[Sca-cooks] Pea Flour/Bread

[Volker Bach]

Am Freitag, 22. Juli 2005 16:31 schrieb Vladimir Armbruster:
> Good gentles,
>
>     My next experiment (and no, I haven't given up on period sundrieds yet)
> is to attempt to bake a few loaves of pea flour bread.  Has anyone here had
> any experience on the topic?  I know I could check the Florilegium (Which I
> can spell without checking now), but since the list has been quiet, thought
> I'd get a conversation going along with that Farmers market one.

I've tried a mix of pea flour and coarse-ground wheat to approximate the 
cheaper grades of souther European breads. It worked fairly well. I'm still 
looking for victims to test a rye-oat-pea flour mix. 

> What I'm looking for is:
> Can you buy it commercially?

Not hereabouts. The only thing I could found was pease puree, which comes 
pre-seasoned with salt, various herbs and MSG. You might be lucky at organic 
places. I had to grind split peas in my tabletop handmill. 

> How does it bake?

Slowly. It doesn't rise very well (surprise) and holds moisture for a long 
time. I used a commercial courdough starter (I don't bake frequently enough 
to raise my own) and it ended up reasponably nice, with a dense, soft, 
slightly spongey body and a hard, crunchy crust, but it was still nowhere 
near the light texture of wheat bread. 

> What considerations do you need to make in regards to taste/texture/cooking
> times?

The pease gave my bread a slightly sweetish aftertaste and made it very dense 
and thick. It doesn't cut well and can't be crumbled when fresh. And I found 
that I had to extend cooking times twice, lowering the temperature each time. 
You may fare well starting at a lower temperature to stop the top crust from 
hardening too soon (that may be behind part of my batch's refusal to rise). 
Howeverm I'd also consider folling around with smaller loaves and high 
temperatures, just to see what happens. I've never done it, but I suspect it 
may result in a crustier, fluffier bread for small, flat loaves. 

As to all-pea flour bread, I'm, not sold on the idea. Would it even hold 
together without a mould?

Good project, and please let me know how it turns out. I don't bake often 
enough.

Giano


	

	
		
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