Rye baking day
Light Rye & pumpernickel
Silesian Light Rye from Leader's "Local Breads"
Silesian Light Rye crumb
Pumpernickel crumb
The Silesian Light Rye from Daniel Leader's "Local Breads" is even lighter than the usual "Jewish Sour Rye." It is a lovely bread that my wife and I always enjoy fresh or toasted.
Leader's recipe calls for free form loaves, but I've usually made it in brotformen. I recently bought a couple of oval brotformen from SFBI, and this was their maiden voyage. The dough was quite extensible. It was hard to form the loaves short enough for the brotform, so they ended up sort of brot-deformed.
Also, Leader calls for caraway seeds as an optional coating, but I like them in the bread, so I added them for the final minute of mixing.
Greenstein's pumpernickel is another favorite of mine. It is made with rye sour, pumpernickel flour, first clear flour and altus (stale rye bread, soaked in water, then wrung out and added to the dough). I use granular caramel coloring, which not only makes the color "black" but adds a bitter flavor without which this bread just doesn't taste "right" to me. This is a bread that makes good sandwiches, but my favorite way to eat it is spread with cream cheese , untoasted, as an accompaniment to scrambled eggs. That's my breakfast for tomorrow morning.
Dough for Nury's rye is retarding to bake tomorrow. I'm thinking of cutting some of the dough into squares to bake as rolls (hamburger buns?). I may set up another bread or two, if time allows.
Hey! I haven't baked for the past two weeks. I was getting kind of twitchy. I feel so much better now. :-)
David
Comments
This bread continues to amaze me. It is sooooo good!
I didn't make rolls with it, but it is destined to be cut to hold hamburgers (or what ever you want to call ground chicken dark meat made into patties and fried). Usually, my favorite part of the sandwich is the sliced tomato, fresh from my garden. But, this time, the "bun" is going to share the spotlight I bet.
David
Wow! They're beautiful. The pumpernickel really looks great. What else can I say...other than, I wish you lived closer...so does Charlene.
Howard
All three breads were really good. So was the pointe-a-calliere miche I baked last night. My baking withdrawal is now in remission.
Since you are baking other rye breads, you can make Charlene pumpernickel too. I don't recall if you have Greenstein's book, but his recipe is very good, as long as you have the ingredients. The bread is baked right after forming the loaves, so it is one of the least time-demanding breads to bake.
David
David,
I have started reading Greenstein's book Secrets of a Jewish Baker and it looks great. As you know, in the front of the book he writes a very moving passage: "How to Make the Rye Bread Sing", that speaks volumes. In addition to being a great baker he's also an excellent writer.
Can't wait to bake some of his recipes. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll let you know how things go.
Howard
Hi, Howard.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
There is a wealth of recipes in that book. I've made so few of them.
David
I was getting a little twitchy too wondering and waiting to see what you were up to. It all looks great and I feel better now too. Great job. weavershouse
It took a fourth bread to complete my therapy, but I am now back to "normal" ... Normal for me, anyway.
I'm glad you are feeling better too.
David
Any chance of getting that pumpernickel recipe.............I love dark breads
Hi K.W.
The recipe is from George Greenstein's "Secrets of a Jewish Baker." If you have access to that book, you have the recipe. If not, remind me next week. I'm away from home on vacation and at meetings all this week.
David
Hey David, that is a pretty heavy stock you have there. Is it for the holidays? Looks really great. I've never tried a dark rye before, but will probably give it a try this autumn. Yep, for the Nury's, darn good bread.
Jane
Hi, Jane.
Well, the main objective was to drive away my baking deprivation syndrome. ;-)
But, let's see ... One loaf pumpernicel to a pumpernickel-loving friend. The other eaten. One light rye eaten. One in the freezer. One Nury rye eaten. One taken to family in Oregon. 5-grain-levain: 1/2 loaf eaten. 1-1/2 loves frozen. 1 loaf taken to family in Oregon.
The only problem was not taking enough bread with me. My sons, their wives and my grandchildren ate it up fast!
I baked baguettes from Anis' formula. They did not turn out well. I'll blame the oven in the house we rented at the coast. (That's easy.) I'll try again at home with familiar equipment.
David
David,
I agree that without familiar equipment, bread just won't turn out how we expect. I realize how much I modify recipes and the way I handle the dough, bake, etc has evolved over time with my equipment and I don't know how I'd fare in an unknown environment with equipment that I'm not familiar with or with low performance.I bakes some bread at a friend's place recently and the bread didn't act like I expected in her oven even though it's a good one.
But when you're back, do try the recipe because I have been getting great results and improving regularly. I've done some sourdough with a pinch of yeast. I've done full sourdough and still don't like it for a baguette. I'm perfecting my transfering techniques which I've had trouble with because of lack of material. My husband finally found a board for me which is perfect.
The cooling also makes the dough way easier to handle and shape.
Jane
Jane,
FWIW. You mentioned "...perfecting my transferring techniques". I presume you're referring to moving the baguettes, batards, etc. out of the couche and into the baking pans, peel or stone. Here's a link to a breadboard I made that works well for me. I have seen that many of the French bakers use a wooden paddle to move the loaves from the couche to the oven. I don't think my board will work for putting the loaves directly onto the hot stone, because of the risk of the nylon hose coming in direct contact with hot stone. I use it each time I use a couche and the dough does not stick to the nylon, even when the dough is damp/moist. Anyway, just a thought.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/keyword/ciabattaandbreadboard
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Hi, Jane.
I have the dough for Anis' baguettes in the frig. and will bake them tomorrow afternoon. I'll post results to your baguette thread, most likely.
