Rut or Rye?

Profile picture for user wally
wally on 20 Sep 2011 at 13:24

Ok, rye and rut do start with the same letter,  and I'm probably in a rye rut, but it's a tasty place to be so I'll live with it awhile longer.

I was so pleased with the openness of my last loaf that I decided to repeat it with a few variations to see if I could still obtain a fairly open crumb structure.  Here's the recipe:

Although this is, like the previous loaf, a 72% rye with 100% hydration, I decided to omit the hot rye soaker.  In its place I substituted a cold soaker for the seeds on the morning of the bake - so a soaker for about an hour.

The rye sour was prepared the previous evening, and because our temps are starting to fall, it took a full 14 hours until I deemed it sufficiently domed and ready for use.  In the meantime, I prepared the seed soaker using sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and all the remaining water that would go into the final dough.

Rye sour and soaker were mixed together on Speed 1, and while they incorporated I mixed the high gluten flour, rye flour and salt.  These were added and mixed on Speed 1 for 10 minutes.  Like the former loaf, there is no discernable gluten development - what you have is a pudding.

The primary fermentation was allowed to go for 50 minutes until I saw a good increase in volume.  I then gently scraped the dough into an oiled bread pan, degassing it slightly, but trying to retain as much of the gas as possible.  The final proof was a full hour until the dough had increased about 50% in volume.

The bread was baked with steam for 75 minutes, starting at 460° F, and stepping the temp down by 25 degree increments every 15 minutes.

As with the previous loaf, when it had cooled I wrapped it in linen for two days before cutting.

Here's the result:

  

I'm again very pleased with the openness of the crumb given the relatively high rye content.  The seeds provide a nice added  flavor, and this time the inclusion of more sunflower seeds than sesame by weight gives the bread a noticeable crunch that I like.  Lightly toasted, the flavor of the seeds is even more pronounced.

While I'll probably start playing with 80 and 90% ryes next, this one at 72% is a real keeper that just doesn't disappoint.

Larry

 

Beautiful crumb Larry. Sesame AND sunflower, wonderful.

Eric

Agreed with Eric, that rye's a beauty! 

One technique that has worked well for me lately (with a 50% rye that I've been working on) uses the same idea as Reinhart's epoxy technique: instead of incorporating the raw flour back into the soaker/mash, I mix the non-mash wheat flour, water, and yeast, let it rest for 20 minutes, then incorporate the soaker/mash (either by cutting the non-mash into pieces or smearing the mash on the non-mash dough and folding it a few times). Mixing this finished dough for about 10min at Kitchenaid Speed #3, usually around 7-8 minutes it goes from a goopy rye mess to a sticky dough that clings to the hook but does clear the bowl sides...and even with regular bread flour, the gluten development is pretty good for a hi-rye loaf. 

Thanks cranbo. That's an interesting mix procedure you use. I'm not sure with a rye that's 70% or higher that you can ever achieve much gluten development - there's too little high gluten flour to make much of an impact. This particular recipe because of the very high hydration never gets beyond what I call a pudding consistency. Larry
Well, that's a mighty fine "pudding", Larry. Really, a beautiful rye. Did you notice much difference from omitting the hot soaker? The crumb looks like maybe it has a slightly different texture than the last one. If ever I invest in a mixer, it will be to make bread like this. Marcus
Thanks Marcus. I didn't notice much difference without the soaker, though the higher ratio of sunflower to sesame seeds definitely impacted the flavor. I think I'd need to do a side-by-side tasting to really discern any difference. Both have a nice sweetness, especially when lightly toasted. I think the difference in the crumb is mainly the higher percentage of sunflower seeds. Larry

As Marcus Said, Nice pudding! you have a solid recipe there, Larry. The short bulk fermentation is also very wise. very solid recipe. you obtained a wonderful crumb with such a high hydration. lovely work!!

Hi Larry,
If I were to get an open crumb like that with a wheat-multigrain dough, I'd be happy; but you did it with rye. Wow.
:^) from breadsong

I'm beginning to think you, Andy and Derek are having some sort of contest to see who can bake the most beautiful open celled rye breads on TFL. I thought your last one was excellent but this is every bit as good if not better. Rye with toasted sesame and sunflower seeds, a winning combination. Great baking Larry!

Franko

When I think of an appetizer Rye Bread, I think back on the original Jewish Deli Style rye bread from The Lincoln Dell in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.  Now that was a rye bread.  On special order, they would make the dough in long loafs about 2" in diameter and we would slice them for  my chopped liver or  my chopped herring.  The dell has long since closed but I found a recipe that duplicated the original.  Not dense, no sunflower seeds, just a New York Deli style bread.  I mentioned it on some post, other than this one.  I would like to send a picture of my breads but still can't figure out how to do it.  I have a new Mac computer and iPad and a digital camera and an iPhone 4 and still it's a mystery to me how to up load or down load pictures for here.  I probably should ask the 10 year old kid living next door how to do it.  Stu B.

I know you're not around much anymore, but if you should happen by the site, I'd like you to find a thank-you for having shared this recipe. This 72% rye worked wonderfully and tastes just great. I made a couple of mistakes and got myself tied up in knots with the descending oven tempgs, but I'm still a fan! I'll see if I can find any 80% or 90% ryes that you may have posted, as you promise in your blog.

All the best,

Carole