Hamelman's Sourdough Rye with walnuts and raisins

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Mebake on 11 Aug 2013 at 03:55

Following the month of Ramadan, where bread consumption was slow paced,  it was finally Eid celebration this past weekend here in Dubai. With not much time to be around the kitchen, i managed to squeeze a swift afternoon bake from the book: Bread by jeffery Hamelman.

I've followed the recipe as is, except for the extra water addition. The recipe is basically 35% medium rye flour (i used whole), and 65% Bread flour. The majority of the rye flour is in the rye sour, which makes this dough an active one. Bulk fermentation only lasted 1 hour (as in the book), and the final fermentation 50 minutes (also as in the book).

     

I have not had the walnut/raisin combination before, but now i will use them more often.

Light, and delicious! This bread is also excellent for toast.

For Eid, i bought myself a new book, quite old around here: Tartine bread. Finally, i got around to buying Chad's book. Having read dozens of pages already, i'm beginning to enjoy Chad's philosophy in baking. A really good read so far.

-Khalid

light rye raisins and walnuts an all time favorite. my first bread book is Tartine. i do enjoy reading it too.

happy baking

evon

 

... bread, Khalid! Crust and crumb look great!

Rye with walnuts and raisins sounds tasty!

Have a great week!

Great looking bake Khalid.  Walnuts in any bread is a plus to me and I'm sure the raisins only made it better.  I like your scoring and nice open crumb you achieved on this bake.

I have had the Tartine book for a while but have not really used it much yet.  One of these days I will have to commit myself to trying most of the recipes in a book but it may take me a while :).

Like your new profile photo....

Regards,
Ian

Toast

golgi70 on 11 Aug 2013 at 08:02

Looks great Khalid.  Raisin Walnut are a fine duo.  The heart and sole of good rugalech.  Crumb looks like it would toast up to pure heaven.  Nice Baking

Josh

I love walnuts in bread, but now i love them even more with raisins. It does toast up well, Josh.

Thanks!

loaf of bread to bread the Ramadan fast.   Your bread looks fantastic for hardly any bulk or final proof for that matter - and sourdough too!  I could never get a bread like this ready for the oven in so little time after gluten development,  This bread has to taste great   We like prunes and figs with walnuts and rye too.

The crust and crumb on this one is very good!  Tartine is the perfect Eid gift don't you think?

Happy baking Khalid

Thanks, DA!

With 1.5 tsp of instant yeast added to an already 30% prefermented flour dough, the dough ferments quite fast; though my only regret is that i have not skipped the yeast altogether, it would have been much flavorful.

Prunes is really good with nuts, i've tried it, but figs are yet to be put into my breads.

Yes, a very timely gift too, as i was beginning to itch for a new book.

-Khalid

 

 

Hi Khalid,
Mmm, looks like there's a lot of really good stuff in that bread.
The scoring is beautiful.
I hope you enjoy Mr. Robertson's book - once I got ahold of it I read it cover to cover, couldn't put it down!
:^) breadsong

Wonderful ingredients indeed, if only the rye flour i bought in bulk was as "whole" as i thought. I read somewhere that Whole rye flour is often stripped of the germ in order to extend the storage qualities. I suspect that this is the rye flour i had bought, as the flavor left much to be desired. It is not bad, only not as whole and flavorful as organic stone ground rye flour from Dove farm.

I'm enjoying Tartine bread book.

Thanks, Breadsong!

-Khalid

When I took Hamelman's rye sourdough class, he told us that rye flour does not get rancid like wheat flour with the result that it can be stored a lot longer. So maybe there's less truth to the idea of removing the germ to make it last? Maybe you have "whole" rye after all!

Otis

I have made several kinds of bread with walnuts and raisins, but never a light rye. It does sound delicious. Yours certainly look wonderful.

Enjoy Tartine Bread. If you find you like Robertson's approach, you would also like Ken Forkish's. It seems Chad Robertson mentored Forkish as he was getting started.

David

Thanks, David!

