So, recently I published a recipe for an einkorn bread. That was a free-standing loaf; since einkorn is low on gluten, a certain amount of bread flour must be included. This bread, however, drops that and makes a loaf pan bread instead because the low gluten won’t be an issue here. This is my einkorn sourdough loaf recipe.
Einkorn is an ancient grain; among Emmer, it is one of the oldest domesticated grains. It was domesticated about 10,000 years ago in present-day Turkey. Einkorn hasn’t gone through selective breeding that’s given us modern wheat. Modern wheat is bread this way because it provides a better yield, more gluten, and many other traits that are wanted by either the farmers, the bakers, or the consumers.
One thing that hasn’t been in focus when selectively breeding modern wheat is the taste. Both einkorn and Emmer have a lot more flavor than modern wheat. Even when using whole grain, so that’s why I’ve chosen to showcase this fantastic ancient wheat.
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The dough for this einkorn sourdough loaf is straightforward. It consists of coarsely-ground whole-grain einkorn flour, salt, water, and sourdough starter. If you want, you can make an einkorn starter, start with your current starter as the basis, and in a few feedings, it will be a straight einkorn starter.
The amount of salt is 2%, although I think it suits the bread with a bit more salt. I’ll leave the decision up to you. The hydration is 75%, which is excellent for my flour but watch the video for the right consistency.
Weight
Ingredient
Baker's Percentage
750g
whole-grain einkorn flour
100%
550g
water
73.3%
15g
salt
2%
100g
starter (100% hydration)
13.3%
If you want to tinker with the formula: change hydration, quantity, inoculation, or a host of other things, you can do that in my Bread Calculator.
The conclusion of this einkorn sourdough loaf recipe
While this bread is baking, the smell in the kitchen is amazing. When it comes out, and you get it up close and personal, it’s downright intoxicating.
The bread has a pretty hard crust, which is not particularly pleasant, but storing it in a ziplock bag gets it nice and soft. The crumb is very tight, very akin to rye bread with no seed. This makes a great palette for many different sandwiches, especially open-face sandwiches.
The taste of the loaf is dark, rich, and immensely wheaty. There are deliciously nutty and toasted notes that are amazing all by themselves or with a good slathering of butter. The bread toasts very well but requires quite a lot of time to brown.
It’s awesome! Make it! Eat it! Adore it!
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This is my recipe for einkorn sourdough loaf. If you like the recipe, please consider sharing it with like-minded bread lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
To a medium bowl, add 750 grams of whole-grain einkorn flour and 15 grams of salt and mix it.
Then add 100 grams of sourdough starter and 550 grams of water. Mix it until all of the flour is hydrated.
Then cover it and leave it for an hour for the gluten to develop.
Shape dough
Flour your counter, take the dough out of the bowl, and put it on the flour. Add more flour on top of the dough and as much as needed to shape it comfortably.
Press the dough into a large oval, and fold the sides towards the middle.
Roll the dough up tightly, and shape it to fit your pan.
Spray the pan with baking spray, and move the dough to the pan.
Cover the pan with cling film.
Put it somewhere warm to rise from about 50%-75%. I put it in my proofer set to 30°C/86°F. Once it’s finished growing, put it in the fridge to develop the taste from 8 to 48 hours.
If you want to bake it immediately, let it ferment for an hour more while heating the oven.
Bake
When ready to bake, heat your oven to 230°C/450°F with a pan for steaming at the bottom. Once the oven is hot, boil a kettle of water and then grab your loaf pan.
Spray the top of the loaf with water and dust with einkorn flour. Put the loaf in the oven.
Pour boiling water into the steaming pan and lower the temperature to 210°C/410°F.
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the steaming pan from the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes more, then take the bread out of the pan and let it brown for 5 minutes.
Take the bread out of the oven, and let it cool on a wire rack.
Once the bread has cooled down, put it in a ziplock bag to soften the crust.
Video
Noter
The amount of water depends on your flour’s absorption, so if you don’t know the flour, start with less water and refer to the video for what kind of consistency you need.
Super recipe!!!!Thank You:)))I just found your YouTube channel, you bake amazing things!I write from Switzerland, I have been baking with sourdough for 3 years. I buy the flour from a small village near Bern.I have already baked it with Zweikorn flour, I recommend it, try it once!
Have a nice day,
Ani
Please clarify. In video I thought I heard you say to add 155 grams water but recipe calls for 550 grams water. Before having a failure please clarify.
Yes, you heard 155 grams, but the site will always be more correct because I can edit it after the fact, so it’s 550 grams of water.
I am new to Einkorn sourdough making, I know that sourdough bread should have an internal temperature of 205 – 210. Is this the same for baking with Einkorn. I took the bread out of the pan, after the 45 minutes, but by the time the temperature got up to 205, the crust became very hard. I let the bread cool, then put it in a ziplock bag. The bread tasted wonderful. I am also at 5500 foot elevation which can affect baking. I’m jJust wondering if you think I should leave it in the pan until it reaches 205, or if you have any other thoughts on how to get a softer crust? Thank you for your videos and all of your helpful, detailed information.
You can cover the bread with aluminum foil while baking, but I will often use a ziplock bag to make it soft, too 🙂
Super recipe!!!!Thank You:)))I just found your YouTube channel, you bake amazing things!I write from Switzerland, I have been baking with sourdough for 3 years. I buy the flour from a small village near Bern.I have already baked it with Zweikorn flour, I recommend it, try it once!
Have a nice day,
Ani
Please clarify. In video I thought I heard you say to add 155 grams water but recipe calls for 550 grams water. Before having a failure please clarify.
Yes, you heard 155 grams, but the site will always be more correct because I can edit it after the fact, so it’s 550 grams of water.
I am new to Einkorn sourdough making, I know that sourdough bread should have an internal temperature of 205 – 210. Is this the same for baking with Einkorn. I took the bread out of the pan, after the 45 minutes, but by the time the temperature got up to 205, the crust became very hard. I let the bread cool, then put it in a ziplock bag. The bread tasted wonderful. I am also at 5500 foot elevation which can affect baking. I’m jJust wondering if you think I should leave it in the pan until it reaches 205, or if you have any other thoughts on how to get a softer crust? Thank you for your videos and all of your helpful, detailed information.
You can cover the bread with aluminum foil while baking, but I will often use a ziplock bag to make it soft, too 🙂