and pepper.

CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous portion with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today.
LEVAIN
knead 5 minutes
rise 6-10 hours
Add the entire CHEF
1 ¼ cup spelt flour
Knead for 5 minutes, allow the newly formed LEVAIN to rise for 6-10 hours inside the bread machine with the bread machine turned off.

Ingredients
1 C. LEVAIN (save the rest for baking another day)
¼ C. warm water (warm to the inside of the wrist)
1 Tbsp dark molasses
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey
¾ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
2 tsp Vital Gluten (can omit)
¾ C. rye flour
¾ C. spelt flour
water as needed

Preparation
knead 15 minutes
Allow the LEVAIN and all ingredients to come to room temperature. Warm the water a little. If your flour is cold from being in the fridge, warm it a little. This meticulousness helps the bread to ferment and rise nicely. The dough behaves quite differently if all ingredients are brought to room temperature. Mix the LEVAIN and water together and place in the bread machine on the dough cycle. Let it run for about 5 minutes or until the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. While the bread machine is mixing add molasses, honey, coriander, salt, Vital Gluten and just enough of the remaining ¾ cup flour so it forms a thick mass. Stop the bread machine. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. The dough is ready when a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Shape the dough into a ball and return to the bread machine.

Rise the Dough 2 hours in the bread machine
rise 15 minutes
Let the dough rest on the lightly floured surface, while you lightly oil the bread machine pan. Place the dough in the bread machine and turn once to coat with oil.
rise 2 hours
It needs to rest about 2 hours with the bread machine turned off and the door closed.

Let the Dough Rest 30 minutes
rise 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on
the sides. Shape into a tight torpedo and place back into the bread machine for 30 minutes.

Second Rise of the Dough 2 hours
rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down inside the bread machine pan and close the bread machine door but do not turn it on. Allow the bread to rise until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes about this time I might wish to go to sleep. If I do, I place the bread machine pan with the dough covered inside the refrigerator. This step greatly decreases the phytic acid content.

Cold Refrigerated Dough
rise 2-4 hours
In the morning I take it out and allow it to come to room temperature for 1-2 hours, then rise the previously refrigerator dough an additional 2 hours, then bake.

Baking the Bread
bake bread
Open the door to the bread machine and remove the pan. Close the door and turn on the bread machine on the bake cycle. If you have a choice set it to dark crust. Allow it bake for an hour or however long your bake cycle is. Once finished baking, remove the loaf from the bread machine, rub a little oil on the outside crust and wrap it in a towel as it cools. If the bread is allowed to fully cool overnight, it has a different crumb when sliced. The bread continues to bake as it cools.

Left over LEVAIN to make into a new CHEF
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF.

Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing.
CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.
LEVAIN
knead 5 minutes
rise 6-10 hours
Add the entire CHEF
1 ¼ Cup spelt flour
Knead for 5 minutes, allow the newly formed LEVAIN to rise for 6-10 hours inside the bread machine with the bread machine turned off. Do not allow it to rise for longer than 10 hours or there will not be enough oomph to get your bread to rise. This will usually make greater than 18 ounces of LEVAIN.

Prepare the Bread
1 ¼ cups of LEVAIN (save remainder for another baking day)
¼ cup warm water (warm to the inside of the wrist)
1 tablespoon of tupelo honey
¼ teaspoon Himalayan pink crystal salt
2 teaspoons Vital Gluten (can omit)
1 ½ cup spelt flour

Preparation
knead 15 minutes
Allow the LEVAIN and all ingredients to come to room temperature. Warm the water a little. If your flour is cold from being kept in the fridge, warm it too a little. This meticulousness helps the bread to ferment and rise nicely. The dough behaves quite differently if brought to room temperature. Mix the LEVAIN and water together and place it in the bread machine on the dough cycle of the bread machine. Let it run for about 5 minutes or until the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. While the bread machine is mixing add ¾ cup of flour to the bread machine. Add the honey, salt, vital gluten and just enough of the remaining ¾ cup flour so it forms a thick mass. Stop the bread machine. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. The dough is ready when a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Shape the dough into a ball.

Rising the dough, 2 hours in the bread machine
rest 15 minutes
Let the dough rest on the lightly floured surface, while you lightly oil the bread machine pan. Place the dough in the bread machine and turn once to coat with oil.
rise 2 hours
It needs to rest about 2 hours with the bread machine turned off with the door closed.

Let the Dough rise 30 minutes
rise 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on
the sides. Shape in back into a tight torpedo and place back into the bread machine for 30 minutes.

Second Rise of the Dough Takes 2 hours
rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down inside the bread machine pan and close the bread machine door but do not turn it on. Allow the bread to rise until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes about this time I might go to sleep. If I do, I place the bread machine pan with the dough inside the refrigerator. In the morning I take it out and allow it to come to room temperature for about an hour. This process greatly decreases phytic acid.

Cold Refrigerated Dough
rise 2-4 hours
If your dough is cold, take it out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature (about 1-2 hours), then allow it to rise an additional 2 hours. Then bake the bread.

Baking the Bread
score loaf
bake bread
Open the door to the bread machine and remove the pan. Close the door and turn on the bread machine on the bake cycle. If you have a choice set it to dark crust. Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts ¼ to ½ inch deep along the surface. I always seem to forget this.

Bake for an hour or however long your bake cycle is. Once finished baking, remove the loaf from the bread machine, rub a little oil on the outside crust and wrap it in a towel as it cools.
cool overnight
Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing. The slices come out better when cool. The bread continues to bake as it cools.

Left over LEVAIN to make a new CHEF
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing chef when traveling.

When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development.

Serve these warm at breakfast with that special all fruit spread you’ve been saving. The origin of its name, baps, is from the 16th century. Baps baked by the Scots is not sweet; the Irish have sweet baps made with currants. This recipe makes about 5 baps.

CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.

Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Levain
rise 6-10 hours
Take the entire chef that you have previously mixed and after allowing it to rise 10 – 12 hours, add 1 C spelt  flour. Stir vigorously. Allow to rise in a covered glass jar for 6 – 10 hours. Use ½  Cup of this Levain. Put the remainder aside for another baking day. It will keep in the refrigerator. I store mine in our wine cooler. Original recipe is below.

