Spelt bread in a pot

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 670 ml water, lukewarm
• 2 ½ tsp, heaped sugar or 22 g honey
• 14 g dry yeast
• 940 g spelt flour, freshly and finely ground or type 1050
• 3 tsp, heaped salt
• 1 tsp bread spice mix, if desired
• 100 g sunflower seeds or similar, if desired
• Flour for the work surface

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 5 minutes

Use either a 3-liter cast iron pot with a cast iron lid or an oven-safe pot with a diameter of approximately 24 cm and a height of 14 cm. Mix the water, yeast, and sugar until well dissolved and let rise in a warm place for 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour with the salt and add the optional ingredients. Add the water, yeast, and sugar mixture and, using your hands—this is very important—knead everything into a smooth dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This takes about 10-15 minutes. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. I usually put my bowl in the oven at 50°C (fan oven). In the meantime, line the pot with baking paper to prevent sticking. Then put the lid on the pot and place the pot on the second rack from the bottom of the oven. Preheat at 200°C with fan-assisted oven or 200°C with top/bottom heat. The same baking temperature is used for both baking methods. After the proving time, transfer the dough from the bowl to a floured work surface and fold it 6-8 times from the outside to the middle, lifting the dough slightly from the outside all the way around and folding it into the middle. If it sticks too much to your hands or work surface, dust it with a little more flour. After about 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Be careful, it is very hot! Open the lid. Place the folded, round loaf with the folded side down in the pan on the baking paper. Replace the lid and place the pan back in the oven. After 75 minutes of baking, the bread is ready. Now remove the pan from the oven. But be careful, it is still very hot! Remove the lid and let the bread stand for about another 10 minutes. Then turn it out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.