Rye flour substitute

Toast
xabanga on 25 Jun 2007 at 19:47

What would be a good rye flour substitute for a sourdough bread recipe. I've got a family member who does not like the taste of rye. Would substituting the rye for whole wheat or spelt flour affect the dough and the baking? (ie: amount of water, etc.)

Thanks for any insight!

i believe it does affect the taste to a degree.  if you check out the sourdough recipes in the Hamelman "Bread" book, he has variations on the vermont sourdough with whole wheat instead of rye and talks about the differences.  they are basically the same recipe so if you have that book you can compare the recipes to see how much water to add or subtract as well.   if you don't have the book i would recommend it.  i started by taking it out of the library for a couple weeks to try it, and liked it so much i bought my own copy. 

david

Careful when adding barley flour, it can get very bitter and leave the bread with an aspirin taste. I would first try not more than 10% of total flour. If using a higher % let it stand a week, after baking, it looses it's bitterness and can be quite tasty but very dry, like for bread sticks snacks. Come to think of it, I did not stop to think that "fresh milled" might contribute to the bitterness. Maybe letting the freshly milled barley flour stand 3 weeks, as recommended by all flours, to oxidize the flour would make a difference. Try tasting the flour if it looses bitterness with time.  I haven't tried malted flour.   --Mini Oven
I started writting back but I accidentally pressed the backspace button and I lost what I was writting. Oh well... Thanks for the warning about the barley flour. I started baking my bread yesterday and I hope it's not bitter. I haven't calculated the baker's percentage yet, but the amount of barley flour is quite small compared to the other flours. The dough is in its final proofing right now but it's not rising much :( I'm going to let it sit another hour or so and hope for the best, otherwise I'll have to settle for a brick.

Well...I made the bread but it was a HUGE disaster. It didn't rise at all and I messed up the oven temperature. I baked the bread at 400 instead of 485 and I ended up with a huge unbaked center. By the time I noticed the mistake it was too late. Baking the bread longer and at a higher temperature just burnt the bread.