Modified Baps recipe without yeast or sugar
Ingredients
½ C. levain or
2 tsp yeast
¼ C. warm almond milk
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey

4 Tbsp coconut oil
2 C. spelt flour
¾ tsp Himalayan Pink Crystal salt

¼ C. warm almond milk
¼ C. warm water

Preparation
Rise 1 hour if using levin
Add the now bubbling levain (it resembles cottage cheese), the warm almond milk, tupelo honey and mix together. Stir with a wire whip.
In a larger bowl mix together the flour and ¾ teaspoon of salt rub in the oil. Add to the now bubbling mixture, the warm milk, warm water and mix in the flour salt oil mix with your hands to get a soft dough. Stretch the dough. It should be sticky. Invert the bowl onto the countertop and knead adding more flour if necessary. If additional water is needed add to your hands as you work the dough. Cut into 5 pieces. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Rise 1 hour.

Preparation
Rise 1 hour if using yeast
If using yeast, warm the milk so you can stick a finger into it easily. Dissolve the honey in the water and sprinkle the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together flour, salt and rub in softened coconut oil (butter). Add to the now bubbling yeast, the warm milk, warm water and mix in the flour salt oil (butter) mixture with your hands to get a soft dough. Stretch the dough. It should be sticky. Cut into 5 pieces. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Rise 1 hour.

Both Methods
Rise 30 minutes
Preheat oven 400º. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth. Cut into 5 pieces and shape each into a ball. Put the balls on a parchment lined pan cover and set them aside to rise for 30 minutes while the oven warms.

Bake 15-30 minutes 400º
Bake in a preheated oven until the baps turn golden brown. Serve hot from the oven. Serve with a pitcher of honey.

Left Over Levain
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing the chef while they are traveling.

For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts.

Some differences when using spelt:
Spelt grain contains only 5% of phytates whereas wheat contains 95%. When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing. This recipe requires spelt flour and water.
NOTE
Try baking on flower days from Maria Thun’s biodynamic calendar. She has experimented practically applying Rudolph Steiner’s techniques to everyday life including when to grow certain things, when to taste wine and when to bake. An iPhone app for flower days is available.
Rudolph Steiner on Bread baking. “Honey and salt stand at opposite poles . . .and create a dynamic field. Salt and honey take their place and the bread rises under the influences of tension between them. The bread rose steadily around 6 am, whereas yeast bread rose at midnight.” Consider trying to freshly grind flour from grains.

CHEF
Rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace the water in a recipe makes for a softer crust.

WATER CHOICES
Mineral water
Filtered water
City tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate any residual chlorine.

FOUR STEPS to bake non-yeasted bread:
CHEF Step 1
LEVAIN Step 2
BAKING Step 3
LEFTOVER LEVAIN Step 4
= = = =

CHEF Step 1 – Takes 4 days to make.
DAY 1
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
PREPARATION
First add water then add flour. Some add a tiny pinch of yeast known as Sekowa Bachferment special to assure a vibrant CHEF. Many have not found this step to be necessary. Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well making a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours.
Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the mixed CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the amount the Chef has risen. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 2
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
PREPARATION
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by observing the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. First add water then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF . Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 3
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 4
After 3 days, on the fourth day, skim off any accumulated liquid. The fluid on top might look a bit dark. Bring the CHEF once again to room temperature. This may take about two hours. Add ⅓ C. water and ½ C. flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF. The CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days.

LEVAIN Step 2
rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼ cups of spelt flour
Use all the CHEF

LEVAIN Step 2
Preparation
Bring the CHEF to room temperature. 2 hours will bring a refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff batter is important for ripening the CHEF. If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely or in the oven. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.

LEVAIN Step 2
This makes 2 loaves
Rise 6 hours
Ingredients
1 C. levain
add chef to 1 ¼ C. spelt allow to rise 6 hrs
Put the remaining levain aside or add it to the chef for another baking day.
Rise levain 6-10 hours.(not more than 10 hours)

MAKING BREAD
5 ½ – 6 C. spelt flour with germ non-bleached
2 C. warm almond milk
4 Tbsp Tupelo honey
1 Tbsp Himalayan salt

MAKING BREAD
Preparation
Knead 15 minutes
If you can stretch the dough without it breaking, that means the gluten is well-developed and your dough is ready to rise.
Combine the chef, ⅔ C almond milk, 3 tablespoons tupelo honey mix until frothy. Mix the flour with salt together. Add a cup at a time of dry ingredients. Knead adding more flour about 15 minutes or use a bread mixer. Using the dough hook attachment on a standing mixer, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.

BAKING Step 3
Rise 2 hours
Clean out the mixing bowl and film it with a little oil. Form the dough into a ball and turn it in the bowl to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and let the dough rise in the bowl in a warm spot until doubled in bulk.

BAKING Step 3
Rise 30 minutes
Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and turn the dough out on top of the flour. Divide the dough into two. Shape each half into a ball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes.

BAKING Step 3
Line a large loaf pan with parchment paper or use 2 traditional loaf pans. Shape each ball of dough into a loaf and transfer to the loaf pan. The surface of the loaves need to be stretched taut; this helps them rise and prevents an overly-dense interior. Let the loaves rise a second time until they start to dome over the edge of the pan.
Rise 30 minutes in a pan.

PREPARING TO BAKE
Rise 2 hours if put into the refrigerator.
At this point you can put the dough in the refridgerator overnight. Once it comes out of the fridge, cover and allow it to rise for an additional 2-4 hours until doubled in volume.
Rise 2-4 hours if refrigerated.

BAKING
IMPORTANT STEP
Score loaf
Pre-heat the oven to 450º F.
Using a very sharp serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts ¼ – ½ inch deep cuts along the top surface. I always seem to forget to score the loaf. This allows the loaf to split in a beautiful fashion while baking. Immediately turn down the heat to 375°F and bake
Bake 30 minutes.

BAKING
Creating Steam
Get an old cookie sheet, place some rocks in it and fill it with water. Place it on another shelf and allow the oven to steam up. Alternatively get a spray bottle. Fill it with water and spray the walls twice in three minutes once the bread is baking. The technique is to quickly spray the inner walls and the floor of the oven with cold water from spray bottle or splash water into the oven from a bowl. The idea is to create an abundance of hot steam. Avoid hitting the light bulb in some ovens, or it may burst. Close the oven door to trap the steam, wait three minutes and repeat the process. Or use steam from a steam oven and spray with steam.