I'm not making other breads this weekend. Just back from two weeks away, I have much mail and bills to deal with! So, I didn't have my usual bread baking time. Other cooking projects kept me in the kitchen most of the day, anyway.
David
That is one bread book that I don't have yet I'll have to put it on my list..........no rush I'm on vacation next week so when ever you get the chance.......plus I'll need to start a rye starter.....or build one off my WW.....I do belive more pets and experiments are in order......So many grains so little time......
Hi, KW. I just remembered I had already typed up the recipe for the pumpernickel and had it on file. So, here it is:
This is Jewish pumpernickel. It is moist and chewy. It is not the dry, dense German-style pumpernickel. I make it generally as long loaves, as pictured. However, you can also make it as round loaves, in which case you should "dock" the loaves by making 6-10 holes in the top with a skewer or ice pick, rather than scoring them across with 3 slashes. You can also make this bread in loaf pans, in which case I would score them with a single slash along the center of the long axis.
The recipe that follows is taken from Secrets of a Jewish Baker, by George Greenstein. I will give his recipe and note where I have used specific ingredients or altered procedures.
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup Rye Sour
1 cup altus (optional)
4 tablespoons pumpernickel color
1 cup pumpernickel flour
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups common flour
1 tablespoon salt
Flour, for dusting work top
Oil, for greasing bowl
Cornmeal, for sprinkling baking sheet
Cornstarch solution, for brushing loaf
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
Notes on ingredients:
1. Yeast: I use instant yeast (SAF brand). 2 teaspoons is enough.
2. Rye sour: This is a rye sourdough starter. You can make it from scratch. You can easily convert a wheat flour sourdough starter to a rye sour by feeding a small amount of your existing starter with rye flour and refreshing it a couple of times.
3. Altus: This is stale rye bread, cut into small pieces, soaked in water until saturated and wrung out. It was originally a way for bakers to re-use bread they hadn’t sold. "Waste not. Want not." However, it does make for a more tender and flavorful bread and has become traditional. It is optional. I keep hunks of leftover, stale rye bread in a plastic bag in my freezer to use as altus.
4. Pumpernickel color: This is really optional but is necessary to give the "black" color expected of pumpernickel. You can use 1 tablespoon of powdered caramel color, instant espresso coffee or cocoa powder. I use powdered caramel coloring from King Arthur’s Baker’s Catalogue.
5. Pumpernickel flour: This is whole grain, coarsely ground rye flour. You can use dark rye flour, but it won’t be quite the same. I get pumpernickel flour from King Arthur’s Baker’s Catalogue. Like other whole grains, it will spoil in time. I keep it in my freezer in a 1 gallon ziploc bag.
6. Common flour: This is also known as first clear flour. It’s definition gets into esoteric grain milling stuff, but it is necessary for authentic Jewish rye breads, including pumpernickel. It also makes wonderful sourdough breads as a substitute for bread flour or a mix of white and whole wheat flours. I get First Clear flour from King Arthur’s Baker’s Catalogue.
7. Salt: I use less salt. 2 to 2 ½ teaspoons of sea salt.
8. Cornstarch solution: Mix 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water. Pour this into 1 cup of gently boiling water in a sauce pan, whisking constantly. Boil until slightly thickened. Set aside. It can be kept refrigerated for a few days in a sealed jar or covered bowl.
9. Caraway seeds: I don’t use them in pumpernickel, myself. You can add other things to pumpernickel, though, such as flax seeds (soaked overnight), sunflower seeds, raisins, minced onion.
Mixing (by hand. See Note below for mixing with a stand mixer.)
In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water to soften; stir to dissolve. (If using instant yeast, mix it with the flour, don’t dissolve it. Add the water to the rye sour and mix.) Add the rye sour, altus (if desired), pumpernickel color, pumpernickel flour, 2 ½ cups of common flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead, adding small amounts of flour as needed. Make the dough a bit stiffer than normal, since this dough softens as it is kneaded. Knead the dough unitl it feels smooth and silky (5-8 minutes).
Note: I mix in a KitchenAid mixer. I put all the ingredients in the bowl and, using the paddle, mix well at Speed 1. Scrape the dough off the paddle and replace it with the dough hook. Knead at Speed 2 for about 8-10 minutes. The dough should form a ball on the hook and clean the sides of the bowl. I then hand knead until the dough is smooth and silky.
Rising
Shape the dough into a ball, place in a large oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Punch out all the air, cut in half and shape into rounds, and let rest for 10 minutes
Shape into round loaves, long loaves or pan loaves. If baking free form, place the two loaves on a baking sheet sprinkled with coarse cornmeal. (Or on parchment paper if baking on a stone, which I prefer.) Cover and proof until doubled in size. (About 90 minutes, or more depending on room temperature). Brush with cornstarch solution. Score the loaves across if long or punch holes in them if round. If using caraway, sprinkle seeds on the top of the loaves.
Baking
Bake with steam in a preheated 375F oven until tapping the bottom ot the loaf produces a hollow sound (30-45 minutes). If the crust seems soft, bake 5-10 minutes more.
After baking, place on a wrack to cool and brush again with the cornstarch solution. Let cool thoroughly before slicing and eating.
Note: I use a pizza stone for baking free form loaves. I heat it at least 1 hour before baking. I produce steam by preheating a cast iron skillet in the oven along with the stone and, right after putting my loaves in, pouring 1 cup of boiling water into the skillet. Be careful you don’t scald yourself with the steam!
David
Thank you thank you I will give this a go first thing next week........
Let us know how it turns out!
David