Looks great! I recently started making the no knead breads. They're so easy! I've made a white loaf and 3 whole wheat/white flour loaves so far. I used the recipe where you let the dough sit for 12-18 hours, covered, fold it over, let it rise 2 hours and then bake in a Dutch oven. I think I'll try the Asiago recipe you've posted. Thanks! Robin

I don't know about spelt being "healthier", because there are health benefits to consuming whole grains in general, and all whole grains have their redeeming qualities over refined flour. I only use freshly-milled spelt because that's the only way to get all the nutrients available in the grain - Fresh Is Best.... I use a large variety of freshly-milled grains/seeds/beans in baked goods. This link will give you a nutritional comparison: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=148&utm_source=rss_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_feed Spelt is a little lower on the glycemic index of foods than wheat, probably because it hasn't been hybridized like wheat has and it has a higher protein level than wheat. Spelt is the ancient form of our modern red wheat varieties, while kamut is the ancient form of durum wheat (used for pasta/noodles). Spelt has a great nutritional profile and is often easier to digest for some people who find wheat difficult to digest. I like to feed my sourdough starter spelt flour because it is higher in carbohydrates than wheat flour. I use spelt (freshly-milled at home) mostly in baked goods like quick breads and cookies where I don't need a lot of gluten development. In fact, there are 100% spelt sugar cookies in the cookie jar this weekend. In bread recipes, I use spelt like I would other low-gluten flours (rye, barley, kamut, etc.), substituting it for 20-30 percent of the flour PLUS 1-2 T. vital wheat gluten, but there are plenty of recipes for 100% spelt bread. Vital wheat gluten is unnecessary in 100% whole wheat bread because I mill grain that is 13.1% protein, which is more than enough gluten to get a high rise. Adding too much vital wheat gluten will make bread tough. There are benefits using a sponge method when making 100% whole wheat breads, over using the more modern quick method (straight- or direct-dough method). When making whole wheat bread in the Zo, I use a sponge of at least 2-1/2 hours, but generally an overnight sponge. The loaves are as high-rising and nearly as light in texture as any white bread. However, I never bake breads in the Zo. The gluten level of spelt, and the type of gluten protein in spelt, is much different from wheat. Gluten in spelt is around 5,000 parts per million compared to wheat which begins at 50,000 parts per million and go up from there. Gluten in wheat is like a sponge in your dough soaking up hydration, so when using spelt in a recipe designed for wheat flour, you will either use less liquid or more flour to get the correct hydration using spelt. The gluten in spelt also takes less time to develop, so not as much kneading is required. If you like using spelt, I'd suggest the book "The Spelt Cookbook" by Helga Hughes. She uses wholegrain spelt flour and "white" spelt flour (with the bran and germ removed) in the book. For people who have difficulty digesting wheat (this doesn't include people who are gluten intolerant), you may find you can use sprouted spelt flour (link below), or other sprouted flours. Recipe for a bread machine... SPELT BREAD (source: Bread Machines For Dummies - by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita) 1-1/2# loaf with changes for 2# in (----) 3/4 c. (1 c. + 1 T.) water 2 T. (3 T.) vegetable oil 2 T. (3 T.) sugar 1 t. (1-1/2 t.) salt 3 c. (4 c.) spelt flour 2-1/4 t. (1 T.) Active Dry Yeast 1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. 2. Place the ingredients in the pan in the order listed. 3. Select a Basic, White, or Normal cycle and a medium crust color. Press Start. Variation: You can make a cinnamon raisin bread with this recipe by adding 2 t. of cinnamon and 3/4 c. raisins to the 1-1/2-pound loaf. If you are making the 2-pound loaf, use the same amount of cinnamon but increase the raisins to 1 c. Be sure the raisins are a bit dry or they will disintegrate in the bread. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Summers Sprouted Flours

Teresa, this bread is so good even after making major screw ups. Decided to try it in the bread machine on dough cycle with baking in the oven. Just as I was preparing to drain the fruit and add it, I found out a person I'd contacted about getting some fertile chicken eggs from to set under my broody hen had six for me. Out of show quality roosters and for free. And he said come and get them now. The bell rang for the addition of the drained fruit and nuts. I knew I hadn't drained the fruit enough, but I was in a hurry. Took off and halfway to my destination realized the dough cycle would be over a good while before I'd get back home. Sorry, but I really wanted those special eggs. The guy showed me all his show birds and got a lot of info from him. By the time I got back home I think the dough cycle had been done for two hours. I had a very wet dough that had risen in the pan then collapsed. Oh well, try to save it. Dumped it out on a liberally floured surface and kneaded in more flour, put it in the pans and let it rise. It did rise a little over the top of the pans.Tried my best and stuck it in the oven. It came out at 25 minutes completely done and beautiful except I didn't get the fruit and nuts distributed well. I've already eaten nearly half a loaf. Love it! Next time I think I'll add more cinnamon, follow the recipe on draining the fruit and not running out in the middle of it to get fertile eggs. Madonna

Those are lovely! Re sourness, if you want a really sour flavor, use less starter and no yeast and let it do a really slow rise. At least, that's what I've read. :) You can also get more sour by feeding up with newly milled flour which still has lots of wild yeasts and other stuff, which I've experienced myself. My whole wheat starter is much sourer because of that, and the 3/4 white buns I made recently with my white starter, and sugar, but no yeast, have hardly any tang at all. How fun to have a clay oven to play with!