100% Rye Sourdough
I just finished reading "In Search of the Perfect Loaf" by Samuel Fromartz. As a "bread geek", I enjoyed the book very much. In one chapter he writes about his rye journey in Berlin. That chapter along with all the rye bread photos I am seeing posted by Stan's testers made me crave some rye bread. I missed the opportunity to become a recipe tester since Stan's reply to me ended up in my spam folder and I didn't see it until it was too late. I guess it was flagged as spam because it was a bulk email to all who signed up. Oh well.
I tried to buy some rugbrot from Bar Tartine when I was there for brunch, but they were running low and couldn't sell me a loaf. I just couldn't catch a break. So I whipped up a 100% rye using Andy's Rossisky formula. Of course "whipped up" is a relative term. There's not a lot hands on time at all. It was pretty much... Mix. Wait. Mix. Wait. Spread. Wait. Bake. Wait. Cut. Eat.
Overall hydration was about 84% and prefermented flour was about 37%. I scaled my ingredients for a 750 gram loaf. I didn't include bakers' percentages like I normally would because I didn't know how to calculate the percentages when so much of the flour was prefermented. But please see Andy's post (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/99318#comment-99318) for the percentages.
| Rye Sour | Grams |
|---|---|
| Whole grain rye | 150 |
| Water | 225 |
| Rye SD starter culture | 22.5 |
I mixed all ingredients for the rye sour and let it ferment at room temp for about 18 hours. I like to wait until it has peaked and has just fallen back a bit.
| 100% Rye Sourdough Bread | Grams |
|---|---|
| Whole grain rye | 252 |
| Water | 115.5 |
| Salt | 7.5 |
| Rye sour | 375 |
| FINAL DOUGH | 750 grams |
I mixed my final dough and bulk fermented it for about 20 minutes at room temp.
Then I spread the mixture into a loaf pan ...
and let it proof at room temp for 90 minutes.
I stage baked: 450F for 15 min, 425F for 20 min, 375 for 10 min. Total bake time was 45 minutes. I covered the loaf pan during the first 10 minutes of baking. After the loaf had cooled a bit, I wrapped it in a tea towel to let it rest for 24 hours before slicing.
:) Mary
Comments
Got some good air holes for a 100% rye sourdough too. The top photo looks like a pillow.
I'm glad it looks like a pillow and not a brick! :)
Lovely result, Mary! I like the evenly cooked rye crumb. I often add 1 teaspoon of instant yeast to a 1.7 - 2 kg rye dough.
I haven't bought the book, but I had a peek on amazon and it does look enjoyable.
Khalid
I think a bit of instant yeast would definitely help. The book was a nice fun read and I highly recommend it.
seems to bring out the want to bake rye bread. From the look of the risen loaf vs the size it went in the pan and the lack of cracks in flour on the top of the proofed loaf, I would think that the 3 hr proof could easily have been 5-6 hours if you weren't watching the clock:-) I think the denser bottom could have been cured with a longer proof. Your rye looks just like mine did and for a first shot.,.... nicely done. I love high % rye bread because it is a hand mix, dump the paste in the pan, wait for the top bran or rye flour to crack and in the oven it goes. Tremendous flavor and bread for almost no work at all!
Mini Oven, Andy and Phil teach all the tricks of rye bread baking and the reading of their posts is a wonderful trip down the rye bpaste lane. Phil's tip, cover the top with rye flour or bran and when it cracks it it ready for the oven. One of Mini's tips - after dropping the paste in the pan, shape the top with a spatula by lowering the sides against the pan and doming the middle of the loaf so the finished loaf doesn't look like the brick it is:-) - not to mention her 1: 3.5: 4.16 ratio of starter , water and flour. Mini also likes to fill the pan 75% dull and jet the dough rise above the rim. Tip from Lucy, if you want to really open the crumb and lighten the brickishness, cut the rye sour down to 25% and add a 10% yeast water levain to the mix (instead of Khalid's commercial yeast kicker which should do the same thing). I personally think a 15-20% rye sour preferment is plenty.
Here is one od Mini's greatest posts in my opinion when it comes to a dine rye bread -
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33328/minis-100-dark-rye-chia-recipe-love-104-hydration
i can't do it like Mini at all but ....perhaps you will ! You are off to a great start..
Happy Rye SD baking Mary!
Or something along the same lines. Once holes start peering on the top get it into the oven. You don't want too many holes but the presence of one or two tells you it's the perfect time to bake. Anymore it'll overproof.
I agree that it was under proofed since I didn't get the cracks in the flour and my volume increase was minimal. I gambled and went ahead with the bake anyway, but next time I will wait for the cracks. I don't know what would be worse. Rye bread that is underproofed or overproofed?
I have yet to try Mini's 104% hydration loaf, but it's definitely on my to-do list.
It's pretty bad when you build a dome on the top and then end up with a concave one!" Done that a couple of times:-) Lucy says more but she exaggerates!
Very nice loaf Mary. Looks delicious!
I am reading S.F.'s book now and it is a delight. He is a great writer and I love the humor. The lengths to which we go to get the kind of bread we are seeking :*)
Take Care,
Janet
At one time or another I'm sure every bread geek wishes that they can go on bread journey like SF writes in his book. But it was nice to live vicariously through him!
Very nice Mary. Sorry you missed out on the rye testing as you would have enjoyed it.
Regards,
Ian
The testing looks like a lot of fun. I like seeing everyone's photos. I will just have to wait until Stan's book comes out. :)
Your bread looks wonderful. I'm hoping my group gets a 100% rye to bake. Here's some irony for you-- I got in the test by the skin of my teeth because MY reply to Stan went into HIS spam folder.
I'm going to taste test some of my ryes from Stan by running them past my Polish mother in law and her daughters this weekend when 3 of the four siblings get together for a big pierogi, kielbasa, and cabbage roll feed.
And you've inspired me to try it again.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/39466/dark-rye-sourdough-sultanas
sorry you didn't get to test Stan's ryes, yours does look excellent though! It is definitely that time of the year when a good warming rye is just the thing! I'm hoping Santa might bring me SF's book, I've leafed through it and am really looking forward to trying some of his breads...and reading his adventures.
"let it ferment at room temp for about 18 hours," at what temperature was this 18 hour ferment? My parent's house is quite warm just want to figure out how to adjust! Thank you!!!
this seems so short!?