Spelt and Brown Rice Sourdough Recipe (Porridge Method)
 This recipe is really useful when you have leftover rice from dinner the night before, and want to make some very yummy full flavoured bread with it!
It's also adaptable for any cooked grain, whether leftover or specially cooked. The use of spelt, rather than wheat, makes it suitable for everyone. It's quite a dense loaf, but it's also really soft, so very kid friendly. I've just had a couple of slices with sour cream. That simple. It's already all there in the bread! Delicious!
You'll Need:
1kg of organic white spelt flour (if you want to use wholemeal spelt flour you will need to add extra water - probably try with an extra 10% liquid or about 50 mls water, and add judiciously as required)
 300g of cooked brown rice (last night's leftover rice is fine. Otherwise, cook up a small amount (no more than about 150 grams) according to the section on Using Whole Grains to get some tips on how to handle this).
300 grams of sourdough starter - old dough, wet starter, whatever you have or use mostly. It has to be ripe, but the porridge mix will help activity along nicely.
500 mls ml of warm water (always a flexible figure, but my last batch was exactly right at this volume. Use your common sense, but add say 400 mls first and add more as required, a little at a time.
24 grams of cooking salt
You'll also need:
Two Bread Tins. This recipe makes two Loaves of about a kilo each. You can experiment with tin sizes until you find one that suits this sourdough loaf. It will rise well, but it takes a while to rise.
Mixing bowl or large plastic box. Invaluable for the home sourdough baker, these boxes double as dough storage and proofer boxes. I never use my stainless mixing bowl any more either, now that the whole process occurs within one of these!
 Digital Scales. Gradients of 2 grams will be fine. Must be able to handle at least 2 kg.
Water Measuring Jug. About 2 litres will do. Here's a 1.75 litre container with alid. Very handy.
Dough Cutter. Again, every home baker should have one or more of these. I have several in different shapes, sizes and made out of different materials. They all have special uses.
These implements and utensils are available for home delivery through the SourdoughBaker Shop. While it's under construction at present, you'll can already purchase a wide range of specialist bakery flours, utensils, tools and equipment, plastic ware, sourdough starter and lots more. I freight Australia Post to anywhere in Australia. Buy bulk and save more than 12% too!
Method:
Mix almost all the fairly warm water in your Water Jug (warmer than luke warm) with the Starter, and cooled cooked brown rice, stirring them together to combine with a fork, till it's softened all the starter. You can leave this to stand for ten minutes if you like.The temperature of this can remain a little warm for a while. Stir it all together to form a loose paste with a large spoon.
Here's the mixture of cooked brown rice, sourdough starter and warmish water.
Pour the paste into the mixing bowl and combine the flour. You may need a splash more water to do this, but be sparing - at this stage the dough looks dry, but it will soften soon. I stir the flour around on top of the paste until it comes together, then proceed to the next stage. You may need to dribble a bit more water in as you do this. Just add a little at a time, because each time you add water the dough comes apart. Try to avoid this happening - so try adding as little as a tablespoon at a time.
 Turn with both hands roughly till you form a big chunk of dough, no matter how rough. Rough is good. It's a fairly tough dough, so it may take a bit of work. Don't be tempted to add too much water - the spelt will soften quite quickly after it's made, so don't be tricked by how tough the dough seems now. This is particularly so for white spelt. Work the dough until it begins to smooth out.
When it's beginning to become a smooth dough, allow to rest for half an hour, and move to the next stage. You can see I've had to add flour to the dough, because as predicted, it softened! Kneading in a bit more at this stage won't hurt.
Ready for a rest before the salt is added.
Add salt by wetting the dough with either a spray gun or wet hands, sprinkling the salt over the top of the wet dough. You will notice a dramatic transformation from the rough chunk you left an hour ago to this smooth thing in your hands now. That's 'Delayed Salt' at it's finest.
Knead it in until combined, which will be when the salt can't be felt as you knead. Round the dough, and leave with the seam on the bottom.
 Let the finished dough rest and rise for about three to four hours, depending on the season. It's ready when you poke it and there is little, if any, resistance. It feels like it has given up. Your finger marks will stay there for a while. If it resists, it isn't ready. If you run out of time, the dough in its covered container can be simply placed in the fridge. It will comfortably store for up to 12 hours there, and you can simply take it out and continue from where you left off, allowing for some thawing time.
Now cut the dough into two chunks of roughly one kilogram each. Round them, with the seam at the bottom. Rest for an hour or so. Again, if you poke the dough and it resists, it isn't ready yet. If it feels like it is giving in, it's ready.
Form into two cylinders, just by squeezing the bottom in with the outside of each of both hands, as if you are holding an open book in both palms. Spray or wipe with water, and dust with semolina or wholemeal flour or bran. Place dusted dough in a pre oiled bread tin.
While still in the box, Dust with rice flour and slash with three diagonal slashes along the loaf. Slash deeply, as this is a dense loaf. I don't gostraight in either - I use the blade at about 30 degrees to the length of the cylinder - as if it has a bone down the middle which you don't want to hit.
Place dusted and slashed loaves in pre oiled tins for final proofing.
When the tin is broached by about a quarter of the dough inside, in other words when the dough has risen to completely fill the tin, it's ready for baking. If you've made good dough, you can achieve a good height in this loaf. It's all in the turns!
Bake at 160 degrees in a prepared oven (see 'how to use an oven properly') for 45 to 60 minutes.
If you like a really thick crust, wind the oven down to 140 and bake for another half hour.
This recipe tends to be consistently delicious. It is quite a dense but very soft loaf. The brown rice gives it a really moorish flavour too. Seriously, try to stop at one slice!
Other Sourdough Recipes in this site include:
White Sourdough, using a wet starter
White Sourdough, using the old dough method
Spelt Sourdough
Wholemeal Sourdough
Light Rye Sourdough
Medium Rye Sourdough
Continental bread
Feel free to investigate and refer to this site as a resource.
For more Sourdough Breadmaking information, recipes and resources - read on!
If you would like to flesh out your knowledge about sourdough breadmaking at home, have a look at the Recommended Reading section. I have listed a number of my all time favourite breadmaking books there. Follow the links if you would like to purchase any of the books online. Remember, if you buy a book through this site, it will help me to continue building this free sourdough breadmaking resource.
Have a look at SourdoughBaker's Online Shop. A dedicated shop for the keen home baker.
Some of the things you'll find in the SourdoughBaker Shop include:
- Ingredient Supply, including flours and hard to get home baker essentials
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- Books and articles about Artisan breadmaking and pastrycookery, including specialist compliations
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- Sourdough Starter Supply, in both dried and fresh forms.
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Happy Sourdough Baking!
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