[Sca-cooks] Pea Flour/Bread

[Micheal]

 Funny you such mention such a topic as Peas Bread. Just finished trying to 
make some. Came to a conclusion pretty much the same as yours, it don`t like 
rising. Chic pea flour at least so I went looking deeper surprise found 
recipes for everything except wheat style raised breads. Quite right tends 
to keep lots of moisture, gets a crunchy crust and soft almost doughy 
inside. I went towards flat breads it seems to work better just have to get 
use to it is all. Before anyone says, there is no wheat flour in what I was 
trying to make  because of allergies the lady has.
 Actually asked that question earlier last week I think it was.
 Cealian
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Volker Bach" <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pea Flour/Bread


> 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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