Alternatively one can heat at 450º, a clay vessel and its cover in the oven about a half hour before baking. Transfer the uncooked dough to the clay vessel and cover with the heated lid and bake.

BAKING
Finished loaves will be golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool completely before slicing.

COOLING BAKED BREAD
Allow the bread to cool before slicing. 24 hours is best. I cannot wait and slice into it first thing. The bread is difficult to slice at this point. If I do wait several hours before putting the entire loaf through a slicing machine the bread behaves much differently.

LEFTOVER LEVAIN Step 4
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing the chef while they are traveling.

LEFTOVER LEVAIN Step 4
For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts.

Ingredients
2 C. spelt flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
(aluminum free)
1 tsp tupelo honey or
1 tsp coconut sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp olive oil
¾ C. almond milk + tsp lemon juice

Preparation
Pre-heat oven (with stone) to 450º.
Combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the oil with two knives until it resembles coarse meal. Make a well and pour in the almond milk until moistened. Lightly flour the counter, turn out the dough onto the countertop; pat into a circle. Allow dough to sit for 10 minutes. With a biscuit cutter, cut into rounds and bake directly on heated baking stone 15 – 20 minutes.

Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing.
CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.

Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Four steps to bake non-yeasted spelt bread.
CHEF Step1-One begins with CHEF
LEVAIN Step2-Second is the LEVAIN
BAKING Step3-Third step is BAKING the bread
CARING LEFT OVER LEVAIN Step4-Making a new CHEF
= = = =

CHEF Step1 (Takes 4 days to make)
Day 1
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour.

I have been told to add a tiny pinch of yeast (Sekowa Bachferment special) to assure a vibrant CHEF. I have not found this step to be necessary. For first time bakers, try a tiny pinch of yeast to assure that you produce a vibrant CHEF. Because I have PLD, I omit adding any additional yeast.

Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well to make a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours. Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the rising CHEF. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning. Or if you happen to have a place about 70º like a wine cooler, then this is perfect for a developing chef.

CHEF Step1
Day 2
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. Add water first then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF. Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.

CHEF Step1
Day 3
3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.

CHEF Step1
Day 4
CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days. After 3 days, bring the CHEF again to room temperature, add ⅓ cup water of water and ½ cup flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF.

LEVAIN Step2
rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼  cups of spelt flour
All the CHEF
Bring the CHEF to room temperature.  2 hours will bring refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF.  Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff form is important for ripening the LEVAIN.

LEVAIN Step2
If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.

PREPARING TO BAKE
Ingredients
⅓ C. water
1 C. LEVAIN (save remainder for baking another day)
1 Tbsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
2 ¼  – 4 C. spelt flour

PREPARING TO BAKE
Preparation
Bring LEVAIN, flour, water, and the mixing bowl, all to room temperature. If your flour is cold from being kept in the fridge, warm it a little. Taking these extra steps helps the bread to rise nicely. It behave quite differently when all ingredients are first brought to room temperature. Mix LEVAIN and water with a wooden spoon or a wire whip. Continue stirring until the mixture is slightly frothy and the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until well combined. Add salt and just enough of the remaining flour to make a thick mass that is difficult to stir. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead or put in a bread mixer with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Add more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. Stop kneading when the dough is soft, and a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Shape into a ball.

PREPARING TO BAKE
Rise 2 hours
Cover and let the dough to rise for 2 hours. Try a deep wide bowl, cover with a huge plate to keep drafts away. If you have a bread machine, lightly oil the inside of the machine. Keep the bread machine turned off with the door closed, a perfect place for a 2-hour rise.
Rise 2 hours.

PREPARING TO BAKE
LET THE DOUGH REST
rest 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on the sides. Knead the dough very lightly to form a tight ball. Place it on a lightly floured board. Cover with a clean damp canvas or linen cloth. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º draft free spot for 30 minutes.

PREPARING TO BAKE
SHAPE THE LOAVES (5 minutes)
rest 5 minutes
Knead dough very lightly to form a ball. Flatten with the heel of your hand on a lightly floured surface into a disk about 8 inches in diameter. Shape dough into a torpedo or fit it within an oiled bread pan or line your bread pan with parchment paper. Knead it tightly.

PREPARING TO BAKE
SECOND RISE OF THE DOUGH (2 hours)
rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down in a traditional bread-baking pan that has been lightly oiled or place the loaf seam-side up in a well-floured couche within a basket. A basket or bowl with a diameter of 8 inches and a depth of 3 – 4 inches will do. Lay inside a clean, lightweight even linen towel dusted with flour. By letting the dough rest in a cushioned, floured container, this will give a loaf that will take on the shape and markings of the basket. The crust will be thicker and bolder from the extra flour becoming embedded in the dough upon rising. This creates a rustic, earthy looking crust. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º F draft free spot until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes I wrap everything with a thick towel to protect the rising bread from any drafts. Cover and allow it to rise for an additional 2-4 hours until doubled in size. Or place it in the fridge overnight if you wish to bake the bread the following morning.

PREPARING TO BAKE
REFRIGERATED DOUGH
rise 2-4 hours if refrigerated
When the dough is shaped it is at this point that the dough can be put into the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerating overnight is an important step to decrease the phytic acid content. The following morning (if you have placed the loaf in the refrigerator overnight) allow it 1-2 hours to come to room temperature and allow it to rise an additional 2-4 hours.

BAKING
IMPORTANT STEP
Score Dough
Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along the surface. I always seem to forget this. If baking in a basket or free form, use a well-floured smooth linen or smooth cotton towel (called a couche) as an aid, gently roll one loaf from the couche (towel) onto a lightly floured wooden plank (known as a peel) so that it sits seam side down. Use the peel to slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone. At this point if you want a free form flatter rounder bread, just place it on the heated stone. I sometimes prepare my breads free form by braiding the dough and allowing it to rise. Once I preheat the oven and pop it in, spray the walls, I pull up a chair and watch the show unfold as the bread beautifully starts rising taking on a golden brown color. This glorious piece of dough made with water, salt, and flour suddenly are transformed as they begin to expand, inflate and take on a life of their own. The aromas fill my kitchen.

