Rye bread temperature question...

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countrygirl84 on 20 Dec 2008 at 11:55

So I'm doing the final proof for a direct method "rye bread" recipe I found on the net and it says to bake at 350 degrees F and that just seemed kind of low temperature to me. I'm thinking I won't get good oven spring but if I turn up the temp will I burn the bread? Any suggestions?

You should definitely be able to turn it up some, even if just for the first 5 minutes.  Set it at 425 or 450 to get the maximum spring.

Ok yey! Thats the temp I put it to. I figured after the first ten I'd turn it down to the 350? Its cooking as we speak. The recipe has molassas in it and it smells pretty sweet. I'm not sure it was really what I was looking for but we'll see, it looks like I got some good oven spring so far. I'll post some pics when they're out :)

Depends if you're baking high-percentage (>70%) rye or the more common 20-30% deli-type rye. For the former, 5-10 minutes at 450 or so with lots of steam to promote spring, then another 2-3 hours at 250 to allow the dough to fully dry out and for the colloids to set properly. At that point, the crust will be hard and thick, so a generous brushing or two with hot water when the loaves come out of the oven, and don't cut into them for at least two days. For deli-type ryes, 350-375 is more than adequate: think of it as a pan bread rather than a hearth loaf, since you're really just making a primarily wheat bread with a large rye supplement. One other point. Oven spring is mainly a function of steam, so anything over 212F is theoretically going to make your loaf puff up. The proofing is far more important, since it allows the formation of the flexible "balloons" of gluten or pentosans (high-percentage ryes) that hold the steam and set in the heat.