Community Bake - Rye Bread

How about a slice of Rye Gingerbread (LINK) for dessert? Slightly bending the rules, but it is a "bread" of sorts. 100% KA medium rye with a nice clove kick, which I like (I used to chew Adams Clove Gum as a kid).

Kümmel-Bier Brot (Caraway Beer Bread) from The Rye Baker book. This bread is for lovers of caraway seed (sorry Benny!); it has a whopping 2% caraway seed. The bread is 50% rye and 50% first clear or high-gluten flour, barley malt syrup, and beer for half the liquid. The bread is great for sandwiches. For those not as fond of caraway as I am, it could still be a good all-around rye sandwich bread if the caraway was reduced or omitted. More details on the prep here.

James Morton's "Purely Rye Sourdough" recipe left me full of self doubt. His approach is unconventional, as he puts it, "The way I get a brilliant pure rye bread is to follow every traditional process of conventional breadmaking, but bake it just like you might a gluten-free loaf."

So the recipe has some oddities to it, some more strange than others, "you need to knead this bread"(!), long fermentation time - 6 hours bulk plus 4-6 hours proof, score(!) the top of the loaf, and "bash" out of the tin halfway through the short bake.

I used Pstros' variant for the ingredients, so half the levain was bread flour making this a 90% rye, and also used 100g of cooked rye kernels both inside the bread and as a topping. I humoured the recipe and mixed for 15 minutes with the paddle. Maybe, just maybe, the strands from the side of the bowl to the dough clinging to the paddle were just a little bit more coherent at the end of that. I didn't want to try shaping fizzy mud, so gave it a much shorter bulk of 2 hours, but then left it in the pan quite a long time as I was away. Think it went too far for what I would have liked - aliquot at 200% - 9 hours from adding levain (3X increase) and the top was pinholed. Instead of scoring I brushed on whey and used that to attach the sunflower seeds and cooked rye (thanks Mini!).

And because I'm an idiot who follows instructions, and my pan wasn't non-stick, I ended up having to try twice - the "bash the bread out after 20 minutes" was a disaster, even though the pan was oiled it stuck at the base as that wasn't properly cooked 20 min in, and my first loaf ended up as a collection of chunks. So, I took the hit (and froze some for altus) and actually tried all over again the next day, this time with butter to grease a new non stick pan and I baked on top of the baking steel for 25 minutes before seeing if it would come gently out of the pan, which it did. I made sure this was properly baked, so this one had a total of 60 minutes at 200°C (392°F) of which 20 minutes had foil tenting. Slight darkening on top, but that's okay with me.

Left it all properly wrapped and only sliced and tasted at 36 hours - turned out to taste nicer than I thought it would. Complicated flavours, a slight tang but not an over-powering sourness, liked the cooked rye kernels, and no gumminess to the crumb. Going to enjoy eating the rest, which leaves me confused what to think of this recipe!

Here is my second submission: my second attempt at Hamelman’s Horst Bandel Black Pumpernickel. I’m reasonably happy with this one, although there’s room for improvement.

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When perusing old threads on this bread, I noticed a wide range of baking techniques. In an attempt to achieve a dark color, I went for a long bake: 1 hour at 350, 2.5-3 hours at 275, 9-10 hours at 220. My oven does not retain heat well, so turning it off and leaving it as Hamelman recommends would not have accomplished much. Despite the long bake, the crust was not hard or tough at all. 

60% rye/40% spelt

2 stage ferment with a stale bread scald

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recipe: https://www-ploetzblog-de.translate.goog/2021/05/29/bergkruste-sauerteigbrot-mit-roggen-und-dinkel/

This is a really interesting formula. The dough was super tangy (not surprising given that my schedule extended the preferment to 18 hours) but the final loaf was surprisingly mild, with the spelt nutty sweetness overcoming the spicy rye. It'll make a great feast with the squash soup I made last night.

Rob

Delicious bread and lovely hands off procedure

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Repeated the previous bake with small modifications.

Stupidly, when mixing the preferment, I realized I only had half the amount of starter necessary for the recipe, so I just used what I had and added extra flour and water to get the total amount. The starter was more active than the first time (spent less time in the fridge) and I gave it an extra hour compared to last time, so the resulting preferment seemed very similar in the end.

I toasted 75 g of sunflower seeds and added them to the main dough, together with 4 g of bread spice (a little on the low side, I didn't want to overpower the flavour of the bread itself). I also thought the seeds would soak up a bit of water, so added extra 25 g water, but it actually was a mistake: the dough was way more soft than the first time, and although I mixed in a little more flour after the 30 min "bulk" ferment, it was still too liquidy. In addition (and probably due to that reason) it stuck a little during proofing, and removing the towel damaged the surface in a few spots, which then corresponded to the largest cracks on the loaf - which is also quite flat to due overhydration.