BAKING
Pre-heat the oven to 450º F about 45 minutes to an hour before you are going to bake. Position the baking stone in the center of the oven. When the dough is first put into the oven spray the oven walls with water from a sprayer. Repeat this in about five minutes and again in another five minutes.
Preheat your baking stone or oven to 450º.

If you are lucky enough to own a combi-steam oven such as the Miele, there is a spelt bread Masterchef mode.

BAKING Step3
CREATING STEAM
Quickly spray the inner walls and the floor of the oven with cold water from spray bottle or splash water into the oven from a bowl. The idea is to create an abundance of hot steam. Avoid hitting the light bulb in some ovens, or it may burst. Close the oven door to trap the steam, wait three minutes and repeat the process. Alternatively get an old pan fill it with clean rocks and pour water over the heated stones. I use both techniques. Or heat a clay pot and its cover in the oven transferring the risen ready to bake dough into the heated clay pot.

BAKING
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Rap the baked loaf with the back of your knuckles. If it sounds hollow, it is done, if not bake for an additional 5 minutes.
NOTE.
Now I try to bake bread on flower days according to the bio-dynamic methods described by Rudolph Steiner. There is an free online calendar here. Or Marie Thun’s calendar can also be purchased.

COOLING THE BAKED BREAD
Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting for 24 hours. I usually cannot wait and a slice into the freshly baked bread straight away. It crumbles and is difficult to slice. Then I do wait 24 hours before putting it in a bread slicing machine. The bread behaves much differently when allowed to cool. The texture is firmer.

CARING LEFT OVER LEVAIN Step4
Once you have measured out the LEVAIN for the Spelt Bread Recipe, you will have a bit left over. Add to what you have left-over, 5 tablespoons of water (⅓ cup) and 8 tablespoons of flour (½ cup). Add the water first, then flour. Mix to aerate. Allow it sit out while the bread bakes; then place in a cool place like the refrigerator. This becomes your new CHEF.

CARING LEFT OVER LEVAIN Step4
For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Early on I did a taste test. I thought my first loaves were flat and I assumed the taste would also be flat. I compared a slice from a commercially made loaf of non-yeasted spelt bread to my own, and my own won hands down.

If one uses eggs this is not vegan.
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development.
Ingredients
5 Tbsp olive oil
½ C. Tupelo honey
2 eggs or
egg replacer
½ tsp vanilla powder or
vanilla bean scraped
1 Tbsp aluminum free baking Powder
½ tsp baking Soda
1 ½ C. spelt
½ tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp lemon zest
¾ C. almond milk
1 C. fresh/frozen cherries (carefully remove pits)
A cherry pitter is available

Preparation
Pre-heat oven to 350º
Mix Tupelo honey, lemon zest, oil, vanilla and egg together until soft and thick. In a separate bowl, mix baking powder, spelt flour, himalayan salt and baking soda together. Add in the frozen cherries to the dry ingredients and lightly coat (make sure they are frozen hard). Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, alternating with almond milk. Add paper muffin cups to muffin pan and distribute batter evenly between 18 baking cups. Fill any unfilled spots in muffin containers with water to ensure muffins cook evenly.
Bake 15 minutes and remove from oven and let cool for 1 to 2 minutes before removing from baking pan.

Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing. This recipe requires spelt flour and water.
NOTE
Try baking on flower days from Maria Thun’s biodynamic calendar. She has experimented practically applying Rudolph Steiner’s techniques to everyday life including when to grow certain things, when to taste wine and when to bake. An iPhone app for flower days is available.
Rudolph Steiner on Bread baking. “Honey and salt stand at opposite poles . . .and create a dynamic field. Salt and honey take their place and the bread rises under the influences of tension between them. The bread rose steadily around 6 am, whereas yeast bread rose at midnight.” Consider trying to freshly grind flour from grains.

CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace the water in a recipe makes for a softer crust.

WATER CHOICES
Mineral water
Filtered water
City tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate any residual chlorine.

FOUR STEPS to bake non-yeasted bread:
CHEF Step 1
LEVAIN Step 2
BAKING Step 3
LEFTOVER LEVAIN Step 4

CHEF Step 1 – Takes 4 days to make.
DAY 1
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
PREPARATION
First add water then add flour. Some add a tiny pinch of yeast known as Sekowa Bachferment special to assure a vibrant CHEF. Many have not found this step to be necessary. Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well making a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours.
Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the mixed CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the amount the Chef has risen. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 2
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
PREPARATION
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by observing the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. First add water then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF . Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 3
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.

CHEF Step 1
DAY 4
Add ⅓ C. water and ½ C. flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF. The CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days. After 3 days, skim off any accumulated liquid. The fluid on top might look a bit dark. Bring the CHEF once again to room temperature. This may take about two hours.

LEVAIN Step 2
rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼ cups of spelt flour
Use all the CHEF

LEVAIN Step 2 PREPARATION
Bring the CHEF to room temperature. 2 hours will bring a refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff batter is important for ripening the CHEF. If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.

BAKING Step 3
Third step is BAKING the spelt bread

LEFTOVER LEVAIN Step 4
Fourth step is caring for left over spelt LEVAIN converting it back to a CHEF for baking for another day.
Once you have made the LEVAIN you will not use all of it for the bread recipes. Take the left over LEVAIN and this will become your new CHEF to bake with another day. To this left over LEVAIN make this is the same bowl or container so the bits cloning to the wall or the jar are used. Add ⅓ cup water of water and ½ cup flour, stir rapidly, aerating the mixture. Allow to stand while you prepare a clean glass jar. I use a scraper to add it to a clean jar. Once made, this left over LEVAIN can become your new CHEF. Check that it has risen a bit and has become bubbly, it can be put in a cool place until you bake with it another day. When you are ready to use this new CHEF, pour off any liquid that has accumulated on the top. Add to this CHEF ⅓ cup water of water and ½ cup flour and allow it to rise for 6-8 hours. Once it is bubbly then add the entire CHEF to 1 ¼  cups of flour. This then becomes your new LEVAIN. Let the new LEVAIN stand for 6-10 hours. Incorporate a portion of this LEVAIN into your bread recipe, again taking any left over LEVAIN to become your next CHEF.
. . .
BROWN RICE CHEF

This is a Brown rice chef from the web. I have not tried this recipe but have posted it for our gluten free friends.

