Flour
Spelt flour: what it is, why it tears, and the loaf it makes
It carries more protein than ordinary flour and makes a shorter loaf. The problem is not how much gluten there is: it is what kind, and there is a number that explains it.
At a glance
- Strength (W)
- not measured
- Protein
- 12.5% to 18.4% *
- Water absorption
- 56% to 62%
- Stability
- not measured
- Ash
- not measured
- Origin
- Dos Balcãs à Alemanha e à Suíça, cultivada desde cerca de 5000 a.C.
- Grain
- farro spelta (Triticum spelta), trigo vestido
Sources disagree. Spelt protein figures vary far more than common wheat's. The literature records 12.49% to 18.40% depending on cultivar, soil and management; one Italian wholemeal datasheet declares a 16% to 20% band. But that is not the number that matters. On the same sheet, measured protein is 17% and dry gluten only 10%. The distance between those two values is what describes spelt.
What it is called in each country
| Country | Called |
|---|---|
| English | spelt (UK e US); Dinkel na Alemanha e na Áustria |
| Português | espelta (às vezes vendida como trigo espelta) |
| Italiano | farro spelta (farro grande); dicocco e monococco são outros farros |
| Français | grand épeautre; o petit épeautre é engrain, outra espécie |
| Español | espelta |
The recipe
Ingredients
| Amount | baker's % | |
|---|---|---|
| Spelt flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Water | 330 g | 66% |
| Honey | 15 g | 3% |
| Butter, soft | 25 g | 5% |
| Salt | 9 g | 1.8% |
| Instant dry yeast | 5 g | 1% |
Method
- Mix everything except the butter into a homogeneous dough. Knead 5 minutes at most. This is where most people go wrong: spelt does not survive long kneading, and going past the point tears a network that was fragile to begin with.
- Add the butter and work 2 minutes more, just until it disappears.
- The dough stays soft and slightly tacky, and the windowpane never goes as thin as with common wheat. Stop when it looks smooth: that is enough.
- Bulk ferment 45 to 60 minutes at 25 °C.
- Shape a cylinder without tightening it too hard and set it in a greased 20 cm tin. The tin is not laziness: spelt gluten spreads, and without side walls the loaf comes out flat.
- Short final proof, 35 to 45 minutes. Bake when the dough reaches 1 cm below the rim, not later. Over-proofed spelt collapses in the oven.
- Bake at 190 °C for 35 to 40 minutes, until the centre reads 94 to 96 °C.
- Turn out and cool on a rack. The nutty flavour shows up more the next day.
What it is for
Tin bread, enriched sweet doughs, pancakes, cakes, biscuits and fresh pasta. Anything that gains from a nutty flavour and does not depend on a strong gluten network to hold structure.
In a blend it is excellent: 20% to 30% spelt inside a common wheat dough brings flavour and colour without taking away strength.
And sourdough suits it well, as long as it is quick. Spelt carries more free sugars than common wheat and the ferment wakes up fast.
When not to use it
Long fermentation. This is spelt's real limit, and the reason has a name: the ratio of gliadins to glutenins runs between 2.8 and 4.0 in spelt, against 1.5 to 3.1 in common wheat. Gliadin gives extensibility, glutenin gives elasticity. With too much gliadin, the dough stretches easily and does not spring back, so it spreads sideways instead of climbing.
In practice: no 24 hours in the fridge, no 15 minute mix in the machine, no thick-crusted free-standing loaf. All of that works with common wheat and takes spelt apart.
How to use it
Three adjustments and it behaves.
Less water. The mill sheet gives absorption between 56% and 62%, below an ordinary white flour. If you use your usual hydration you will think you misread the scale. Start 5 points under what you would use with wheat.
Less kneading. Five minutes is plenty. Spelt's network arrives fast and breaks fast, and there is no clear warning: the dough simply goes slack and never comes back.
Less final proof. Bake it looking slightly under. It is counter-intuitive and it is what separates a handsome spelt loaf from one that collapses in the first half of the bake.
And use a tin when you can. The side support is what makes up for a gluten that will not hold itself up.
The story
Spelt is a hulled wheat: the husk clings to the grain and only comes off mechanically after harvest. That husk is the reason for the plant's whole story. It shields the grain from pests, disease and damp in the field, which makes the crop nearly self-sufficient, but it also forces an extra dehulling step at the mill.
The species has been cultivated since around 5000 BC, from the Balkans to Germany and Switzerland. It survived antiquity intact and began to fade in the 18th and 19th centuries, when free-threshing wheats arrived, releasing their grain on their own at harvest and yielding more per hectare. By the 20th century spelt had all but vanished from commercial agriculture, holding on in pockets of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium.
What brought it back was the organic movement of the late 20th century, and for a practical reason rather than a nostalgic one: that husk removes the need for much of the crop protection. The plant that lost because of its hull came back because of it.
Frequently asked
- Does spelt contain gluten? Is it safe for coeliacs?
- It contains gluten and it is not safe for coeliacs. Spelt is a wheat species, and its gluten triggers the same reaction. Some people without coeliac disease find it easier to digest, but that is a separate question.
- Can I substitute spelt for wheat in the same recipe?
- You can, taking out 5% to 10% of the water and cutting a third off the kneading and proofing time. The loaf comes out shorter and tastier. To keep the volume, use 30% spelt and 70% wheat.
- Are spelt and farro the same thing?
- It depends on the language. In Italian, farro covers three species: farro grande is spelt, farro medio is emmer and farro piccolo is einkorn. Outside Italy, farro usually means emmer. If the bag just says farro, check the species on the label.
- Why did my spelt loaf collapse?
- Almost always too long a final proof, too long a mix, or both. Cut the last rise by a third and get it in the oven earlier than instinct tells you.