English Muffins Spelt No Yeast
Spelt English Muffins are delicious with Kumquat all fruit spread or Lilikoi jam.
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.
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 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 muffins.
CHEF Step 1 – CHEF
LEVAIN Step 2 – LEVAIN
BAKING Step 3 – MAKING muffins
CHEF Step 4 – Converting left over
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.
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. Maria Thun on wine.
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.
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.
Day 4
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. Add ⅓ C. water and ½ C. flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF.
LEVAIN – Step 2
rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼ cups of spelt flour
Use all the CHEF
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.
ENGLISH MUFFIN
Step 3-MAKING the Bread
1 C. water
1 C. LEVAIN
1 Tbsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
2 ¼- 4 C. spelt flour
Preparation
Bring LEVAIN, flour, salt, 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 behaves quite differently when all ingredients are first brought to room temperature. Mix the 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 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 water to your hands kneading the dough in a large ceramic bowl. English muffin dough must be slightly over kneaded, and be much wetter than regular bread dough, so keep wetting your hands as you work and knead in as much water as possible.
RISE THE DOUGH
rise 2 hours
Stop kneading when the dough is soft. Finally, cover and let the dough to rise for 2 hours. Try a deep wide bowl, cover with a huge plate to keep drafts away or if available, put it in a cold oven covered with a moist cloth. Cover all with a plastic bag. The moist dough will rise more quickly than its stiffer bread counterpart, because it is wet.
DIVIDE THE DOUGH
rise 2 hours
Divide the dough into (8) eight equal pieces and form each piece into a smooth round ball. Put the rounds on a very generously floured baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm place 2 hours. The round balls of dough will have flattened down and spread out a bit.
HEAT GRIDDLE
Try (2) two cast iron griddles heating them between low medium – medium heat, much cooler than for pancakes. With a wide pancake turner and a magician’s sleight of hand, pick up the muffins, dust with cornmeal, and place them flour side down on the hot griddle. Turn after about 5 minutes (when brown on the bottom). Keep turning at 5-minute intervals to prevent the crust from burning. They are done when the sides, are springy. If in doubt open one and taste. Or one can take the little balls of dough by hand and gently place them on the hot griddle.
The final result was that these tasted great and looked like English muffins. The addition of a bit of kumquat all fruit spread, enhanced the English Muffin flavor. If you want more holes in your muffin, knead it more and increase the water.
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. 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.