This time I didn't sprinkle the bread with water before taking it out, but I sprinked water on the walls of the oven. I don't know whether it made any difference for the hardness of the crust, but it did preserve the nice white-black contrast on the surface. Sliced it after two days.

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It's really tasty, with extra nuttiness from the seeds (could have used more!), and a little something from the spices too. Overall the flavour is very similar to the previous one, perhaps a little more moist (due to higher hydration). Very nice hearty bread, despite a somewhat low profile.

Inspired by Ilya and cfraenkel's bakes, I also had a try at the Plötzblog recipe with "versäuertem Schrot" (https://www.ploetzblog.de/2020/09/12/roggenbrot-mit-versaeuertem-schrot/).

Everything was progressing nicely, until mixing the final dough. I had left a measuring cup of boiled water to cool to 70C, but then forgot that I hadn't weighed it out precisely, and just poured the whole thing into the bowl. I'd estimate I boosted the hydration by around 20% - on a recipe with a starting point of 85%! To salvage things I proofed and baked in a loaf pan, reducing the proof time by 30 minutes and taking it out of the pan a bit before the end of the bake to crisp the crust.

In the end it turned out surprisingly good, with a very moist and relatively open crumb thanks to all the extra water, contrasting nicely with a crisp but not at all tough crust. There are a couple small voids in the very center of the loaf so I think it was really on the brink of internal collapse during bake ... but managed to just hold together.

Sorry guys, nothing new to show.  I'm with Abe.  I wish we had a "madly blown away" emoticon as I'd be painting this thread with them.  Amazed.

So this isn't on a current bake.  My wife is driving up to see her parents, will be there for dinner Friday.  Two breads - both from Lutz - Black Hamster and Rauriser Vollkornbrot.  My in laws are in their 80's so I really have to watch the petrified lava effect on the Rauriser, but with Mini's and others' help, I think I have a handle on it.  So my question is, when would you think the optimal "aging" would be for these two breads?  Is there a consensus on full-rye recipes in general?  I know it's subjective but, um, truth be told...

I can't stand not baking daily rye.  Serious.  Right now it's growing out our ears, though, and this bread for my FIL/MIL is a perfect reason to bake.  Given Friday dinner first breaking of the breads, would you bake tomorrow, or Thursday?

My entry into the Rye CB.  Details are in my blog.

So, post got nuked,  Probably just as well. :)

Bottom line, 1 of 3 breads intended for my in-law parents was a bust.  I spaced the dried yeast intended for the final dough, so I depended on a longer maturation than expected.  That, and I spaced in using rye malt flour (active) instead of an inactive malt or beet syrup.  So, the two together, I'm pretty sure (I baked it out), means starch attack and degradation of the pentosans and it will be a screwed up mess.  Not satisfied, I started another Schwarzer Hamster from "Marlene." aka "Marla," with her version 2.0.  I loved her 1.0 and got good results (posted elsewhere) so I'm hoping for improvement.

So, so far. 2 out of 3 loaves baked, for my wife to take up to her parents.  Brotdoc's Alpenroggenbrot II, and Stanley Ginsberg's Franconian "Crusty Boule."  Because my in-laws are deep in their 80's, I wetted the crusts well and wrapped them in linen.  Soft teeth.  Here they are:

Now, can I ask a favor guys?  Can you diagnose what's going on with these massive chasms, when what I'm looking for is that beautiful, finer weaving over the loaf as shown here by many, and as I myself have done in the past - for the life of me, I can't figure out what's going on.  These valleys are ugly to me.  For comparison's sake, an earlier bake.  Not that it's stellar, but it's closer: 

Diagnoses?  Underproofing?

Hey Rob, thanks.  This time came out closer to what I'm looking for.  I think I was maybe simply underproofed last time:

The two ways I've learned, I find pretty cool.  After bulk folding up and forming a boule - very lightly, then directly just rolling into a long sausage, for going into the banneton seam-down.  No further shaping from boule into batard, no attempt to tighten a "skin," no real care for the seams being tightly closed.  This time, I worked quickly, and was content to let the seam just be a fault line down the length of the dough.

I let it proof farther into crack lengths and depths than I did previously.  And a good deal more obvious swelling.  I'm wondering if my starter was kind of weak last time - I had to draw my "chef"/Anstellgut off earlier, when it was younger, and I'm wondering if my fermentation run was just weak all along,  When the time came, not experienced enough, seeing (smaller) cracks on the surface, I tossed it in, when my better instincts knew it wasn't ready.

