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On Thursday, I mixed a dough much like the last, but with spelt instead of all-purpose. I also went for a ratio of 2:1:1, primarily whole wheat.

• 3 c. water
• 1½ tbsp. yeast
• 1½ tbsp. salt
• 3 ¼ c. whole wheat flour
• 1 5/8 c. oatmeal
• 1 5/8 c. spelt flour

Last night (Friday), I had to squeeze in baking around a busy social life. I took the dough out of the fridge and had it sit out on the kitchen counter for what turned into 3 hours as I went out. Rikki preheated the oven ahead of time for me, so when I got back home, I plopped the dough onto a hot baking stone, 350°F. I think it baked for maybe 80 minutes this time. I lost count. My goal was to get the inside cooked.

I just ate some for breakfast. It's a bitch to slice: the outside crust is tough. (This should soften in the coming days.) The first slice flew off the cutting board and rolled onto the floor. The inside is still pretty soft and wet, but better than all my previous attempts with whole wheat.

Taste-wise, it's really good. The dark, graininess of the whole wheat is still the main flavor, but the spelt adds a sweet softness to temper the rough dryness. As for the oatmeal, I can't even tell it's present. Visually and flavor-wise, it just sort of melted away into the other flour. I'm sure it adds a bunch nutritionally, so I'll probably keep some in my dough, but it's overshadowed by the other large flavors.

A ratio I'll want to try next is 2:2:1, with the lowest being oatmeal. This translates to 2.6 cups each of whole wheat and spelt and 1.3 cups of oatmeal for a 2-loaf batch. (I'm doing everything I can to keep all-purpose out of it.) Maybe this will be the magical ratio for these 3 flours.

I also want to try some blends using rye. I haven't used rye since probably January. I'm not really sure what to mix it with. Spelt is my obvious choice. Perhaps another 2:1:1 with whole wheat dominating.

I'm still thinking about using mashed potatoes one day. Maybe potato, spelt, and rye with some fennel and caraway thrown in for good measure.