My First 100% Rye
I finally did something I’ve been meaning to do for a very long time: make a lean, 100% rye sourdough bread. So many of the rye recipes out there call for some wheat flour and lots of the ones that don’t call for all sorts of other, superfluous ingredients like sweeteners or caraway. I wanted to do just a simple, 100% rye dough without any of that. I finally found this recipe that met my criteria perfectly. So I decided to bake this bread, though I did scale it down by 1/2 and I also decided to convert some wheat starter to a rye starter instead of making a rye starter from scratch.
This also gave me a great opportunity to try some locally milled grain. We got a mill called Barton Springs Mill and I’ve been very impressed with their flours so far. I’d gotten some of their Danko rye whole-grain flour to use as an adjunct in white breads (which it’s fantastic for, too). So I thought it would be fun to use to make this whole rye.
Having made pure rye levains before, I knew what to expect in terms of dough handling: very clay-like and messy. This dough was a little bit firmer than I was expecting it to be, so I might try to increase the hydration some a bit next time. The other thing that I wasn’t super clear about was how much to proof the dough — I waited until there were a fair number of cracks and a few holes in the surface before baking. I think I got it right, because I got a good amount of oven spring, but does anyone have tips for knowing when a rye bread is done proofing?
The loaf came out magnificentally, and I’m super happy with it. The aroma, flavor, and texture are all incredible. It has a nice tang, but it’s subordinate to a super wonderful rye flavor with a hint of malt on the finish.
The crumb is fairly dense, but it is a 100% rye bread. I’m quite happy with how it came out, though, for my first attempt at a rye bread. I’m guessing that if I eat better at rye proofing and shaping, it’ll improve. I’m also guessing it may open up a bit more with a somewhat wetter dough.
I admit I probably did cut into it a bit early — I only let it sit for ~20 hours before breaking into it, but the crumb isn’t really gummy at all. I will say that I’m extraordinarily happy with how this bread came out for my first ever loaf of pure rye! The flavor, aroma, and texture are amazing. But I would like to ask any of the rye experts here if they’ve got any tips as to how to improve this loaf even more.
All the more so for it being your first 100% rye. It looks like a fabulous bread.
Paul
I’m really happy with how it came out. It’s flavor is fantastic and has improved as it’s aged a bit. It’s pretty amazing how it hasn’t staled at all! Even though I only bake sourdough, I’m used to a little bit of staling the next morning if it gets cut into.
I’m 110% baking this bread again, but I would like to open up the crumb a bit more if I could. I realize that’s hard because it’s rye and has no wheat. Do you have any tips for that?
Regards,
Alex
Did you try and build tension in the boule? I have struggled with the recipes I've done so far with not being able to get the tension or having it split.
is more a matter of molding it in the case of a free-standing loaf. There's no such thing as tension, really. Even for a panned loaf, directions range from sculpting a log shape that is placed in the pan, to packing the dough into a pan, to spooning the dough into the pan. Which approach works best is driven mainly by how wet, and therefore soft, the dough is.
Paul
Thank you, Paul.
20 hours cooldown, and you considered even more? Is this how it is done with dense rye? Hours?
It's not surprising to find recipes that recommend 24-48 hours standing time for a baked all-rye loaf before cutting into it. It can take that long for the moisture to equalize between the loaf's core and its crust. Plus, it is much less likely to be gummy with the longer standing time.
After the loaf reaches room temperature, I like to put it into a plastic bag so that the crust can soften, too. Some rye bread crusts would make an acceptable substitute for ceramic plates in a bullet-proof vest if they aren't allowed to soften.
Paul
keep learning smth new every day. Thank you.
I'm from Finland, and your rye bread looks authentic to me! Some of the rye breads you get from bakeries are dense and some are more airy. I have been baking with sourdough for less than a year now, and I've been making rye bread only for a couple of months. I think the dense/airy quality also has to do with the starter. People have rye starters that can be more than hundred years old and fed with only rye. I have wheat starter. I think hydration is also a big issue.
I have read Finnish recipes for rye bread and they say that you should proof the loaf untill there are lots of cracks. Your bread looks just about right. You can modify the sourness of the bread with how long you incubate the levain (rye bread levain is called raski in Finnish).
My rye loaves have looked about the same as yours, and they are also dense. I would prefer more airy crumb. I have now started making small flat breads like Fazer Puikula (it's a trade mark you can google). I use quite wet dough that is very sticky. After first 1,5 hours of bulk proof I refridgerate the dough for 4-7 hours. When the dough is cold it's easy to divide and form to small "patties" directly to baking sheet. Then I proof them for 1-2 hours before baking. Structure is more airy and they are lovely and crisp. They are very good when you eat them hot! They also keep well, but if you prefer soft bread you might want to freeze them.
It really tasted excellent and I’m super excited to bake it again. Thanks a lot for your feedback. I might just try some other rye breads (like those little flatbreads you mention — they sound great!) once I really get this one down.