The other way I've learned they proof is as you describe, yep, often smoothing on an additional light dusting of flour during proof to encourage cracks.  But instead of flippiing it over, which would obviously defeat the purpose, they "throw" the loaf onto the peel with a decisive but balanced flick of the wrist.  I'm getting it, and it's fun.

Comparative Schwarzhamster.  Not sure if the crumb shot shows it but it's grossly gummy, inedible.  You can also see the sunken "valley" on top of the loaf.  There were others.  I think the use of active rye malt, and the forgetting dry yeast forcing the sourdough to do all the leaving - taking a long time - really jacked the pentosans and the network basically imploded.

The Schwarzhamsterbrot at top looks promising.  Different recipe, and I should have realized my tin optimally uses more dough, so the form factor is wrong.  Still, I think it should be tasty.

Scorched Crust Sour Rye - Gersterbrot (Germany)

The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg

Original blog post

My blog about this entry for the Community bake can be found here.

Paul

Okay, so some of you may not have seen my post in the Introductions Thread, but hi, I am David, from Paradise, California! LOL!

I am thrilled to see all of these Recipes for so many different kinds of Breads, Holy Cow! I love Rye and have been just recently getting back into Rye Breads, after doing so many experimental types of French Breads and Sandwich Roll Recipes!

Inspired by Econprof's earlier post, I also tried the Sweet Limpa recipe from The Rye Baker. This is a relatively low hydration bread (58% hydration of which 47% is whole milk), but with a generous dose of molasses (18% on flour; I used sugar beet syrup), and a mix of caraway, fennel, anise and coriander to add spice. It makes a very stiff dough, risen with yeast in less than 90 minutes total fermentation time. During shaping the dough was so stiff that I had a hard time getting a smoothly formed surface, manifesting in some cracks in the final loaf (fortunately the inside melded together OK). The bake is relatively low temperature (200C), I had to increase the time vs the books recipe to fully bake (didn't "sound right" and too-low internal temp).

Perhaps it is not a surprise that with all the milk, butter, sugar and spices the end result has a very nice flavor! However the crumb is not only dense, it is also a bit on the dry side texturally - fine when toasted a bit, but would prefer more moistness when eaten plain.

While I had the Rye Baker open, the recipe on the next page for Rye Raisin Scones caught me eye, so I tried that one as well. This one is also a short-fermenting straight dough, 52% rye meal (I used coarse schrot) and 48% bread flour, so it just fits into the CB criteria. With 45% water and 30% milk this made a very wet dough, almost a batter; aside from raisins there is no other sweetener. The final scone has a lot of "crunchy" texture from the rye, but to my taste it lacks sweetness. Thinking about trying it again with a first scald step for the rye meal, or perhaps using boiled whole rye brewers malt as the "filler," to give it some more malty rye character. But as-is a bit of blackberry jam works wonders!

I don’t think anybody has posted a Finnish ring bread, so here’s one I made yesterday. It’s from The Rye Baker book. There is a similar looking bread on The Rye Baker website ( http://theryebaker.com/halme-bakerys-ring-rye-ruisreikaleipa-finland/ ), but it is slightly different because it uses instant yeast as well as sourdough. 

Mine looks kind of funny because I didn’t flour the dough (used water to keep the dough from sticking). I don’t know about the flavor or crumb yet because it is still in its resting period. 

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this time printed recipe x 1.8 (instead of 1.5) and I found the sweet spot for my pan (holds 2 kilo water) and what a easy recipe after getting the maths done.  It is very satisfying to match the 1500g dough to the pan.  I went outside to fetch wood near the end of the bake and drooled and danced my way back to the kitchen, no kidding.  The aromas were so lovely.

Overnight Prefermint: 270g rye #960, 180g rye sourdough starter, 360g water, 19g salt.

Dough: 360g rye #960 1.5 Tbs crushed coriander or bread spice, 13g orange zest, boiling 270g hot water.

 Bake covered 40 min, uncovered for another 20 min.  Oven temp  230°C first 20 minutes then reduce to 210° and 200°C.   Note: subbed out 100g rye in preferment for wheat all purpose flour. (To get a little more tang.)

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I do not have lot of experience with artisan bread and have never used 50% rye, so I decided to use Eric’s recipe that’s posted here for the community bake. I am also brand spanking new to sourdough, so I used the yeast version of this recipe (I did make my first ever sourdough starter last night using the “pineapple juice solution.” If it doesn’t work, I’ll toss it and order some online.)