The Rye flour i have is less thirsty, less fermentable, and more manageable for kneading than any other rye flour i've used (organic). While preparing the rye sour, i noticed how smooth and pliable the rye dough is, which puts question marks around the actual composition of the flour. This, i believe, lead to better performance in baking, although at the cost of flavor.. and or keeping quality? No wonder why Rye breads aren't very popular in good bakeries around here.  However, it still is a decent flour if properly fermented. This flour demands only sourdough fermentation to make up for the flavor loss.

I'm planning on buying Ken's book next. Thanks, David!

-Khalid

 

 

Hey Khalid.  Nice loaf!  Crust, crumb, everything looks great.  Also good to see a casual Khalid after all this time seeing a suited up, serious Khalid! :)

Happy baking.

John

Thanks, John!

I was reluctant to change my avatar. My brother is an amateur photographer, and during a family get together the other day,  i asked him to take a photo of me standing. That is how it ended up being here now :) The old photo was the passport kind, and it so happened i didn't wear a smile for some reason at the time. The one pictured now is more like me.

-Khalid

When we get out passport photos done, they actually tell us not to smile.  I guess if I was being detained at an airport or border, I would not be in a mood to smile.. so it makes sense :)

Happy baking.

John

You always seem to find recipes in Hamelman that I have never tried.   Obviously should try this one!  -Varda

Lovely looking bread, Khalid.  Nice open crumb and pretty scoring, too.  

I have only recently acquired a copy of Tartine myself and am enjoying it thoroughly.  I  learnt a thing or two about handling wet dough.  The signature loaf is really good.  

All the best,

Syd

Thanks, Syd!

I agree, the basic country bread looks really good. I have yet to try it myself. I would have preferred, though, that Chad used the high extraction wheat flour from central milling for the country bread.

-Khalid

Hi Khalid,

I bet the addition of the rye flour kept the loaf quite moist.  How did you manage to keep the walnuts from imparting their purple coloring to the dough? It doesn't affect the taste, but I prefer the creamy color.

Have fun with the Tartine book.  The last formula I made out of it was his 100% whole wheat loaf, and it was amazing.  I know you like whole grains, and I think you'd like this one.

-Brad

I don't have a clue, Brad. I don't knead the dough with the walnuts and raisins, i fold them in gently. Franko's reasoning below could be true.

I'll work my way through Tartine, one recipe at a time.

Thanks Brad!

Hi Khalid,

It seems I always forget to include walnuts in my breads, why I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it's the way they colour the crumb with that ghastly purple tinge, or what I can't say. These loaves look so good my friend! You've hit the perfect sweet spot for hydration, which I suspect, along with the yeast cells, is the culprit for the colouration of most bread mixes containing walnuts. On top of that, the crumb is spongy, and the crust is nicely aerated, all in all a very fine bread to celebrate Eid with. Lovely baking as always Kahlid! 

Tartine is a very inspirational read for any baker who aspires to make traditional craft bread. What he leaves out in the book is how hard he and his wife, Pastry Chef Elizabeth Pruitt, worked building the foundation of the business for years before they were able to open their shop in San Francisco. Inspiring...and daunting at the same time, and a great success story.

All the best Khalid,

Franko

Thanks, Franko!

Very sound reasoning on the walnuts my friend. Moreover, i think that gentle incorporation of wanuts is also a factor.

Indeed, their success story is inspirational Franko.

-Khalid

 

Very nice, Khalid! I don't ever recall baking or tasting any bread with walnuts and raisins but perhaps one day I'll give it try.

Happy baking,

Zita

Hi, Zita!

baked Walnuts emit a unique nutty oily fragrance, you don't want to miss that. It isn't sweet either; raisins are are there to round off the whole flavor profile. Very special.

-Khalid

Beautiful loaf of bread Khalid;

little else needs to be writen; but it's very light for whole rye

All good wishes

Andy

Thanks, Andy!

I would owe the lightness of the crumb to the double hydration method i unintentionally did. The final dough was gently handled, and shaped too.

-Khalid

I like it Khalid  it is a really nice looking loaf and one that i shall definately try myself,and it appears to be a fast mover . You will have to be careful  with that new Avatar, there was a story here recently of a man being deported from Saudi Arabia for being too handsome!