A knowledgeable gluten free sourdough baker suggested to feed the chef every 8 hours and use a fermented drink called Water Kefir add it directly to the chef on the first day. Water Kefir is a culture that is used to make a dairy free drink much like lemon soda. I purchased my grains and made the water kefir using water, sugar, raisins and lemon. It fermented in less than 48 hours and I put a few tablespoons of it into brown rice flour and water. I built the chef gradually feeding it every 8 hours until I had the amount I needed. I was happy to see activity beginning shortly after 48 hours. Each subsequent feeding created increasing activity with large and small bubbles and hissing sounds when I stirred it down. This very live chef easily leavened the bread recipe without the use of eggs, commercial yeast, baking soda, or baking powder which was of prime importance to me being allergic to eggs and sensitive to the other ingredients.

I call this chef Boosted Brown Rice Chef because I have boosted its activity with Water Kefir. I find I can get a dependable chef every time when I use water kefir as a booster.

If you do not want to add flour and water for 4 days to make a CHEF and you are lucky enough to live in Germany, this honey based yeast creates a lactic acid ferment that is also permissible. Sekowa Special Backferment is available on this translated page.
. . .
WATER KEFIR RECIPE
You will need water kefir grains
Nearly fill a wide mouth quart jar with water.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring to dissolve
Add 20 raisins
Add a slice of lemon or lime
Add the contents of your bottle of water kefir grains into the quart jar.
Cover with a paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
When raisins float to the top, scoop them and the lemon slice out and discard.
Ferment the water kefir for 6 more hours on the counter with the paper towel.
Then store in fridge and use as needed.
When you have used the liquid down to about an inch in the jar start a new batch in a new jar and pour the water kefir grains plus the liquid their in right into the new jar, cover and ferment.

Water Kefir is a good tonic that strengthens the digestive system. Try drinking small sips before meals. 2 tablespoons is enough for a bread chef. Water kefir gets fizzy with time. It’s a tonic with probiotics and enzymes.

If one uses eggs + honey this is not vegan.

Ingredients
3 eggs well beaten or
Chia egg replacer
1 ⅓ C. Tupelo honey
2 C. grated zucchini (¾ zucchini)
3 tsp vanilla or
one vanilla bean scraped
½ C. olive oil

Sift together:
3 C. spelt flour
3 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ C. chopped walnuts

Preparation
Heat oven 325ªF. Combine eggs, oil tupelo honey, grated zucchini, vanilla and mix well. Sift spelt, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and baking powder together. Add dry sifted ingredients to wet. Stir in chopped nuts. Use paper muffin cupcake liners to line a muffin tin. Fill ¾ full. Bake at 325º for 30 minutes. Or line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes.

Ingredients
3 C. spelt flour
½ tsp fine-grain Himalayan salt
1 C. warm water
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
Mix together the spelt flour and salt. Add water and olive oil. Knead by hand on a floured counter-top. The dough should be just a bit tacky – not too dry, not too sticky to work with. If you need to add a bit more water (or flour) do so.

When you are done mixing, shape the dough into a large ball. Now cut into twelve equal-sized pieces. Gently rub each piece with a bit of olive oil, shape into a small ball and place on a plate. Cover with a clean dishtowel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 60 minutes.

While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 450F degrees. Insert a pizza stone if you have one.

Using a rolling pin or a pasta machine, shape into a flat strip of dough – I can usually get down to the 4 setting on my pasta machine w/o trouble. Pull the dough out a bit thinner by hand (the way you might pull pizza dough). You can also cut the dough into whatever shape you like at this point. Set dough on a floured or parchment lined baking sheet, poke each cracker with the tines of a fork to prevent puffing, add any extra seed toppings, and slide into the oven (onto the pizza stone). Repeat the process for the remaining dough balls, baking in small batches. If you don’t have a pizza stone, bake crackers a few at a time on baking sheets. Bake until deeply golden, and let cool before eating – you will get more crackery snap.

Makes a dozen extra large crackers.

Ingredients
3 eggs or
egg replacer
¼ C. olive oil
2 C. almond yogurt
2 tsp almond extract
3 Tbsp Tupelo honey
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp Himalayan Pink salt
Grind or use whole grain spelt flour
2 C spelt flour
blend together, let sit 5 minutes

Preparation
Heat waffle iron.
Slowly add the flour to the mix. I use a high speed blender and pulse. Once my waffle iron is hot, I add about half cup of batter to the waffle iron. Wait for steaming to stop. Check the waffle for crispiness.

Egg Replacer
Sometimes individuals are allergic to eggs or have a high cholesterol or other reasons to avoid egg products.

Commercial Egg Replacer
Ener-G Egg Replacer
Ingredients: Potato starch, tapioca flour, leavening (calcium lactate [non-dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), cellulose gum, carbohydrate gum
Orgran Egg Replacer.
Ingredients: potato starch, tapioca flour, vegetable gum: methylcellulose, calcium carbonate, citric acid.
Both commercial egg replacers are a powdered allergen-free replacement for eggs:
· It Helps baked goods to bind but not to rise
· Not suitable for recipes requiring over 3 eggs
· Made from a combination of natural starches and gums
· Both products contain citric acid.

The difficulty for some with commercial egg replacers is that they contain citric acid. Some individuals, though highly allergic to citric acid have had good luck with the following as an egg replacer:

Homemade Egg Replacer:
1 c. potato flour
¾ c. tapioca flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Combine all ingredients, mix until well-combined. Store in an airtight container.
1 ½ tsp of mix + 2 Tbsp water = 1 whole egg
Mix the egg replacer first then add it to the batter. Or shake it in a screw top jar or whisk it in a small bowl.

Chia Egg Replacer
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
2 Tbsp Water
Allow to sit for 10 minutes to develop a gel consistency
Or grind chia seeds then add the water.

Dredging Without Egg
If you are trying to get spelt bread crumbs to adhere to a vegetable here are a few suggestions.
• Cover vegetable with spelt flour; dunk in reconstituted egg replacer, then in flour and roll or shake it with spelt breadcrumbs.
• Pat the vegetable slice dry. Press seasoned cornmeal to it or toasted spelt bread crumbs.
• Or make a batter of spelt flour and water; dip the vegetable in it, dip the vegetable in breadcrumbs; dip the vegetable in batter; dip the vegetable in cornmeal.