I just joined TFL a week ago, and I am amazed and impressed at such knowledge and talent here! I check this community bake topic daily just to see what’s been added and I am blown away. I have read every comment. I was a little timid to post this given I didn’t come up with something new to offer, but I’m a beginner artisan baker, so I decided what the heck. I am pretty pleased with my simple beginner loaf, but I know it's not perfect (but oh my, the taste is fantastic with the seeds, orange peel, and molasses!), and I do have so many questions that I could not find answers to.

First, Eric said he used “very strong bread flour.” I only had regular KA bread flour, so I added 1.5 tsp of vital wheat gluten (thinking that would create “very strong” bread flour. I couldn't find anything on how to "make" very strong bread flour. My house can be pretty cool in the winter, like 68 and less, but I had one spot that’s 70-72, so that’s where I did the proofing. Overnight it rose quite a bit more than I expected, but not too crazy. This morning, I shaped my loaf and put it seam-side up in a linen-lined bowl.

I know I should watch the dough, not the clock. But Eric’s time in the proofing basket was 1-1.5 hours. So I set my timer for 30 minutes to check on the dough and also preheat the oven. Look what I found after 30 minutes! That looked way more proofed than the video. It looked nothing like Eric’s basket-proofed dough. I stuck my floured finger in it and the dent did not rebound — and my oven had only just started to preheat. I knew it would take at least 30 minutes, so I stuck the dough in the fridge. Did my dough rise so quickly because I added the vital wheat gluten?  Is the finger poke test even appropriate for this 50% rye dough? Does it look over-proofed? And if so, was putting in the fridge to retard further rising the right call? 

(After only 30 minutes)

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I made a parchment sling because I don’t have fancy oven gloves and I tend to burn myself under far less dangerous circumstances. I think I didn’t slash deep enough (the dough was in the hot DO when I slashed, but without the fancy gloves, the heat from the oven was burning my hands. (I immediately ordered the gloves from Amazon, so I’ll be prepared next time!) That brings me to the question:  how deep to slash? I used a curved lame. Is that the best choice for this kind of bread? 

Other than adding the vital wheat gluten, I followed the recipe, measuring everything carefully by weight (except yeast and gluten flour were by volume). I think I watched the videos 6 times! I also used a thermometer with an air probe to monitor oven temp, so at least I know that was right. I took the loaf out at exactly 200 degrees F. And I cut into it after 1 hour, which is what Eric did in the video. I shouldn’t have cut into it that soon (I know better); it says "cool completely in the recipe," but I was following the video. 

I placed it cut side down on the cutting board to hopefully salvage things. Overall, I am happy. The loaf has a fabulous flavor. It doesn’t feel gummy or dense, but it looks denser/tighter (fewer holes) than Eric’s and others posted here. Which makes me wonder if it was not on the verge of over-proof after all (or even under) and I should have not refrigerated while the oven pre-heated?

Thank you in advance for any feedback, critique, and tips! 

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Made Stan's recipe for the first time last week.  Amazing flavor, slightly sweet, malty and a nice subtle tang of sour.  I used whole rye since I grind my own berries.  I also made my own rye malt a few months ago.  I spend a week making my own rye starter, then assembled the bread as outlined (first day am, then pm add, then day 2 morning assembling, rising and baking that afternoon after a 3 1/2 hour rise.  Fabulous, will make again.  The only other change is to shorted the bake time by 5 minutes and to double the recipe next time to get two loaves!  Very worth bread, thanks Stan and your Rye Baker book!!

Nick

4th rye bake overall.  3rd one submitted to the CB. 2nd one made with all home-milled rye.  1st with a scald.

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69889/84th-bake-020422-denisas-100-rye-take-4

This one hit the spot!

The previous one with "Vitamixed" flour seemed like the larger particles (the Vitamix does not make uniform particle sizes, some are powdery, some are gritty) did not get fully hydrated/softened. So I tried a scald, and let it soak/cool for 3 hours.

This came out moist and sweet.

There are so many inspiring rye breads here, and I'm accumulating lots of bookmarks for future bakes.   It is hard to keep up.

I attempted the Westaphalia Pumpernickel from the breadandginger.com site.  This is documented in more detail in my blog [HERE].  My oven isn't working right now, so this long slow pumpernickel bake seemed like it would be a good candidate for the the multi-cooker, which I'm comfortable running overnight.  It reminded me somewhat of the Icelandic Lava Bread posted above by Abe.  It seems promising so far, but I will wait a couple of days before slicing into it.

