Bread-Bakers v113.n026.6

Hi, Trevor,

Yes, I suspect that the flour you use is the main culprit of the 
change in behavior. Bran is very absorbent, which is why whole-grain 
wheat breads (or "whole meal" as you say) require more water for the 
same weight of flour. If your new flour has less bran, then it will 
need less water.

So some suggestions include:

* slightly reduce the amount of water
* dust the bannetons with rice flour (or a mixture of rice + wheat flour)
* replace some of the flour with whole-grain wheat flour

Some other things I noticed about your procedure:

* 12 hours seems like a *very* long proof, even for a dough that is 
leavened only with levain. I find it easy to imagine that practically 
any dough would stick after 12 hours.

* I worry that your procedure for maintaining your culture is far 
from optimal. Typically each refreshment cycle consists of combining 
a small amount of old starter with a much larger amount of new water 
and flour (the ratios change depending on how wet you want the 
starter to be--yours is at 100% hydration).

For example, if one wants to maintain a liquid starter (like yours) 
and you want to refresh every 12 hours, then I recommend you mix in 
the following proportion: 100 g flour to 100 g water to 30 g old 
starter. (And since you're using spelt, not wheat, you might need a 
little less water.) Let ferment in a covered container for 12 hours 
at room temperature. Then use some in your dough (and use some of the 
leftover to start a new refreshment cycle).

Happy baking,
Allen
San Francisco