Egg replacer in Baked Goods
There are commercial egg substitutes for use in baking. Try  one banana or ¼ cup applesauce for each egg called for in a recipe for sweet, baked desserts. These will add some flavor to the recipe. Be sure the flavors are compatible with the dessert.

Other Egg Replacement Options
• 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. corn starch
• 1 egg = ¼ cup canned pumpkin or squash
• 1 egg = ¼ cup puréed prunes
• 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. water + 1 Tbsp. oil + 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg = 1 Tbsp. ground hemp or chia seed simmered in 3 Tbsp.  of water
• 1 egg white = 1 Tbsp. plain agar powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water, whipped, chilled, and whipped again

Some Egg Replacement Tips
• If a recipe calls for three or more eggs, it is important to choose a replacer that will perform the same function (i.e., binding or leavening).
• Trying to replicate airy baked goods like angel food cake, can be very difficult. Look for a recipe with a similar taste but fewer eggs, making it easier to replicate.
• Powdered egg replacers CANNOT be used to create omelets.
• If you want a lighter texture and you’re using fruit purées as an egg substitute, add an extra ½ tsp. baking powder. Fruit purées tend to make the final product denser than the original recipe.
• If you’re looking for an egg replacer that binds, try adding 2 to 3 Tbsp. of any of the following for each egg: arrowroot powder, spelt flour, mashed sweet potatoes.

Thickening Agents
Use arrowroot for:
· Sauce recipes with acid such as lemon juice
· Dishes you want to freeze
· Recipes cooked at a lower temperature or for a long time

Use cornstarch for:
· sauce recipes with dairy
· dishes cooked at a higher temperature, such as pies

Cornstarch-Arrowroot Conversion Chart
(3 tsp.=1 T.; 12 tsp.=4 T.=¼ c.)

1 tsp. cornstarch= 1+ ¾ tsp. arrowroot
2 tsp. cornstarch= 3+ ½ tsp. arrowroot
3 tsp. (1 T.) cornstarch= 5+ ¼ tsp.(or 1 T. plus 2 + ¼ tsp.) arrowroot
4 tsp. cornstarch= 2 T. plus 1 tsp. arrowroot
5 tsp. cornstarch= 2 T. plus ¾ tsp. arrowroot
6 tsp. (2 T.) cornstarch= 3 T. plus 1+1/4 tsp. arrowroot
7 tsp. cornstarch= 4 T. (¼ c.) arrowroot
8 tsp. cornstarch= 4 T. (¼ c.) plus 2 tsp. arrowroot
9 tsp. (3 T.) cornstarch= 5 T. plus ½ tsp. arrowroot
10 tsp. cornstarch= 5 T. plus 2 + ¼ tsp. arrowroot
¼ c. cornstarch (4 T.)= 6 T. plus 2 + ½ tsp. arrowroot
⅓ c. (about 5 + ½ T.) cornstarch= ½ c. plus 1 + ¾ tsp. arrowroot

A thickener for stocks try gelatin(non-veg) or agar agar (veg).
Here are some other thickening starches.

If following a gluten free diet, and intolerant to corn and eggs these are some
Gluten free flours
bean flour
black rice flour
brown rice flour
buckwheat flour
chia flour
garbanzo bean flour or channa flour
Jerusalem artichoke flour
lotus root flour
quinoa flour (oxalates)
red rice flour
tapioca flour
*Gluten Free Flour Blend
6 cups (32 ounces) brown rice flour
2 cups (10 ¾ ounces) potato starch
1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch

Ingredients
1 C. whole grain spelt flour (grind fresh)
⅓ C. almond milk
1 egg or
replacer
1 C. plain almond yogurt
Grind of fresh nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla powder
2 tsp tupelo honey
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp Himalayan pink salt

Preparation
Freshly grind 1 cup of spelt kernels or use 1 cup of whole grain spelt. Set aside.
Beat one egg with the yogurt, add the spelt flour and slowly pour in ⅓ cup of almond milk. If you enjoy thin crêpe like pancakes, add ¼ cup additional almond milk. Add the remaining ingredients and mix using a wire whip. Pour a small amount on a well-heated griddle. Turn when little bubbles form.

The addition of yogurt makes these pancakes thick, light and fluffy without becoming too doughy.

If one uses eggs + butter this is not vegan. Eggs + butter make this recipe. Bring ingredients to room temperature and allow dough to rest one hour.

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 C. almond milk
2 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
6 Tbsp whole spelt flour plus
½ C. white organic spelt
½ tsp Himalayan salt
Additional melted butter or oil for greasing the pan

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°F. Whisk the eggs, almond milk and melted butter in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the flours and salt. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
While the batter is resting, place the popover or muffin tin in the oven for five minutes. Remove the hot pan from the oven and brush with melted butter or oil. If using a popover pan, fill 6 wells nearly full. If using ½-cup muffin tins, fill each only ½ full.
Note: The key to making great popovers is to have the eggs, milk, spelt warm before mixing, allowing the mixed ingredients to sit for an hour. Popovers do not freeze well and pre-made batter does not work well.

Ingredients
1 C. spelt flour
½ tsp Himalayan Pink Salt
2 large eggs or you can try
2 eggs ener-G replacer
1 C. almond milk

Preparations
Preheat oven to 450º. Generously oil and flour a six-cup popover pan. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

In a medium bowl beat eggs slightly, Beat in flour, milk and salt until just smooth; being careful not to overbeat. Fill custard cups ½ full.

Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for 20 minutes more. Immediately remove from cups and serve piping hot

Ingredients
4 ripe bananas
(Equals 1 ½ cups mashed)
1 tsp vanilla powder
¼ C plant milk
¼ C. oil
2 Tbsp chia seeds mix 2 Tbsp water
or 2 eggs replacer

2 C. spelt flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp Himalayan salt

½ C coconut sugar or
½ C tupelo honey or
8 chopped dates or
⅓ C agave

½ C roasted chopped walnuts
sliced almonds (optional topping)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400º.
Blend together (or in a food processor) mashed banana, vanilla, plant milk, chia seeds. Slowly add dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Add sweetener, chopped walnuts and some raisins, if desired. Pour into a parchment lined bread pan. Sprinkle top with optional sliced almonds. Bake for 60 minutes.

