I decided to make a cinnamon raisin loaf last night with Einkorn wheat to see how it works. I'm happy to report, it works great.
4 cups einkorn flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup raisin
1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
Mix all the dry ingredients first, then gradually add the warm water. Since it was cold last nite, I used hot water to get things going. After it was mixed, I put it in my oven on proof setting for 2 hours. After that I turned the oven off and let it rise over nite.
A couple of observations. The einkorn loaf is more dense than King Aruther's all purpose flour. The crumb is still nice and chewy. It doesn't have the huge pockets like an all purpose loaf, but that doesn't bother me.
Overall, I like the flavor better than all purpose flour. The flavor is richer with a nice nuttiness, even with strong flavors like raisin and cinnamon.
Last nite I started a einkorn loaf with currants and lime.
4 cups einkorn flour
1.75 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 cup currant
1/4 tsp yeast
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Add the warm water and mix until you have a wet dough. Let it rise for 12-14 hours. Form a loaf, let it rise for 1-1.5 hours and bake covered in a dutch oven.
Last nite I couldn't wait to use my new oven, so I started a einkorn loaf.
2 cups King Arthur all purpose
2 cups einkorn flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 cups water
After 12 hours, it was ready to bake. I noticed the texture is different than all KA flour. It was less stringy, which makes sense. Einkorn flour has less gluten. The aroma of the loaf is quite different than KA flour. Usually with KA, the smell of yeast is the dominant aroma. With einkorn, the aroma is less yeasty and more fragrant. It's hard to describe.
After shaping and rising for 1 hour. The nice thing about the new LG oven is it has a delay function. I set the time to start preheat and it does the magic for me. Before I would just preheat the dutch oven for 1 hour, which isn't necessary. It also uses more gas, so the LG is more efficient simply because it has a delay feature.
The color of the loaf is more yellow than pure KA loaf and the aroma is nice. I can't really describe it, but I plan to make a pure einkorn loaf in a few days to see and compare.
The flavor of the einkorn loaf is more complex. The best I can describe it is it has a nutty flavor and the crust is more crunchy. For this loaf I didn't bake it uncovered. I just baked it 32 minutes covered at 450F. I put some cream cheese on it and it goes very well.
I bought my first range this week and it arrived today. I've been wanting a bigger flame for woking, center burner for griddle and bigger oven for Challah. I spent several days researching and found one that I really liked. It is the LG LRG3095, which has a big 17,000 BTU burner, 5.4 cu ft oven and proof feature.
My old GE range served me well for 13 years, but the burners were only 9,500 BTU. Honestly I didn't think 17,000 BTU would make much difference compared to 9,500, but it does. I also have a Eastman Outdoor Big Kahuna I use during the summer, which puts out 55,000 BTU. On the Kahuna, stir fry is literally less than 90 seconds for most veggies. For 2-3 lbs of meat, it's usually less than 5 minutes. In comparison, on my old GE range 2-3 lbs of meat would take about 10-15 min assuming it's completely thawed at room temperature.
I started a plain no knead loaf tonight with half King Arther and half einkorn flour I got from Jovial Foods. One thing I noticed immediately is the aroma of the einkorn flour was fragrant. King Arthur all purpose flour is good, but it doesn't have the aroma of einkorn flour.
The reason I decided to try einkorn flour was mainly due to the author of "Wheat belly". Before I watched the video, I hadn't really thought about modern wheat and how it differs from einkorn. After reading up on it and looking at people's response to einkorn, it got me thinking. I've had a chronic sore shoulder due to a high school volleyball injury. Basically I dislocated it a few times in volleyball and now I'm paying the price. When the weather gets cold, both shoulders snap, crackle and pop. It's not terrible, but I definitely feel it when I reach for things in the upper cabinet.
It's an experiment, I don't know if it will make any difference, but it's worth a shot. Assuming Gliadin protein really does what Dr Davis says, eating einkorn could make a difference. Some people report their arthritis went away after switching to einkorn. The down side though is that it's hard to avoid modern wheat. It's in every processed food product and most restaurants use modern wheat. Luckily we generally don't buy processed foods and try to focus on a balanced diet of rice, veggies, organic milk and meats. It's more expensive, but I prefer to eat foods that don't have artificial hormones and other junk in it.
I can't wait to bake the loaf tomorrow morning and see how einkorn tastes. If the aroma is any indication, it's gonna be good.
A few months back, we decided to save some money and have dinner at home instead of go to my favorite restaurant in Worcester Pho Dakao on friday. Since friday is shabbat, we decided it would be nice to make Challah.
I've been using this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/challah-i/. It works well and is tasty. Instead of 8 cups, I usually do 6 cups and reduce the water to 2 cups. The full 8 cups make a huge challah that barely fits in the oven. This time my daughter decided to make 2 loafs. One round and the other 4 strand braid.