Westfalen-Kruste – Westphalia-Crust, by Brotdoc (Björn Hollsteiner).  I really like these rounds with the seams proofed down and opened in the oven.  Still working on technique to get many, narrower cracks, which I find beautiful. 

Followed his formula exactly, with the exception that for the Aromastück he calls for "mashing" the rye porridge at 65 C for 2 hours, I mashed slightly higher (for a higher a-amylase activity) for 4 hours  as it's not easy for me to stir once the step starts its hot rest (a water bath, for me).  At the end of the step I also brought the Aromastück to 71 C and maintained it for 30 minutes, just to ensure the amylases were disactivated and the a-amylase and b-amylases were "set" as they "mashed."  He doesn't do such a step.  Probably unnecessary, just a holdover from brewing days.

4th submisson. Pretty much same as previous.  Levain was left to ferment 9 hours instead of 8, and got a better rise during final proof.

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69937/85th-bake-02082022-denisas-100-rye-take-5

Lithuanian rye :https://solnce-pek.livejournal.com/11724.html  

Here are my notes on this bread:

The first is that 3 days after baking , the flavor comes out and it tastes like cherries. 

all flour is wholegrain rye except where noted as red and white rye and wheat. Red rye is fermented rye malt and if you don't have it, you can use crystal malt--but it is definitely not the same. White malt is diastatically active malted rye and as I note, you can use wholegrain rye instead. 

Notes on Lithuanian

Levain

20g rye starter

100g water

100g rye

Mix and ferment for 10-12 hours at 84 degrees F

Scald

220g rye flour

10g caraway

23g rye malt(red)

330 g water, boiling

10g white rye or wholegrain rye.

Pour boiling water over 220g rye, 22g red malt and 10g ground caraway.

Stir like a crazy person. When it reaches 150degrees F, stir in 10g white malt.

If it is lower than 140, make sure you heat it up to 150 before adding white malt.

Over 140 degrees F is to denature sticky enzyme.

(Heat up method)Or put everything in a pan and heat up to 150 F and add white malt.

Then in either case hold at 150 degrees F for at least 2 hours. It will turn sweet and slacker, but it is very thick.

Cool scald to 90 degrees F before proceeding.

Preferment:

Measure out 550g of cooled scald and add to it 200g of Levain or use all of 220 g .

Hold at 80+ degrees F for 12 hours or 8 hours at 85 degrees F. It will get soft and swell.

Final Mix

All preferment

120g wheat flour(I used whole grain wheat)

150g of rye flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon honey or sorghum syrup

8g salt

Knead final dough by hand and it should be like soft , warm clay, not very sticky. Squeeze the dough through your hands.

Form and reform until it feels right hydration that you can form it later.

If not, add flour or water so it is just right texture. I probably spend 5-10 minutes until it feels good.Keep warm at 84 degrees F for 2 hours and it doubles but not falling apart.

Holes on the surface.  Then wet moulding of dough and smooth, no seams anywhere. Not even on the bottom. Keep warm for 30 minutes and when pinholes appear on the surface—8 or 10 holes-coat with paste made of 25g leftover dough and 25g water and throw in hot oven.  I use 500 degrees F with convection on a pizza stone--uncovered. Bake for 10 minutes at 500 degrees F, then open oven and cool it down to 450 or so for another 40 minutes.  Check for doneness and spray with water and leave in 3 minutes . Take out and coat with cooked mix of 5g starch and 150g water that you made before and cooled down. I use potato starch.

Mischbrot

900g flour

   of which: 300g whole rye, 600g white unbleached all purpose

   of which: 300g in poolish

630g water

   of which: 300g in poolish

18g salt

1.7g yeast

   of which: 0.4g in poolish

20g Brotgewürz (German bread spice)

Make bread spice: Dry roast equal weights of coriander seed, anise seed, caraway seed and fennel seed and avoid burning.  Let cool and grind to a fine powder. 

Make poolish: Make a solution of 250g water with 1.4g yeast.  Add 70g of this solution to 100g rye and 200g wheat flours, then add 230g water and mix well.  Cover with plastic and let stand at room temperature overnight. 

Make dough: Combine remaining flour, salt, Brotgewürz and 1.4g yeast, mix well using a whisk.  Add poolish and 330g tepid water.  Mix well.   Knead using 30-50 slap-folds (French folds).  Form into a tight ball, place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in a warm location for 2-3 hours.  

