I’ve been looking for a dough docker to make the knackebrod but no luck yet. I think you could also do the same thing with a fork but it’s way more work. Hopefully after Christmas I’ll have more time to experiment! In the meantime if you figure out how to make it let me know! I have a recipe for limpa from an old Swedish lady sitting here just waiting for the time…

“When dough made with wheat flour is kneaded, gluten forms when glutenin molecules cross-link to make a sub-microscopic network and associates with gliadin, which contributes viscosity and extensibility to the mix.[5] If such dough is leavened with yeast, sugar fermentation produces bubbles of carbon dioxide which, trapped by the gluten network, cause the dough to swell or rise. Baking coagulates the gluten, which, along with starch, stabilizes the shape of the final product. [...]

Kneading promotes the formation of gluten strands and cross-links, so a baked product is chewier in proportion to how much the dough is worked. Increased wetness of the dough also enhances gluten development.[9] Shortening inhibits formation of cross-links, so it is used, along with diminished water and minimal working, when a tender and flaky product, such as pie crust, is desired.

Gluten, dried and milled to powder and added to ordinary flour dough, improves rising and increases the bread’s structural stability and chewiness,[10]. Such doughs must be worked vigorously if they are to rise to their full capacity, so a bread machine or food processor may be required for their kneading.

When cooked in broth, gluten absorbs some of the surrounding liquid (including the taste) and becomes firm to the bite, so is widely used in vegetarian, vegan and Buddhist cuisines as a meat substitute. “

Now, unlike you, I’ve never been much of a baker (been making white flour boules and pizza for many years, but that’s about it) but, thanks to you again , I’m now making different kinds of soaked 100% whole grain recipes. That Syrian bread is the only white flour bread we still consume. This is a huge change for us.

The Weston Price foundation and your blog have been a godsend to us.

The third huge change this year has been joining a CSA program. Your writings made me realize that we too should look into this, even if it meant having to spend more money up front.

The fourth, and extremely important health-wise, change was replacing sugar with raw honey and using virgin coconut oil. With this change we’ve gone from craving sweets like crazy just minutes after dinner to no cravings for sweet whatsoever (I’ve lost a good chunk of weight, btw). All we eat these days for dessert is fruit. Haven’t had ice cream in months.

Re: knäckebröd, I keep buying it (even though it comes all the way from Sweden …) because I researched the brand and, from what I’ve read, this knäckebröd is supposedly made with sprouted rye. I also read that it’s the tiny holes all over the bread what gives it that distinctive crispness (with one side having deeper holes than the other).

Please excuse my very long-winded comments, I just can’t help it, it seems. 8}

I’ll post the answer to the vital wheat gluten separately.

I’ve learned so many wonderful things since I started reading your blog, Annette. I’m so grateful to you for that.

I will never be able to turn my household into a sustainability haven like yours, at least for as long as we remain in this part of the country. The growing season here is so short and, well, the North East is just so ass backwards, you know.

But, thanks to what I’ve learned from you, we are saving money and eating excellent locally grown protein AND 80% of the bread we eat is made with home-milled whole grain (the other 20% is this amazing Syrian white flat bread I am not yet ready to give up – it’s from a local bakery – and a wonderful knäckebröd from Sweden, I know, I know… sigh…) and now I’m even planning a small vegetable garden! I don’t know how successful this endeavor will be (hubby will fell a number of tall pine trees in Feb, hopefully that’ll provide a couple of more hours of direct sunlight), but I will try my best.

I will winter sow the seeds and transplant the seedlings to raised beds in early May. Wish me luck!

You are such an inspiration!

About Diana’s pitas, please do try them. She wrote about wanting to add a bit more honey and some vital wheat gluten for a better rise and softer crumb so I went ahead and added 1 tablespoon of vwg per cup of flour and about a tablespoon of honey. They turned out perfect with a crumb just dense enough (they didn’t completely deflate and made the perfect pocket for sandwiches) and very soft.

No, I’ve never made my own pita chips. For that I will have to double the recipe, I’m afraid, because the eight pitas I got from Diana’s recipe lasted exactly a day and half (and we are just two people).

Just remember to adjust the water when you make her recipe.

I’ll have to try Diana’s bread – I’ve been playing around with mine trying to get a denser crumb. I made pita bread last summer and still have some in the freezer – it was fun to watch it pop up and form the pockets! I’ve been thinking about pita bread lately because it makes such yummy baked chips that are perfect for dipping and tortilla chips are so much work and need to be fried to get them so light & crispy. Have you made pita chips yet?

What a wonderfully inspiring post. Thanks a lot.

Have you posted a recipe/method for those great looking tortillas? I’d love to give them a try.

BTW, I wanted to let you know that yesterday I made Diana’s (Iowa) soaked 100% whole wheat and spelt pitas and they came out fantastic. I had to tweak the recipe, adding quite a bit more water than her recipe calls for (read the comment about this I left for her an hour ago: http://spaininiowa.blogspot.com/2009/08/soaked-whole-wheat-pita-bread.html) but, other than that, her recipe produces the loveliest, most tender pitas I’ve ever tasted. We devoured them!