Sangak (yeast gravel-tray home method)

Overview

Sangak is a long, irregular leavened bread from Iran. Iranica describes it as baked on small stones, which is the defining step: the loaf goes onto a bed of hot stones instead of a plain tray. This record covers one home method of that bread, a yeasted dough of wholemeal and bread flour baked on a tray of gravel-like stones in an ordinary oven.

The method is a documented adaptation of the stone-baked tradition, not a formula the sources present as the standard household bread. A separate record on this site covers a sourdough baking-sheet version with a different leaven and a different bake.

How the dough rises

Here the yeast drives the rise. The dough is mixed in two stages: the yeast is first dissolved in a small amount of warm water, then the salt and remaining water and flours are added. The dough then rests for 7 to 8 hours in an oiled bowl, which the recipe calls overnight, before a short kneading.

The recipe does not measure the rise, give a dough temperature, or say how the wholemeal flour changes the texture compared with bread flour alone.

The stone bed

The recipe calls for a tray of gravel-like stones heated in the oven at 250 °C for 30 minutes before the bread is slid onto them. The stones are the feature that separates this bake from a sheet-pan loaf.

The stones’ material is not stated, and it is not established that every stone is suitable for food contact or heating. Check the material and how it is handled before use. Golden colour is the only doneness cue given.

Limits and open questions

The recipe gives no yield, no sesame or oil amount beyond the bowl, and no storage time. Bake times and colour cues are the source's own and have not been validated for safety. The process has not been tested against an internal temperature or a measured endpoint.