Ingredients
2 C. spelt flour
1½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp Himalayan salt
Zest from two lemons
¼ C. Tupelo honey
→ ¼ C. apple juice concentrate
→ ½ C. date sugar
→ 8 cut up dates
1 C. almond milk
→ 1 C. almond yogurt
¼ C. olive/coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1½ C. apples
Juice 1 lemon over apples
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375º. Put 12 paper liners in a muffin tin. In a bowl or food processor combine the flour, baking soda, salt, lemon zest. Add the sweetener, milk, oil, lemon extract, lemon juice. Mix well. Gently fold in the apples. Fill the muffin tin h¾ full with the mixture. Bake any left over mix in a small pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for five minutes.

Ingredients
¼ C. soaked almonds
¼ C. soaked walnuts
2 C. sprouted spelt
½ C. chopped apple
3 pitted dates

Preparation
Soak the nuts for about two hours and the dates in water for an hour. Drain nuts and dates along with the remainder of ingredients and work in a food processor or puree in a gear juicer or blend in a high speed blender. Mold this into a loaf shape and dehydrate for 17 hours or bake in an oven at 90º for about 5 hours. When done the loaf should feel crisp on the outside and moist in the middle. Slice with a serrated knife.

Ingredients
¼ cup organic coarse ground corn meal or polenta or grits
1 cup water

Preparation
Boil the water on the stove top in a double boiler. Add the polenta. Cook for about an hour stirring every twenty minutes or so. When it is fully cooked, polenta can served like this.

For fried polenta, take the steamed polenta and continue cooking for an hour. Pour into a container and put in the refrigerate for about 3 hours. When firm, slice into ¼ inch slices, dredge in spelt flour and fry in a pan with about two tablespoons of olive oil. Cook slowly so it gets crispy without burning. When crispy on one side turn with a spatula and cook on the opposite side. Serve with white beans and sautéed leafy greens.

If one uses egg + honey this is not vegan. These are gluten free pancakes
Ingredients

Dry ingredients:
½ C. brown rice flour
(grind brown rice in a blender or a flour grinder)
¼ C. spelt flour
¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp aluminum free baking powder

Wet ingredients:
¾ C. almond milk with lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation
Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients thoroughly together, almost whipping them to add air. Then add the wet to the dry and mix with a rubber spatula. Have the griddle heating. If using induction cooktop, heat to 5. Rub a bit of olive oil to the pan. Sprinkle water on the griddle and if the water dances, the griddle is hot enough. Drop by spoonfuls onto the griddle. I use a teaspoon to form dollar size pancakes. Turn when little bubbles form. Serve with tupelo honey, cut up ripe fruit, all fruit spread or if you are feeling decadent serve with maple syrup, cut up apple-banana or fresh pineapple, and a sprinkle of roasted almonds.

Ingredients
4 C. oats, thick oats
1 C. shelled Hemp Seeds
½ C. cinnamon
⅔ C. raw almonds crushed
½ C. Tupelo honey
¼ C. olive oil

Preparation
Preheat oven to 340ºF
In a glass bowl, combine oats, shelled hemp seeds,  cinnamon, almonds & mix well. In a small saucepan, lightly heat honey, olive oil. Be sure not to allow it to boil, it just needs to be heated through. Drizzle honey, hemp seed and olive oil into dry ingredients, and coat well.  Spoon granola mixture onto a cookie sheet, and bake at 340ºF for 25-35 minutes. Let the granola cool for about 40 minutes so it begins to harden & get crunchy. Store or gift this granola in air tight containers. Dried fruits can be added to this recipe to create more festive flavors and colors. My favorite mixture is almonds, oats and honey.

Ingredients
1 ¼ C. water
2 C. chopped dates
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 egg yolk
½  tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp Tupelo honey
Zest and juice 1 orange
2 C. spelt flour
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
½  tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp Himalayan pink salt
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1½ C. chopped walnuts
For more sweetness ↑ honey 4 Tbsp

Preparation
Preheat oven 320º Line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
Boil 1 ¼ cups of water. Add chopped dates and coconut oil to the water. Let stand until cool, about 30 minutes. With a fork stir egg, honey, vanilla into cooled date mixture. In a large bowl combine spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, orange zest and juice.  Stir the flour mixture with the date mixture just until evenly moistened. Stir in chopped walnuts. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to slice. Cut into slices and serve warm. Careful this bread is a weight gainer, combining nuts and grains. This date nut bread is not a typical date nut bread. It is not very sweet, but it is complex in the best way. Perfect as an afternoon snack with a cup of hot hibiscus tea.

CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.
Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Four steps to bake non-yeasted breads.
CHEF Step 1-Begin by making a CHEF
LEVAIN Step 2-Second is the LEVAIN
BAKING Step 3-Third step is BAKING
CHEF Step 4-The final step is caring for left over CHEF

CHEF Step 1 (Takes 4 days to make.)
Day 1
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. I have been told to add a tiny pinch of yeast (Sekowa Bachferment special) to assure a vibrant CHEF. I have not found this step to be necessary. For first time bakers, try a tiny pinch of yeast to assure that you produce a vibrant CHEF or STARTER. This yeast step may be omitted. Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well to make a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours. Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the rising CHEF. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning.

CHEF Step 1
Day 2
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. Add water first then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF. Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.

CHEF Step 1
Day 3
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.

CHEF Step 1
Day 4
CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days. After 3 days, bring the CHEF again to room temperature, add  1/3  cup water of water and ½ cup flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF.

LEVAIN Step 2
rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼ C. rye flour
All the CHEF
Bring the CHEF to room temperature.  2 hours will bring refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff form is important for ripening the LEVAIN. If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.

BAKING Step 3
Ingredients 15 minutes
1 Tbsp dark molasses
¼ C. warm water touch inside of the wrist
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey
¾ tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 C. LEVAIN
1 Tbsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
¾ C. rye flour
¾ C. spelt flour
water as needed

Knead 15 minutes
Bring LEVAIN, flour, water, and the mixing bowl, all to room temperature. If your flour is cold from being kept in the fridge, warm it a little. Taking these extra steps helps the bread to rise nicely. It behave quite differently when all ingredients are first brought to room temperature. Mix CHEF and water with a wooden spoon or a wire whip. Continue stirring until the mixture is slightly frothy and the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until well combined. Add salt and just enough of the remaining flour to make a thick mass that is difficult to stir. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Add more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. Stop kneading when the dough is soft, and a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Shape into a ball.