Form and proof: Place dough on dusted work surface, flatten and degas.  Stretch to a flat rectangle, and bring corners to the center.  Bring resulting corners to center, flip over and form a tight oval shaped loaf.  Place on silicone perforated baking mat on baking sheet, and place in a warm moist area to proof for 1 hour. 

Bake: Preheat oven to 480deg F with a large thermal mass such as a baking stone or heavy bottomed sautoir.  Score loaf, place baking sheet on thermal mass, reduce temperature to 440deg F and bake for approximately 45 minutes.  Check color at 30 minutes and continue baking until desired color is achieved.  

Cool: Turn oven off, crack open door, and leave bread in the oven for 30 minutes to release moisture.  Place bread on cooling rack to reach room temperature

Notes: the recipe and method are based on Tom Cat's Semolina Filone from this site, which was the first bread I learned many years ago.  This recipe works with any ingredients, the proportions simply need small adjustments.  It is a very robust recipe.  I travel to Germany often (returned 2 weeks ago from the Aachen area) and love the German Brotkultur.   The American food scene is sorely lacking in the bread department.   This loaf is inspired by my experience living in and traveling to Germany. 

Recipe given by https://m.tagesspiegel.de/genuss/backen-mit-sauerteig-zwei-rezepte-von-florian-domberger/19688214.html?fbclid=IwAR3J0ZYdQC3Mq6CLyCJn1PjgWeqXREv…

with correction in the amount of starter of 16g instead of 80g.

Oh my god!  There are no words.  I love these and am really looking forward to reading what you do, have done here.  Thanks so much for sharing these.  Fine breads!

Paul

edit:  I wasn't aware till seeing again that these are three posts, semolina and George. Congratulations guys, beautiful.  George, I really love this style of bread.  Looks like it goes to the top of the "to do ryes."

I thought it was worth quoting a section on milling rye from an article GeorgeQ posted [HERE].

Since we started stone-milling our flour in 2018, we’ve been learning how to approach each grain differently to yield flour that best suits our needs. During our Grain Share development, we had a revelation with emmer, which must be milled slowly and with millstones cranked down as hard as they can be without grinding together, yielding a buttery flour with barely evident flecks of bran. Alter this process and you get a coarse, sandy flour, practically unusable for bread or pastry. Other hard wheats, good for bread, like a slightly less extreme version of this treatment. We came to understand that rye should be milled relatively coarse, with little millstone pressure, to prevent an excess of enzymatic activity that produces poor structure in 100% rye breads. 

It may be something home millers should keep in mind.

I found this recipe on the internet and decided I had to try: https://forgottencookery.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/frisian-rye-bread/

The structure is absolutely perfect, the taste, unfortunately,  slightly underwhelming. 

I used coarse rye meal (rye grains pulsed in the blender until I was happy with the texture) and substituted honey for syrup

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I used Eric's recipe again because I am so new to artisan bread and new to baking with 50% rye (I am afraid of 100% yet!). For my first bake, I used IDY because I didn't have a sourdough starter. But that day, I made some with 100% whole grain rye. By day 7, the rye starter seemed very active, so I used it to make this recipe again.  My first sourdough bake! I don't have any comparison. But compared to my yeast version, I thought it was maybe a tad denser, but maybe that's in my head. I used 50% Hodgson's Mill wholgrain rye and the other 50% was KA bread flour. 

I am just beginning to suss out all the ins and outs for proofing, shaping, slashing etc., and I have a ways to go, but that said, I was not displeased with this bread. I made 2 smaller loaves (one round, one oval) from the recipe because it's just me, and I froze one.  I baked the oval loaf in my ancient rompertopf and the round one in a smallish dutch oven. I really like this bread and it doesn't spike my blood sugar, which is a very grand thing!

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This bread is from Jefferey Hamelman's Bread (3rd Ed.).  A straight forward bake with very nice results.  It has a sour rye/nutty aroma when sliced.  Here are some photos and the method is detailed in my blog post.

100% rye, no measurements

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I used dried out dough (2 weeks old) as a starter

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5th submisson here. Bake #86.

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70004/86th-bake-02162022-denisas-100-rye-take-6

I guess I kind of like this recipe. ;-)

This was with dried malt extract (DME) for sweetener.

I forgot to pre-soak the flour for the final dough.

This time the pan was greased with Crisco, and dusted with cornmeal.  It was baked in a cold Lodge cast iron loaf pan, but placed on a pre-heated baking stone. There was a second baking stone two positions lower at the lowest rack position.

I had high hopes for this recipe from theryebaker.com, but it didn't quite work for me. It is 82% rye with cornmeal; more detail is in this blog post.

Another entry for the Rye CB: (Sort of) Fleischmann’s Rye Batter Bread (60% rye). More details in my blog.

