A bit less water may make your bread just right!

One of my readers sent in photos of her Teff Carob Pumpernickel loaf. The bread looked excellent but I noticed a slight dip in the top of the loaf. From my own many trials and errors, this usually means there is too much moisture (water) in the overall dough. I suggested that the next time she make the bread, she reduce the water in the last feeding of the starter. Sometimes, reducing by just 1-2 tablespoons makes enough of a difference to get it just right. 

Here's the first bread. Notice the slight dip in the top.



This recipe is Teff Carob Coconut minus a bit of extra moisture.
Instead of a dip, a nice arc on the top!


The sliced bread shows a perfect form: a nice arc and nearly uniform texture



There are many factors that affect the moisture balance in gluten-free sourdough bread:
-Some grain mills reach very high temperatures.
If the grain was heated when it was milled, it will dry it out causing it to absorb more water.
If it wasn't heated when it was milled, it won't absorb as much water.
-The humidity in the kitchen will affect the starter.
Very high humidity causes the flour too absorb less water.
Very low humidity causes the flour to absorb more.

-The grind of the flour
A very fine grind will absorb more water.
A medium to coarse grind will absorb less.

Another interesting piece of information:
A reader wrote to me wondering why I used volume measurements (cups and spoons) rather than weight measurements (a scale) for my recipes. She reminded me that the most accurate baking uses weight and that professional bakers use weight.

A few years ago I tried to convert from volume to weight but discovered something very surprising. I measured 1 cup each of home milled brown rice flour, Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour, and Bob's Red Mill brown rice flour. Each of these has a different fineness of grind resulting in a slightly different weight per cup! Instead of an exact weight I was looking at even more variables in a sourdough process that already has enough variables.

The more coarsely ground flour particles leave more air space between the particles. The finely ground flour takes up less space, filling up the spaces between particles with more flour. The finer flour will weigh more per cup than the coarse.

I did not see how I could give an accurate  measurement given the fact that people use all sorts of different brands of brown rice flour and use all different types of grain mills to mill their own. I decided to stay with the volume measurements and give helpful information about how to work with the flours and what the visual and tactile goals are for the final texture.

I wish I could say " Just follow the recipe and it will be perfect every time". I wish it were true! Sourdough is a living entity that is affected by everything around it. To receive the benefits of sourdough, we must respectfully, and sensitively, learn to work with it.

Keeping this in mind, when you make starters and breads, you gain experience as to what thicknesses and textures you are looking to create.

Teff Sourdough Starter for Samples for Wise Traditions Conference

I'm in the middle of baking countless samples for the Wise Traditions conference where I will be presenting my bread technique.

I'm baking one of my favorite slightly sweet breads, Teff Carob Coconut.

Here are some photos of the very impressive looking starter.







I like the craggy surface of the top and the spongy holes seen through the sides of the glass.

This week's experiments: Teff Carob Dessert Breads

This week's experiments included my favorite, Teff Carob Coconut Bread made in a muffin tin and mini loaf. The starter was a bit soupy so the breads were a bit heavy but the taste was still excellent. On the plus side the muffins didn't need the usual requisite toasting so I could grab them for the ride to work without having to toast.


Teff Carob Coconut Mini Loaf and Standard loaf slice

Teff Carob Coconut Muffins




The possibility of making a gluten-free sourdough cake, while staying within the parameters of my pure food standards, has been floating around my mind for a few months. Tapioca has some good potential cake properties so I added a hefty amount of it to a 2 cups of Teff starter.

I used an angel food pan and was pleasantly surprised. Besides being a bit rubbery, the finished product had a lovely flavor, a nice texture, and good crumb. This recipe has great potential. To reduce the rubbery-ness I will lessen the amount of teff flour and add some more oil.

The top was crusty and the bottom was nice like cake. I may need to cover the pan as it bakes.

If I achieve the texture I'm hoping for I hope I can double or triple the recipe and get a standard size cake in the angel food pan that is light enough to lift itself for proper rise. Will report back after my next trial.

Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake - Nice crumb!


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake rising in an angel food pan


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a crusty top


Teff Tapioca Bread/Cake with a nice cakey bottom

Happy Accident-25 Lbs. of Teff Flour-Part 3

I just scraped the bottom of the 25 lb. sack of teff flour. I like grinding my own teff grain into teff flour but since I accidentally bought 25 lbs. of teff flour instead of teff grain and then another 10 lbs. of teff flour instead of teff grain, I haven't had to grind any in months.

I was concerned the ground flour had less nutrients in it than fresh ground but the breads came out just the same and I certainly didn't notice any differences in my health or energy.

I really liked scooping through the sack of teff flour whenever I needed it. There was so much of the never ending teff flour and it filled me with a deep feeling of abundance. Scraping the bottom of the barrel left me a bit sad. I liked that rich abundance of pounds and pounds of flour to use up. Since there was so much I was a bit more aggressive in my experimentation and came with some fabulous breads: Teff Carob, Teff Coconut, Teff pancakes, Teff Zucchini Sourdough pancakes where I actually fermented the zucchini in the starter. I'm still perfecting that one and will post it soon.

I have a couple of single pounds of teff flour left in the freezer and soon will put in an order for Teff Grain, not Teff Flour, and begin the grinding process all over again.

Happy Accident-25 lbs of Teff Flour-Part 2

After last week’s fabulous teff pancakes I continued building the starter even though I sorely needed a break from bread baking. I was busy and thought it would be a good opportunity to practice growing starter in the fridge as this would cut the feedings from 3 times a day to twice.

The starter grew beautifully with a mild aroma. I would take it out for about an hour in the morning, feed it, let it sit another hour or so and put it back in the fridge for 12 hours. I’d repeat the sequence at night before bed. I noticed some thickening and some small bubbles but nothing dramatic.

I had been thinking about creating bread that was mildly sweet without any sweetener beyond 1 teaspoon of stevia powder. I used small amounts of carob and maca (a malty flavored root) and used buckwheat flour for one loaf and shredded coconut for the other. I also used coconut oil for the fat. The batters were rich looking, like cake batter. The aroma in the kitchen was heavenly and the resulting breads were fabulous. Sweet without any added sugars, so no blood sugar spikes. The bread is satisfying and the taste is complex. I found the taste getting sweeter each day.

My daughter, who named Sourdough Bread #1 “Mommybread” said this Teff Carob bread was the best ever and I should make it exclusively. Forever.