Leader's Silesian Dark Rye

Yesterday, I made the Polish Cottage Rye from Daniel Leader's "Local Breads." Today, I made the Silesian Dark Rye from the same book.

The Dark Rye uses less rye sour and, while the Cottage Rye uses rye in the starter only, the Dark Rye has 30% whole rye in the final dough. It has a much darker crumb and has a much more assertive rye flavor. The Dark Rye did not have the oven spring of the Cottage Rye and produced a flatter loaf. The cumb was somewhat less open, I assume due to a combination of more rye and lower hydration. But it was both chewy and tender. Both breads are moderately sour but also have, to my taste, a lovely sweet taste.

The Silesian Dark Rye may possibly replace the 100% sourdough rye from "Crust and Crumb" as my favorite rye bread. We'll see how it makes toast (with almond butter)for breakfast tomorrow morning. :-)

BTW, Slidething, the Silesian Dark Rye just cries out for ruben-fixing!

David