I must admit,  after reading several bakers’ experiences with Khorasan (or Kamut®  which is a brand name for the product), I was a little intimidated to even try baking with this ancient grain. But we promised this series of Ancient Grain including Einkorn, Emmer, Khorasan, and Spelt, so I have got to give it a try.

Trial #1 – Khorasan Flour and Whole Kamut®

At Breadtopia Eric did three experiments with his Kamut (Khorasan) Sourdough Bread. One using 100% Kamut, one using 40%, and one using 20%. When done he wrote, “I recommend trying the 40% whole grain for a nice balance of fluffy open crumb and whole-grain nutrition.” I probably should have taken his advice, because my best loaf was just 40% Khorasan wheat.

His experiments made me wonder if anyone used 100% Khorasan. I liked this recipe from Bio-Oz Sourdough  for Khorasan Bread. They used their own White Khorasan flour and  Whole Khorasan flour. Not knowing the difference, I used West Mountian Wheat Khorasan flour that they had on hand for me to test. To that, I freshly ground some Yupik Organic Kamut Grain that I had purchased online. I was excited but this is what I got:

100% Khorasan flour yielded a delicious, heavy loaf with a poor rise and closed crumb

You can download a print-friendly recipe for Bio-Oz Sourdough Khorasan Bread here.

Also before mixing the dough, I took the time to watch “How To Make Sourdough Bread Easy Way – Spelt, Kamut, Khorasan, Einkorn, Emmer – All Ancient Wheats.” His approach is quite simple and combined with the Bio-Oz recipe I am ready for Trail #1.

The dough seemed dry during the autolyse period, so  I added ½ cup (120 g) more water to get the flour moist. That was a big mistake. This dough seems to hydrate very slowly and by adding more water, once the starter was in, it got very wet and sloppy. Then during the bulk ferment, which was just 4 hours,  the dough became too wet to handle for any stretching and folding. So I poured it into a parchment-lined stoneware pot, patted it smooth with wet hands, and left it to proof overnight, which just turned out to be just six hours. (Sometimes making a new bread recipe gets me so excited I just can’t sleep).

In the morning, it seemed over-proofed. I tried to score it, but as you can see it was just too wet and flowed back over the cut. I baked it anyway for 30 minutes at 500°F (260°C). Then I left it in the unopened, hot oven for another hour as it cooled to “cure” it.

This tasted really great once you got past the dense crumb and the hockey puck appearance, it had a good crust with a beautiful golden color. But this kind of loaf is far from the artisan look I am after.

This loaf was made with 60% West Mountain Khorasan wheat flour and 40% whole grain flour made from Yupik Kamut®; the flavor is so good I will try this again.

Trial #2 – Khorasan Flour and Whole Kamut® Long Cold Ferment

Chef Billy Parisi above slicing into his Khorasan loaf

Before Trail #2, I found Chef Billy Parisi’s Kamut Flour Bread Recipe with Biga. His biga called for a tiny bit of bakers yeast, so I adjusted mine with just sourdough starter and 2 heaping cups (275 g) of Khorasan flour and ¾ cup+1 Tbl (198 g) filtered water. This seemed too dry again, but my lesson was learned so I let it go. It activated quickly and got wetter.

Bigas usually develop overnight. Mine was ready in just 6 hours so I combined 1⅓ cups (350 g) filtered water with 2 cups (240 g) Khorasan flour and 2 cups (240 g) of whole-Kamut flour to give it a 30 minute autolyse. After 30 minutes I mixed in the biga with 1 Tbl (18 g) salt pinching the dough together to combine the bigs and the salt. Over the next hour and a half, I did three sets of stretching and folding and then put the dough into the fridge overnight.

I proofed the dough overnight in the refrigerator to see if I could stiffen dough enough to make a boule. I used a brotform to see if I could get the look I am after.