As is evident from the beautiful and diverse rye breads posted above, there are many superb rye bakers on this site (not to mention biologists), but in the spirit of collective learning, I recently came across some rye tips from bread.blog that I thought might be helpful to the rest of us to troubleshoot occasional failures.  I'm interested in what factors can contribute to gummy rye bread beyond just under/over-proofing and under baking.  The page also shares a few pH values for those of us inclined to use pH guided baking.

Source: https://bread.blog/enzymes-and-ph-matter-troubleshoot-my-loaf/

What is amylase?

Amylase is an enzyme that cuts the starch into simple sugars. Amylase works well between 4.5-6.5 pH. When amylase cannot work (outside desired pH range), there cannot be more sugar created which means no more fermentation. In other combination of words, amylase activity improves the conversion of complex sugars into simple sugars that yeast are then able to feed on and produce alcohol and CO2.

With rye flour, we want large quantities of starter to manage the enzymatic activity because we don’t want too much amylase activity, or what is sometimes known as “starch attack.” (See: Why is the rye bread gummy?) At 85ºC/185ºF, amylase is destroyed.

How much levain should I add to the final dough?

Large amounts of levain doesn’t impact the “quotient fermentaire,” (QF) but it does impact the pH and and enzymatic activity. QF can be described as the ratio of lactic to acetic acid. In some rye breads, large amounts of levain are used to lower the pH quickly to prevent “starch attack.”

A young levain has a pH of 4-4.2, while a mature levain has a pH of 3.7-3.9. If you had the same amount of time for fermentation, you would need 30% young levain versus 20% mature levain.

Most bread consumers prefer a QF between 3-4.

Why is the rye bread gummy?

In 100% rye breads, pH must be below 4.5 or else bread will be very dense. pH must be above 4 or bread will be too slack. A pH between 4.2 and 4.5 pH is ideal. When baking, starch swells and amylase destroys starch. Too much amylase and starch attack results in a gummy, collapsed rye. Below pH 4.5, amylase is inactive. Remember that GI and starch attacked are linked to amylase activity, which can be controlled by pH. A large seeding and starter that has been refreshed multiple times is helpful in making rye breads. It’s good to target the rye dough at just below 4.5 immediately after mixing.

Delicious! I wrapped the finished 13” Pullman loaf in linen towels and left it 24 hrs. Like a tender rich cake. Very cool mouth feel and a lovely crisp  deep toasted crust due to plenty of butter to prevent sticking. This dough was WET! It contained 2 YW levains one white and one Rye . It also contains my trinity of EVOO -honey - yogurt. 

I saw it rising in a VERY uniform fashion as I did the bulk ferment in the pan. I counted the ridges on the pan sides to watch the progress. At one hour I saw one bubble break the surface! Triumph Paul said stop the room temp ferment immediately and I did. It continued to rise in the fridge with the cover on while it retarded till the next morning. Baked at 450 top on 20 min lowered to 400 for 20 min top on then 25 min top off. Couldn’t be happier. Such an easy rye . One bowl one pan stir proof retard bake. Can’t ask for more balanced flavor or a more beautiful crumb. 

Make levains 35g white starter feed with 125g YW 125g T65 ( or other white flour)

                      35g rye starter     feed with 125g YW 125g rye flour ( all rye was ground slightly coarse in Mock Mill) 

ferment till fully developed. Overnight in the microwave with light on produced great growth. 

Dough. I autolysed the the dough ingredients separately from the levain at room temp overnight due to the coarse grind. 

627g coarse rye Mock Mill

557 filtered room temp H2O

90 g total Trinity - 30g each EVOO/honey/yogurt

18g salt

Mix everything together the next AM making sure it is all blended. Easy to do by hand. Butter your large Pullman and lid very very well. Place dough in and smooth top with a wet spatula. Leave in a warm place, I used the radiator in a sunny window. Mine took only one hour to see the " first fermentation bubble". Put lid on and place in fridge overnight. Bake in 450 preheated oven for 20 min covered. Lower to 400 and continue covered bake another 20 min. The slide cover off and say " whoa" as it will be so brown and full to the top and continue to bake 25 min. Remove from pan after about 10 min to let it loosen. Wrap in linen for 24 hrs. Slice and enjoy. c

The rest is whole wheat. Flax inside, poppy and hemp on top

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This is over 50% rye,  Danish style. So good and tasty. I took notes and posted them on my blog.

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This recipe is from Der Foodcoach blog. More details on the preparation are here in my blog.

