Sourdough baker John Mundinger blends Kernza with Kamut and spelt in this recipe, bringing together three heritage grains for a complex, flavorful loaf. A great way to explore how Kernza works alongside other whole grains.
Heirloom Kernza®
John Mundinger
One 2lb loaf of bread
24 hours
A multi-grain sourdough combining Kernza, Kamut, and spelt. Complex flavor with a long, slow ferment.
Ingredients
- 410 grams water (1 ¾ cups)
- 100 grams Kernza Flour (7/8 cup)
- 150 grams Kamut whole grain flour (1 1/3 cup)
- 150 grams whole wheat flour (1 1/3 cup)
- 100 grams spelt flour (7/8 cup)
- 75 grams ripe sourdough starter (1/3 cup)
- 9 grams sea salt (1 t)
Directions
- Mix together 410 grams of water, 100 grams Kernza, 150 grams Kamut, 100 grams spelt and 60 grams whole wheat flours and let stand for 2 hours (the autolyze).
- Blend 75 grams of ripe sourdough starter into the previous mixture.
- Mix the salt into the remaining whole wheat flour (90 grams) and blend into the dough. Mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Do a series of 4 or 5 “stretch & folds” at 30 minute intervals, resting the dough in between.
- Cover and let the dough stand at room temperature for an additional 2 to 4 hours. Then refrigerate the dough and bulk ferment for another 12 hours. During the bulk ferment, the dough should about double in volume.*
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, degas the dough and shape the dough. Place the dough into a proofing basket that has been dusted with rice flour. Cover and let stand for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in volume.
- Place the cloche in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Remove the pre-heated base of the cloche from the oven, place the dough onto the base, cover and return to the oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove the cloche cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.** The bread is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F.***
- Remove from the oven. Let cool for one hour and savor your handiwork.
John Mundinger
The basic bread that I bake uses a blend of flours, at least 75% whole grain and I usually include an addition. One addition that I have used is a sprouted grain (Kamut, quinuoa, lentils or garbanzo beans). So, it made sense to try sprouting Kernza berries (75 grams berries/loaf). After 4 days, fewer than half of the berries sprouted but I still used to result to bake a loaf. I followed the above recipe, blending the berries into the dough after adding the starter. Although the sprouting effort was marginal, the resulting loaf was satisfying. (sprouted Kernza loaf pic)
A soaker is another addition that I use. For the soaker, I toast 75 grains/loaf of some type of cereal (steel cut oats, rolled oats, multi-grain cereal etc.) over medium heat in a dry frying pan. The toasted grain is then soaked in 75 grams of water for 2 hours. I modified that method a bit when I made the Kernza soaker. It took a short 10 minutes to toast the berries. I removed the berries from the heat after the berries had turned to a reddish brown color. Other indications that the process was complete were the aroma, the appearance of steam rising from the pan and the popping of some of the berries. Then, I covered the berries with water (Toasted Kernza soaker pic) and let that stand for four hours before draining and adding to the dough. The resulting bread has a robust flavor and a pleasant crunch. (Toasted Kernza crumb pic)