After baking only whole rye bread for quite a while, I decided to try something I didn't bake before. Nothing spectacular. I just replaced half of the flour with Ruchmehl (afaik first clear is the closest match in the US) and used a stiff preferment. Half of the whole rye flour is fermented in the preferment. The other half, together with the Ruchmehl, goes into the main dough.
A bit of sourdough for the preferment, 76% hydration, 2% salt, that’s it.
Hand mixed, 2 S&F, fold and roll for the final shaping, baked at 230ºC on a baking steel.
I'm in love with the dark crust! The roasted flavours with a very subtle acidity are exactly what I was looking for.
I'm very pleased with the fermentation. Not sure, but maybe next time I can get a bit bigger alveoli and thinner walls between the alveoli. Not really an easy task with 50% whole rye.
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It would definitely be hard to get much more open crumb with 50% whole rye, I’d say you did really well. A very successful rustic bake.
Benny
That is one beautiful rye bread! I remember there was some discussion about first clear on TFL recently. I'm glad to see how well it paid off.
TomP
Crust & crumb look fantastic! I can imagine the flavor is superb. Great prresentation on the rustic cutting board, too. Congrats!
Rob
The cutting board is one of my favourites. It was allegedly made from an olive tree. I brought it from Greece a few years ago.
Definitely worthy of the nice pics!
Thank you all for the comments!
@Benny - "rustic bake" was exactly the word I was looking for! Thank you!
Beautiful crust and crumb and perfect for some hot pastrami or corned beef!
I need to pickup some First Clear as I love it in these types of rye breads. I used to get it from King Arthur but the stopped offering it a few years ago. I found a place about an hour away in Queens NY but haven’t had a chance to go yet.
Best,
Ian
Hot pastrami is a very good idea! Thanks!