The crumb is tight and only slightly sticky. The bread has a pronounced sour, not surprising with the sour culture and buttermilk. I liked the flavor but the sourness does limit the generality of the bread. A slice at 5 days post-bake from near an end of the loaf shows some loss of structure. Is this due to poor shaping, incorrect hydration, or incorrect proofing?

79% Stone ground whole rye. 21% High extraction Bread flour.

All of the 14% protein bread flour is pre-fermented from the Lievito Madre. I am very disappointed with the lack of oven spring. More details tomorrow if the crumb is worthy. 

Bake #1 79% stone ground whole rye naturally leavened with stiff (Lievito Madre) starter. 

More information can be found at my Blog spot

Hello, friends. 

 I had so much fun yesterday with the high percentage rye bake. I decided to have some more fun today!. However, before we get to that, some final words on yesterday's bread. I just had two more thin slices my wife toasted for us. I am loving the contrast of the crunchy crisp crust and the pillowy soft crumb, amazing flavor profile too. 

 As for today's fun, I am going to use all my willpower not to post about this again until the very end. I want to avoid the appearance of a grand performance that ends with an anticlimactic last act. 

Today I will attempt to recreate the iconic Outback steakhouse pumpernickel. Copycat formulas are available all over the world wide web for this beloved butterable bread. My bake will add some twists and turns. Please comment on any other additions or omissions you have made to this bread. Also, your thoughts and general helpful tips are always welcome. Smile. My formula is below, along with photos of the sourdough family, and job #1 converting to a rye sour starter. Enjoy! 

Please stop by my Blog spot for the full description of the bake and bread.

Hello, friends.

 Can we talk about the Anourbor/Detriot Michigan rye bread baking method known as "double baking"? While winding down from my Monday, I pulled up the World wide web (Thank you Al Gore) Ha! I kill me! Sorry, I digress. I began searching for the true sour rye (N.Y. ryes) that came with our Eastern European neighbors from the old countries. The first thing I found was that these sacred formulas, which embodied the continuity of life, the very notion that what is old can be new once again, were murdered! How could this happen? What evil could have done this! Look no further than the industrial bakers. Most notably the Levy family and their slogan "You don't have to be Jewish to love our rye bread" Okay, now I am just rambling! Double baking, anyone? Photo is strictly for attention and from my archives. Tang Zhong Jewish rye. 

Search for Real Rye

How to make Jewish Rye part 1

How to make Jewish Rye part-2

For my next performance... (Just kidding Cool Cat) Yes I can humbly accept constructive criticism. I promise no more about this until it is out of the oven, maybe even sliced too! 

Note: With age comes wisdom. I am no longer under the misconception that everything "N.Y." is the best. That being said, don't mess with our pizza! (I don't know I think I'm funny?)

If it's good enough for Jane & Michael Stern, then that's good enough for me. 2011 article “Bread Alone: In Search of the Best Rye Bread in America,” Jane & Michael Stern sing its praises: America’s very best deli rye? No contest. We found it in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when we noticed that the bread that Zingerman’s Deli used to construct our Diana’s Different Drummer sandwich (brisket, Russian dressing, coleslaw, and horseradish) was sensational. It comes from Zingerman’s Bakehouse, which makes loaves of rugged rye that are dense and springy, laced with the taste of hearth smoke. (Saveur, March 2011)

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Fascinating proces! I baked this already twice before and wanted to try again.  I had to do some time squeezing and stretching so I didn't follow (timingwise) any of these recipes. But the ingredients and all the steps are here

In English: http://theryebaker.com/latgalian-rye/

In Polish: https://przepisynadomowyserichleb.blogspot.com/2017/02/chleb-zytni-penoziarnisty-atgalski-otwa.html?m=1

Here's another offering for the Rye CB: traditional German Pumpernickel. The recipe is from a German bread book and conforms with the German requirements of Pumpernickel: only rye meals were used and the bake was at least 16 hours. More details can be found in my  (blog).

One cautionary note: You might not want to use your favorite bread pan; my old Ecko Bakers' Secret pan corroded during the long bake!

Anudder one:

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70143/88thh-bake-02232022-denisas-100-rye-take-7

A little over-fermented.

Late addition, a "Münchener Hausbrot" from Brotoc's wonderful Heimat Brote: Traditionsreiche Brote aus Dem eigenen Ofen. The blog entry differs a bit from his book, but general idea.

It's a 60:40 mixed rye.  Some of the rye is KA's medium and the rest of the "Type 1150" rye is my own bolted whole rye.  Type 85/T 1050 wheat flour, vorteig and sauerteig.