Topic: Tuscan (Salt Free) Bread

[GillE]

[Simon]

[Rik]

Trouble is you can't use all wholemeal flour or it just won't rise.   

We do, Clive.

Our current, low salt, recipe, is:

475g wholemeal flour (organic, stone ground)
3.5g salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1.25 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
360-370ml water
1.5 tbsp olive oil

[Simon]

I'm going to have to try this! 

[GillE]

Do you make your bread in a machine, Rik?  I would have thought the acid from the lemon would have impeded the yeast's activity.  Clearly, it doesn't .

You use a lot more water than I do with my white flour. Interesting...

[Simon]

Let's be clear, when Rik says "we", he means Sue. 

[Rik]

Do you make your bread in a machine, Rik?  I would have thought the acid from the lemon would have impeded the yeast's activity.  Clearly, it doesn't .

You use a lot more water than I do with my white flour. Interesting...

Yes, we use a Panny, Gill. Wholemeal flour takes a lot more water than white, but the loaves are delicious. The lemon juice works on the gluten in the same way the salt does, so it allows us to reduce salt content but maintain texture and flavour. The other variation used malt extract in addition to sugar and that works well for flavour, but probably would be helped by some added gluten, which should be with us in a couple of days.

[Rik]

Let's be clear, when Rik says "we", he means Sue. 

I'm responsible for tasting.

[Simon]

The most important job! 

[Clive]

I use the same amount of water as Rik but I have never managed to get a pure wholemeal mix to rise.  I thought this was a well-known fact as it says so in my handbook!   

[Rik]

Panny have a wholemeal recipe, Clive, have you not tried it?

BTW, last year's crop was low in gluten, which hasn't helped, the new harvest coming through is much better.

[Clive]

I haven't seen it Rik.  I have several breadmaking recipe books but my recipe does not come out of any of them.  I use:

16oz Carrs Strong Breadmaking flour - white
8 oz ditto but wholemeal
8 oz Dove Farm Spelt flour
12 oz water
1 tbs demerera sugar
1 ts Olivio
1 ts dried yeast
good pinch of salt
1 ts Marvel
4 tbs seeds

My Panny is an SD206.

[Clive]

Those flour weights should all be halved.  It's a total of 16oz.  I have one on the go at the moment and there is almost no salt at all this time!   

[Rik]

Try the one I've given, Clive, but use 5g of salt (1 tpspn) and skip the lemon juice.

[Clive]

1 tpspn of salt is a whole mine-full Rik!!     I would die of salt poisoning! The loaf rose just the same as usual so the next stage is salt free.  I will be tasting it in half an hour or so.