🥖Baking Tips with Tritordeum for Artisan Bakers

🥖Baking Tips with Tritordeum for Artisan Bakers

Tritordeum is a unique cereal, the result of a natural cross between durum wheat (Triticum durum) and a wild barley (Hordeum chilense). It is not a GMO, but the outcome of more than 50 years of classical breeding in Spain. Its sustainable cultivation and nutritional properties —high prrotein, fiber, lutein, and healthy fatty acids— make it an innovative, Mediterranean alternative to common wheat.

But how does it behave in the bakery? Here are some practical tips for working with 100% Tritordeum flour in artisan breadmaking.

Understanding its baking profile

Tritordeum flour shows:

• High protein content (>13%), though with weaker gluten than common wheat.
• High water absorption capacity (≥70%).
• Rich in fiber and arabinoxylans, adding satiety and texture.
• Strong natural enzymatic activity, which accelerates fermentation and shortens proofing times.
• A natural golden hue, thanks to its abundance of lutein, adding nutritional value and visual appeal.

Hydration and autolyse

• Use ≥70% water relative to flour.
• For high hydration doughs (>75%), apply an autolyse (resting flour and water before kneading) to ensure proper hydration and avoid over-kneading.

Gentle and short kneading

• Tritordeum’s gluten cannot withstand intensive kneading.
• Aim for a short, low-speed mix, just until you obtain a smooth, shiny, homogeneous dough.
• Control the final dough temperature: ideally 22 °C (for baguettes) and up to 24 °C (for loaves).

Controlled fermentation

• Tritordeum responds very well to long, cold fermentation, which enhances flavor and structure.
• During bulk fermentation, use stretch and fold techniques to strengthen the gluten network.
• The second proofing must be short:
  • Baguettes: <15 min.
  • Loaves: up to 45 min.
• Avoid proofing above 25 °C, as the strong enzymatic activity quickly weakens the gluten structure.

Baking

• Baguettes: bake at 250 °C with steam, then lower to 230 °C after 10 minutes; total baking time <30 min.
• Loaves (500 g): bake at 230 °C for about 40 min.
• The result is bread with a golden crumb, crispy crust, and a naturally sweet Mediterranean aroma.

Extra tips to enhance baking

• Incorporating sourdough (up to 30% of flour weight) or a poolish (up to 40%) improves water absorption and flavor.
• If higher stability is needed, it can be blended with wheat flour, but Tritordeum can be baked at 100% in artisan processes.
• Industrial baking may require enzyme correctors and additives, but these are not necessary for craft baking.

🚫 Common Baking Mistakes with Tritordeum

Working with Tritordeum is rewarding, but its unique properties mean that some habits from wheat baking can lead to failure. Watch out for these pitfalls:

1. Low hydration 💧 – Tritordeum flour absorbs more water than wheat. If the dough is too dry, you’ll get a dense crumb. Aim for at least 70% hydration.
2. Over-kneading 🌀 – Its gluten is weaker and breaks down easily. Long or intensive kneading damages the dough structure. Keep kneading short and gentle.
3. High dough temperature 🌡️ – Above 24 °C the dough loses tolerance. For baguettes, stay closer to 22 °C.
4. Overlong bulk fermentation ⏳ – Extended resting times weaken the gluten network and make the dough sticky. Use shorter bulk proofs.
5. Too warm/long final proofing 🕒 – Tritordeum’s strong enzymatic activity accelerates fermentation. Avoid high temperatures (>25 °C) and shorten proofing times to preserve volume and structure.

👉 Mastering these points helps bakers bring out Tritordeum’s best: a golden loaf with sweet aroma, open crumb, and excellent digestibility.

👉 Final tip: If you still struggle to achieve a loaf with good volume, don’t hesitate to add 5–10% strong wheat flour to compensate for Tritordeum’s lower gluten strength. With practice and experience, you’ll be able to gradually reduce that percentage until you succeed in baking a 100% Tritordeum bread.

Added value for artisan bakers

Working with Tritordeum brings not only sensory differentiation (color, taste, aroma) but also a narrative aligned with today’s consumers:

• Health & Nutrition: more protein, fiber, lutein, and oleic acid.
• Sustainability: lower input requirements in the field, good resistance to disease.
• Exclusivity: a unique Mediterranean cereal, already embraced by consumers.

Tritordeum behaves like a medium-strength cereal with distinctive features that require small adjustments in the bakery. In return, it offers artisan bakers the chance to craft breads with a unique identity, natural golden color, and enhanced nutritional profile —a perfect fit for today’s demand for healthy and sustainable breads.