Homemade Bread -- Sprouted Buckwheat Sourdough

[retiredEE]

My EZ Sourdough recipe got a new twist today with the addition of sprouted buckwheat groats added to the original recipe. I am a big fan of buckwheat for several reasons. I'm using it for ground cover in my small garden. Most of it with be mulched back into the soil before it flowers to enhance the soil quality. Its flowers attract essential pollination bees that makes sure my squash won't wither on the vines. And of course it has more nutritional value than our staple grains like wheat, rice or corn. This is where I wanted to add more buckwheat to the sourdough but quickly learned that adding more buckwheat flour was not the answer. It is like salt where a little bit improves the flavor but too much and you ruin your creation.

We used to buy sprouted bread to address my high cholesterol and triglycerides levels and when it wasn't so very expensive. It tasted a bit like cardboard but worked wonders on my levels. When you sprout grains or seeds it transforms it into a more viable human friendly food source. Similar to the fermentation process it breaks down and converts antinutrients — such as phytates and lectins — which are compounds found in seeds, nuts, grains, and legumes that interfere with the nutrient absorption. Sprouting turns the seed or grain essentially into a vegetable. Where adding more buckwheat flour makes the bread bitter, adding toasted sprouts gives it a sweet nutty flavor. The amount of sprouts to add was my only question, so googling it and I found Maurizio at the perfect loaf was thinking along the same lines. https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sprouted-buckwheat-sourdough/

Maurizio has no limits on ingredients or steps in making the ultimate bread loaf but I prefer to keep things simple. It is the law of diminishing returns that restrains me. So I modified my EZ sourdough (see my very first post) to:
450g BF (bread flour)
25g buckwheat flour
12g sea salt
300g warm pure water
80g starter
100g sprouted buckwheat (~ 60g toasted)
Black pepper or Cardamom (finely ground) to taste

I doubled the amount of sprouts (21% baker percentage) that Maurizio uses and toasted (slightly browned) them in a non-stick skillet to enhance their nuttiest. I used Anthony's Organic Buckwheat Groats (5 lb) from Amazon ($0.32 per oz) which sprouted in 20hrs before I refrigerated it to slow it down. Add the toasted sprouts to the dry ingredients first and mixed to distribute them evenly before adding the wet ingredients. My cast iron bread Dutch oven is only 2 quarts and puts a limit on the oven spring I can get so reducing the original 500g BF to 450g should help. The crown on the prebake is limited to the rise level that just starts to flow over the edge of the bottom pan. The oven spring fills the entire top half of the lid and could go higher if it had room. Many times I would like to bake 2 loafs at the same time and have been looking into a more cost effective solution than the over priced Loafnest. I'm not sure why a rectangular cast iron bread pan should cost so much compared to a round Dutch oven. I found a bottom only 1 pound cast iron pan for $25 on Amazon that has the potential of filling my requirements with a little modifications (see picture). Search Amazon for "Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Bread & Loaf Pan, Meatloaf Pan". I will add a cast iron handle just like I did on my Loafnest and 2 alignment pins between the top and bottom pan. The 2 bread pans arrived today and the cast finish is a bit rough and definitely not pre-seasoned. My original LoafNest holds 4 1/2 cups, the new pan holds 6 cups and is 1.5 inches higher when stacked in Dutch oven mode. I 3D printed 2 proofing baskets that fit the inside dimensions and will oil and season the pans before bake day.

You can find more details at Maurizio link above to help build upon my information shared here.

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