The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Eric's Favourite Rye-A Classic Deli Rye

Franko's picture
Franko

Eric's Favourite Rye-A Classic Deli Rye

Yesterday I had the chance to do a bake of Eric's Favorite Rye following Floyd * Baking Eric's Favorite Rye * and Andy's suggestion *here* that it would be a nice way to honor the memory of Eric Hanner. Eric was a great guy and friend so of course I wanted to make any sort of contribution I could towards that. Reading through Eric's formula and procedure for the first time in quite a while I remembered why I'd never baked his bread before....caraway...lots of it! Nevertheless, this bread was going to be made, I'd just dial the spice back a bit to suit my tastes. Other than that I wanted to stick as closely as possible to the original formula and procedure and produce what I feel is a classic deli style rye bread. In the original post http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5076/eric039s-fav-rye#comment-25620 Eric leaves no doubt as to how he intended to use the bread, namely for corn beef sandwiches and I'm sure his home cured and smoked pastrami as well. I can tell you that now I've made the bread and made a CB sandwich from it I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better bread to use for stacking warm slices of corned beef on top of. In fact I couldn't. This is incredibly tasty bread, with a soft but slightly chewy crumb and crust, and loaded with flavour from the preferment, the onions, and yes the caraway. I like  Eric's Rye so much I've decided it will be the bread for my corned beef and pastrami sandwiches from here on. 

Thanks Pal!

Cheers,

Franko

 

A few notes about the formula (below) and procedure:

As mentioned I stayed as close as possible to the original formula and procedure, trying to make the bread as Eric outlined in the link above. There were a few minor exceptions however that I want to mention.

  • Because of scheduling the preferment was left for longer than the 8 hours indicated in the original procedure, going for 12 hours total. The bread didn't taste overly sour to me, just slightly tangy.

  • The onions used were fresh, slightly caramelized on low heat in a covered pan. I don't have anything against dried onions, I simply didn't have any on hand.

  • Before the final mix the bread flour and water had a 40 minute autolyse.

  • The caraway was reduced to 1.8% from 2.5%

  • The baking temps and time varied slightly in that I started the bake (with steam) at 450F/232C for 10 minutes, reducing the heat to 385F/196C for the remaining 25 minutes. The bread was baked to an internal temperature of 210F/98.8C.

Other than the autolyse I can't think of anything that would improve upon the original procedure that Eric wrote up, so as a good friend of mine says "not for changing!"

 

Link to working spreadsheet *Here*

 

 

 

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

proud of you and your baking of his signature bread.  Your effort is spectacular, a real testament to both you and Eric. 

Nice baking! 

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi dabrownman,

I really appreciate you saying that, it means a lot to me. Eric developed a great recipe and did all the hard work, making it easy for others to turn out a very good bread. For obvious reasons I regret never having made it till now. 

Many thanks!

Franko

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

you enjoy your meats; smoked meat and preserved meats but not exclusively so your bake seems both natural and complimentary to them.

I lost my old NY Deli Pastrami Cure recipe and am using Eric's now.   As far as I can remember it is almost the same.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Looks great, Franko.  

-Floyd

Franko's picture
Franko

Thanks Floyd!

Thanks for your suggestion of baking Eric's Rye as well.

Franko

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Beautiful bake, Franko. I'm sure Eric would be proud. :)

Zita 

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Zita,

Very kind of you, thanks! I hope that Eric would have liked it.

Cheers,

Franko

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Franko,

and I just completely forgot that you don't really like Caraway.   Eric really piled it in this recipe too didn't he?   I cut back by more than you and the Caraway flavour was still pronounced.   I like Caraway though!

I arrived back from shopping to find Alison munching on a couple of slices of this bread.   She loves it, despite the nasty toothache plaguing her right now.

Yes, I realise Eric intended this bread to accompany his home-prepared meats; I am really glad you can use the bread to enjoy the same foods.   It is a beautiful formula and loaf of bread to make to honour Eric.   You have done a really great job too.

"Not for changing!"   Your friend is very wise.

Take good care

Andy

 

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Andy,

I'll admit I'm caraway challenged. For me the flavour tends to dominate too easily, so it's not that I can't enjoy it but prefer it with other flavours instead of it of being the flavour. I like Karin's idea of pairing it with orange in her recent Beer Rye Bread post. It sounds like a good combination don't you think?

Many thanks Andy, glad you liked the loaf.

All the best,

Franko

varda's picture
varda

You have done Eric's favorite rye justice.  If your "not for changing" friend will allow when I make it I'll leave out the onions.   -Varda

Franko's picture
Franko

Thank you Varda!

If I recall correctly I think the rye was done without the onion in some mixes. I was referring more to the process being sound and reliable and not in need of any significant changes IMO.

Franko 

louie brown's picture
louie brown

to remember a good guy and a terrific contributor to this site. I always found his contributions useful and interesting.

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Louie,

Eric's presence will be missed by a lot of folks around here, no question at all. I really enjoyed his enthusiasm for baking and appreciated his attention to detail. 

Thanks for your comment Louie!

Franko

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

What a beautiful way to honor Eric.  

I love the beautiful crumb shot.  The sandwich is mouthwatering too!

Sylvia

Franko's picture
Franko

Thank you Sylvia, I had a very good recipe to work with thanks to Eric. The bread is designed for meat sandwiches but you know.. it's great all on it's own, and that's the mark of a good bread to me.

Cheers,

Franko

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I didn't know that Eric passed away, how sad! I always appreciated his contributions and thoughtful comments.

Though I'm no fan of Corned Beef, other than as ingredient in Labskaus (sailors' fare, comparable to hash browns), I would definitely want to taste this great looking bread.

Karin

Franko's picture
Franko

I wish I'd had time to make my own corned beef for this post because I'm not big fan of the commercial stuff either. Eric's Rye Bread is excellent as is , in fact I've eaten most of it so far with just a light smear of butter on top. Delicious!

Glad you liked the loaf Karin and thanks for your compliments on it, much appreciated!

Franko

rossnroller's picture
rossnroller

Just great, Franko. That crumb is especially lovely.

I'm a big fan of Eric's rye, too - love the aroma as it bakes, with that tantalising background of onions.

Like you, Floyd and Andy, I have felt an inner tug prompting me to do Eric's rye again soon, both as a personal tribute and because it's such a bloody nice bread! An ongoing legacy from a great bloke. Time to get another rye sour underway...

Cheers!
Ross

Franko's picture
Franko

Hiya Ross, good to hear from you.

The aroma is something else isn't it? I knew when it first started filling the kitchen that regardless of how it looked, this would be a bread I was really going to enjoy. Get that sour going and join the party mate!

Thanks for the compliments on the loaf Ross!

Cheers,

Franko

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Franko,
You’ve made a great-looking version of Eric’s bread; a beautiful bake to honor the memory of your friend.
The shine on the crust, the profile of the cut slice, and the crumb - perfect; and the flavor sounds really good, too.
:^) breadsong

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi breadsong,

Thanks so much for your very kind comments! The flavour is terrific and I've been kicking myself since making it for not having done so sooner. Next time I bake it though I'll plan it around some homemade pastrami to really do it justice.

Thanks again breadsong!

All the best,

Franko