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Spelt Flour Questions

How do I get spelt to rise properly?

I let the dough rise once for 20 minutes, shape into rolls and put in oven without rising and it still doesn’t work. They come out flat.

Hello and thank you for writing:
Spelt flour rises and bakes differently than wheat. Keeping this in mind, the first rising of just the dough should be the full hour or ‘until doubled in bulk’. This is what activates the gluten, yeast, etc. After you shape it into rolls, preheat the oven to 400 F. let the rolls rise only about 15 minutes if its hot inside or 20 minutes if not and then bake immediately . This should keep them from spreading and becoming flat. They rise quicker than wheat and spelt is also a much softer flour and dough. Spelt is gentler/ softer on the digestive tract too which is why many who are wheat sensitive, turn to spelt.

If your dough is very soft to begin with you should also decrease the water in it a bit more, start by decreasing by 1/2 cup. Any very wet or loose dough will make your breads spread, and this is especially so with spelt flour doughs.

How much yeast would you use for 4 cps of spelt flour?

4 cups of flour is approximately a bit more than a half kilo. For one kilo (about 2.2 lbs.) I would use for wheat, a tablespoon of dry yeast, for Spelt I would do a bit less, about 2 teaspoons plus another 1/4 teaspoon.

So for a half kilo, I would try 1 teaspoon and a half of dry yeast.

If the dough is too airy after the first rise, you will know for next time to cut down the yeast and the water too, by even a bit more.

I also make my own spelt low sugar bread loaves for weekday use, no bread machine and it comes out great. They are always high and nice. To keep them at their freshest, I slice each loaf after it is cooled and then store it in freezer bags in the freezer sliced and only remove what I need each time.

Just to verify further, how much yeast were you using for 4 cups of spelt flour prior to this email?

1 & 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast to my four cups of spelt flour

NO WONDER your bread over-rose so quickly and flattened out!! This is far too much yeast for so little flour. Plus, just digesting so much yeast is also hard on the system and makes a person tired and is unhealthy. I’m sure once you cut the yeast down — by more than half if you do the 1.5 teaspoons instead of that large amount of yeast, to your four cups, I’m sure you will also feel better after eating the bread, aside from it also looking better

Just to get back to you, I tried your suggestions and they did help a lot. Thank you for your time.

One of the most often asked questions my readers send me is:

Can I freeze my challah dough?

To this I answer – it depends. I have heard that many do it and say that it works. Those I’ve heard or read about it from say that they shape the challahs and then freeze them before they are risen. The day they want to bake them, they put them frozen into the desired size pan and let them defrost and then rise. When risen, they bake it.

However, I have never had success with this method. I tried it and the challahs simply did not come out the same. As my very large challah dough is rising on my table as I type this to you, I prefer to bake them all, and only freeze them after they are baked and cooled off. If you use good quality heavy plastic freezer bags and have a good freezer, your challahs will always stay fresh this way. And best of all, it’s completely done and ready! Just defrost 4-5 hours before you will be eating them.

Yeast Questions and Information

What is the difference is between fresh and dry yeast?
Do certain recipes require one particular kind or are they used indiscriminately?
What is the exact conversion from dry yeast to live yeast and vice versa?

There is a scientific difference between fresh and dry yeast. However, I do not have all the information on that. For me, it matters very little since the differences I have interest in is how they work, what the amounts are when you want to substitute one for the other, and why one would prefer one over the other.

There are definite differences when you use fresh or dry yeast. For one thing, many people do not know how to effectively store and use dry yeast so when you want to ensure that your yeast is really, really fresh, they will be told to buy only fresh yeast! Both yeasts have active cultures in them, but you use them slightly differently.

Fresh yeast is something I personally prefer for challahs simply because it works so well and when it’s very fresh, it tastes very nice. A typical challah recipe of 5 lbs. / 2.4 – 2.5 kilos of flour will call for 2.5 – 3 ounces of fresh yeast, depending on who is giving you the recipe. Two ounces of fresh yeast is the basic equivalent of 50 grams (plus a tiny bit more if you want to be very exact), of a fresh yeast cube OR 2 flat tablespoons of dry yeast. Every tablespoon of dry yeast is like 1 ounce of fresh yeast. If you look it up on charts, a scientific chart can give you exact grams and milligrams, but for the purposes of this article, these are the measurements I have been using for years and it always works.

Fresh yeast needs to be activated before being used by placing it in a small pareve bowl with very hot but not boiling water and a bit of sugar. You cover the bowl loosely and wait about 10 minutes. It should foam and bubble. Then you add this mixture to your challah dough in-the-making, and knead it all together.

Dry yeast can be just added into the dough mixture as you are preparing it without bubbling it up.

However, many, many people misuse dry yeast. Although the larger vacuum packs will tell you that you can store it after opening in a closet or in the fridge, if you do so it will not be as fresh or as active after just a few days. If you really want your dry yeast to work just as well as the day you opened it, it is crucial that you pour it out into a good plastic container with a strong lid and store it in the freezer for long term use. This way, every time you need it, you simply remove it from the freezer, twist it open, (I use large peanut butter plastic jars that I have saved and washed out, they work great for something like this!) and measure out the amount of tablespoons that you need for your dough. Presto – it will work great every time.

I don’t know all the reasons that some people prefer one type of yeast over others for different recipes. I just know for myself that I use fresh or dry yeast for challahs all the time, both work great. For ruggelach and yeast doughs I do prefer fresh yeast only and this is probably mostly because my mother and grandmother both did it this way. For flat breads, whole wheat loaves, and many other types of breads I often use dry yeast and it works very well.

Hoping that all your challahs come out excellent!