BAKING Step 3
RISE THE DOUGH (2 hours)
rise 2 hours
Cover and let the dough to rise for 2 hours. Try a deep wide bowl, cover with a huge plate to keep drafts away. If you have a bread machine, lightly oil the inside of the machine. Keep the bread machine turned off with the door closed, a perfect place for a 2-hour rise.
LET THE DOUGH REST
rest 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center an dpulling up on the sides. Knead the dough very lightly to form a tight ball. Place it on a lightly floured board. Cover with a clean damp canvas or linen cloth. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º draft free spot for 30 minutes.
SHAPE THE LOAVES
rest 5 minutes
Knead dough very lightly to form a ball. Flatten with the heel of your hand on a lightly floured surface into a disk about 8 inches in diameter. Shape dough into a torpedo or fit it within an oiled bread pan. Knead it tightly.
SECOND RISE OF THE DOUGH
rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down in a traditional bread-baking pan that has been lightly oiled or place the loaf seam-side up in a well-floured couche within a basket. A basket or bowl with a diameter of 8 inches and a depth of 3 – 4 inches will do. Lay inside a clean, lightweight even linen towel dusted with flour. By letting the dough rest in a cushioned, floured container, this will give a loaf that will take on the shape and markings of the basket. The crust will be thicker and bolder from the extra flour becoming embedded in the dough upon rising. This creates a rustic, earthy looking crust. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º F draft free spot until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes I wrap everything with a thick towel to protect the rising bread from any drafts. Cover and allow it to rise for an additional 2-4 hours until doubled in size. Or place it in the fridge overnight if you wish to bake the bread the following morning.
Refrigerated Dough
rise 2-4 hours if refrigerated
When the dough is shaped it is at this point that the dough can be put into the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerating overnight is an important step to decrease the phytic acid content. The following morning (if you have placed the loaf in the refrigerator overnight) allow it 1-2 hours to come to room temperature and allow it to rise an additional 2-4 hours.
IMPORTANT STEP
score loaf
pre-heat the oven to 450º F.
Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along the surface. I always seem to forget to score the loaf. If baking in a basket or free form, use a well-floured smooth linen or smooth cotton towel (called a couche) as an aid, gently roll one loaf from the couche (towel) onto a lightly floured wooden plank (known as a peel) so that it sits seam side down. Use the peel to slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone. At this point if you want a free form flatter rounder bread, just place it on the heated stone. I sometimes prepare my breads free form by braiding the dough and allowing it to rise. Once I preheat the oven and pop it in, spray the walls, I pull up a chair and watch the show unfold as the bread beautifully starts rising taking on a golden brown color. This glorious piece of dough made with water, salt, and flour suddenly are transformed as they begin to expand, inflate and take on a life of their own. The aromas fill my kitchen.

BAKING Step 3
Creating Steam
Position the baking stone in the center of the oven. When the dough is first put into the oven spray the oven walls with water from a sprayer. The technique is to quickly spray the inner walls and the floor of the oven with cold water from spray bottle or splash water into the oven from a bowl. The idea is to create an abundance of hot steam. Avoid hitting the light bulb in some ovens, or it may burst. Close the oven door to trap the steam, wait three minutes. Repeat this in about three minutes and again in another three minutes. Alternatively get an old pan, place some clean rocks in it and fill it with water. I use both techniques.
Bake for about 20 minutes then lower the heat to 400º and bake another 20 minutes until golden brown.
Rap the baked of the loaf with the back of your knuckles. If it sounds hollow, it is done, if not bake for an additional 5 minutes. If you can wait, allow the bread to cool before slicing. 24 hours is best. I cannot wait and slice into it first thing. Then I do wait to put the entire loaf through a slicing machine.
BAKING Step 3
I try to bake bread on flower days according to the bio-dynamic methods described by Rudolph Steiner. There is an free online calendar here. Or Marie Thun’s calendar can also be purchased.

CHEF Step 4
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing the chef while they are traveling.

For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Early on I did a taste test. I thought my first loaves were flat and I assumed the taste would also be flat. I compared a slice from a commercially made loaf of non-yeasted spelt bread to my own, and my own won hands down.

Making Dosa
Left over or unused STARTER from bread baking makes delicious dosas–a sourdough large pancake from India. Use the left over STARTER by adding water and a little flour. Cook it on a well oiled large pan like a wok or larger. Rolling the pan will result in a thin mixture to form a dosa or try spreading the mix in the pan using a wooden spoon moving in a circular fashion to achieve a thin dosa. Cook on both sides. These can be stuffed with vegetables and are served in the South of India for breakfast. Pictured is a dosa served with almond yogurt and sambal.

Ingredients Masala Filling
2 large rutabagas
(traditionally potato is used) chopped cooked
1 medium onion chopped
½ tsp yellow split peas
½ tsp mustard seed
½ tsp turmeric or a coin slice of fresh turmeric root
1 Tbsp oil

Preparation of Dosa Filling
Heat oil, add mustard seed, split peas, onions and spices. Fry about 5 minutes. Add the rutabagas and toss together. Add water and adjust the seasonings. Add the filling inside the dosa.

Ingredients Sambal
Grated galangal
2 garlic cloves
1 lemongrass root, finely chopped
1 lime zest
3 Tbsp lemon juice
coarse Himalayan salt
1 tsp tupelo honey +
½ cup tupelo honey

Preparation Sambal
Chop the galangal, garlic, lemongrass and place in a mortar. Add half of the lime zest (reserving the other half for later). Crush the ingredients together with the mortar & pestle. Gradually add the lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and continue pounding. The salt will assist breaking down the other ingredients. Taste the mix add a little tupelo honey and assure the combination of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavors is balanced. Add additional amounts of the ingredients as required to balance the taste to your liking.

Add the mix to a cold pan. Place the pan over high heat. Be careful not to let the flame come up around the sides of the pan (this will burn the edges). Mix the sambal with a wooden spoon as it heats. Add additional tupelo honey. This will caramelize the mix and bring the flavors together. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the mixture is pulpy. When the mix is almost done, add the remaining lime rind. Cook for a further 90 seconds.