Community Bake - Rye Bread

First Community Bake of the New Year. This month seems less like 'Dry January' and more like 'Rye January'. So it seems very fitting to make rye the centrepiece (sorry! centerpiece) for this collective bake. 

There has been much discussion about the "rules" for this community bake but I wish to make it simple so it's accessible and all inclusive. The one rule is that rye must make up at least 50% of the flour/grain in the dough. Other then that... surprise us! 

It is customary for the 'host' to start off with a bake of their own. While I have recently made a rye bread I haven't done one especially for this community bake in mind. That bake will be coming soon. And what's more I don't consider myself the host as i'm just getting this off the ground and on the way. I will do my best to step into Dan's and Alan's shoes however I won't be able to devote as much time for which I apologise (sorry! apologize) in advance. We can all play host and with a collective effort I believe it'll keep itself running. 

Here is an introduction to baking with rye and I will leave you with is a really lovely rye recipe from our friends over at breadtopia. Over to you Eric...

Artisan Sourdough Rye Bread 

This is my favorite rye bread recipe of all time… so far. I could have just as easily called it Swedish Rye Bread or Aroma Therapy Bread for that matter (takes the coveted baking bread smell to another level). Covers both sourdough and instant yeast versions.

Ingredients

• Water: 400 grams, 1 2/3 cups
• Sourdough Starter: 70 grams, 1/3 cup (omit if making the instant yeast version)
• Instant Yeast: 1 tsp (omit if making sourdough leavened version)
• Whole Rye Flour: 245 grams, heaping 1 3/4 cups
• Bread Flour: 245 grams, heaping 1 3/4 cups [my tip: use very strong bread flour]
• Molasses: 44 grams, 2 Tbs
• Fennel Seed: 8 grams, 1 Tbs
• Anise Seed: 2 grams, 1 tsp
• Caraway Seed: 3 grams, 1 tsp
• Salt: 12 grams, 1 3/4 tsp
• Zest of 1 Orange

Instructions

Sourdough Version

• In a mixing bowl, mix the starter into the water. Add the molasses, all the seeds and orange zest.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flours and salt.
• Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet using a dough whisk or spoon until the flour is well incorporated. Cover with plastic and let rest for 15 minutes. After about 15 minutes, mix again for a minute or two. Again let rest for 15 minutes and mix one more time as before. Now cover the bowl with plastic and let sit at room temperature for roughly 12-14 hours.

Instant Yeast Version

• The only difference is don’t use sourdough starter and instead mix the instant yeast into the dry ingredients before combining with the wet ingredients.

Both Versions

• After the long 12-14 hour proof, stretch and fold the dough and shape into boule or batard (round or oblong) shape for baking. (If you didn’t follow that, I’m afraid you’re doomed to watch the video.) Cover again with plastic and let rest 15 minutes before putting in a proofing basket for the final rise. If you don’t have a proofing basket, line a bowl with a well floured kitchen towel and put the dough in there for the final rise. The final rise should last somewhere between 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Keep the dough covered with plastic to prevent it from drying out.
• Preheat your oven to 475 F a half hour before baking.
• Score the dough with a razor or sharp serrated knife and bake until the internal temp is about 200 F.
• Let cool completely before eating.

Notes

On 12-14 hour proofing period: I typically prepare everything in the evening for baking the next morning. You can also mix everything up in the morning and refrigerate until evening then remove before bed to resume the proofing at room temperature. Alternatively, if you get started with mixing everything up early enough in the morning, the bread can also be ready to bake in the evening [you can keep an eye on the dough this way]. This is a nice option when you want fresh bread ready to eat for breakfast.

https://breadtopia.com/sourdough-rye-bread/

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Good Resources For Rye Recipes:

https://brotdoc.com/2021/09/05/landbrot-nach-alter-art/

https://theryebaker.com/

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67054/100-whole-grain-rye-sourdough-bread

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/jeffreys-sourdough-rye-bread-recipe

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/rye-sourdough-and-smorrebrod/

https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/sourdough-recipes/rye-sourdough-pseudo-english-muffins/

http://brotgost.blogspot.com/ (you can change the language to English)

https://www.ploetzblog.de/tag/roggenbrot/ (you can change the language to English)

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15736/mini039s-favorite-rye-ratio (from our very own Mini)

Volkornbrot [A recipe from kingdombread-tampa over on YouTube. Alan first introduced this baker to us back in February 2021: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67469/polenta-levain-kingdom-bakery-tampa-fl]

American Pumpernickel An adaptation of German Pumpernickel aka Old Milwaukee Rye. No need to bake it for up to 18 hours. Not 50% rye but we'll accept it in place of German Pumpernickel and pretend it checks all the right boxes. Not everyone is happy about baking a loaf for so long and this recipe allows one to appreciate "Pumpernickel" with a bit more ease. 

Yeasted Polish Rye Bread : A nice channel on YouTube. Unfortunately she doesn't post any videos anymore. However here is a yeasted Polish Rye Bread for those who don't have a sourdough starter. 

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The following are links to some of our previous Community Bakes

• Lake Champlain Sourdough by Trevor Wilson
• Fifty-Fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough by Maurizio Leo
• Soughdough Baguettes by Maurizio Leo
• 1-2-3 Sourdough by Flo Makanai
• Five-Grain Levain by Jeffrey Hamelman
• Maurizio's Oat Porridge SD by Maurizio Leo
• Community Bake - Pizza
• Hamelman’s Swiss Farmhouse Bread - Yeast Water - Part 1 by Jeffrey Hamelman
• Hamelman’s Swiss Farmhouse Bread - The Bread - Part 2 by Jeffrey Hamelman
• Basic Open Crumb Sourdough by Kristen of FullProofBaking
• The Approachable Loaf- Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread by The Bread Lab
• Baguettes featuring Alfanso
• Deli Rye - NY Jewish Bakery/Deli style Rye breads
• Durum - Semolina Breads 
• Babka
• Portuguese Style Hawaiian Sweet Bread
• Ciabatta

All bakers of any skill level is invited and encouraged to join in. The Community Bakes are not competitive events. There are no winners and losers. Everyone that actively participants is guaranteed to learn something(s) new.

Some Community Bakes get extremely large. If you find that you are getting too many notifications of new replies and would like to decrease or stop the messages SEE THIS LINK.