Is my 100% rye sourdough okay?
I'm having lunch with a friend this week and I would like to surprise her with a Russian-style rye bread. She says it's hard to find a good quality one in our area. Her mom in the Ukraine passed away and she couldn't go to the funeral because of the war. I was hoping this might cheer her up a little bit.
After reading a bunch of posts about 100% rye sourdoughs, I finally settled on Andy's Rossisky formula (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/99318#comment-99318). I have never made a 100% rye before so I made a 500 gram loaf today as a tester.
I fermented the rye sour for 18 hours at room temp (about 71F). Then I added the final rye, water and salt and mixed the dough in a bowl with a spatula.
No bulk fermentation. I spread the dough into a loaf pan. My 20 cm long loaf pan is much too big for the 500 grams of dough, but I didn't mind getting a flatter loaf for this test.
Proofed for 1 hour 50 min at room temp (about 71F). I didn't know how long to proof, but I had to run some errands so I just let it proof while I was out.
Baked at 430F for 35 minutes (10 minutes with steam and 25 minutes without steam).
The crumb was not gummy at all. It's a firm bread, but very moist. The crust was thin and very easy to slice through.
The bread was nice and sour, but not overly or harshly sour. I'm not sure if it was sour because of the high percentage of prefermented flour (37%) or if it's because I built my starter from a rye starter stock that I've had for 3 weeks in the refrigerator. I think it tastes great.
Can someone give me some feedback my loaf? I'd like to know if it seems over or underproofed and if the crumb structure is correct. And should a natually leavened Russian-style rye be sour or mildly sour? I just want to give my friend the best loaf possible. Thanks for any help.
Mary
PS: Here's a link to a short video of me squishing a slice between my fingers. https://flic.kr/p/nYvwZZ
Beautiful bread, looks moist and lovely.
That looks like a FANTASTIC 100% rye bread ! Your descriptions pretty much hit the nail on the head for what to expect from one of these suckers, and kudos to you for doing such an awesome job.
While I'm certainly no expert on Russian tradition, I believe that most 100% rye breads are supposed to pack a nice sour kick to them . . . all of the Finnish and Swedish ryes that I have made have been no less than extremely divisive because of their sourness--though I like it . . . it's like dark chocolate, to me !
It doesn't look underproofed for a 100% rye . . . these guys are bound to be pretty dense, but it looks like yours is pretty well balanced. You could try a longer proof, but I can't say for certain that this will bring you to the temples of Rye Greatness (though you may already be there).
Condolences to your friend for her loss, and good luck to you.
The crumb looks good and I would say 37% preferment for 100% rye is ok. But some bulk fermentation time (15-30 min)
would be better and shorten final fermentation to 1.5 h.
Mirko
That's a lovely looking Rye bread, the color of the crumb is so appetizing. My 100% ryes always turn out gummy, don't know whether that's a good thing. The bread knife always needs a good cleaning:(
Well done, nice thing about these breads is they develop more flavor over days
Ghazi
That's a lovely looking Rye bread, the color of the crumb is so appetizing. My 100% ryes always turn out gummy, don't know whether that's a good thing. The bread knife always needs a good cleaning:(
Well done, nice thing about these breads is they develop more flavor over days
Ghazi
a good way to tell when rye is properly proofed is if pre proof ya sprinkle a little flour on the top, then, when you can see little cracks in the flour/top of the loaf its ready to go. I find proper proofing of these rascals the hardest part as the tolerance for even mild over proofing is crazy low.
flour or bran on the top. When it is cracked then int eh oven i goes. Yours looks perfect though. You can add some scalded berries to the mix and or walnuts too - and Lucy says then you can pumpernickel it too!.
Job well done! Great collection of photos, eye candy to brighten my dreary rainy day!
Thanks to everyone for their comments, helpful tips and suggestions. I'm going to make a bigger loaf next time. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.
Mary
I baked a 750g loaf for my friend. I did a 20 min bulk fermentation and a 90 min final proof. I forgot to sprinkle some flour over the top to help me judge when it was proofed. The crumb shot was taken about 24 hours after baking.
You can see the compacted crumb at the bottom of the slice and the larger holes towards the top. I think that's the result of overproofing it a little bit. It still tasted great and wasn't dense or gummy. The knife's blade stayed fairly clean when I sliced the bread.
My friend enjoyed immensely and said it was exactly how a Russian rye should be.
Mary
100% rye breads are a challenge to the uninitiated. You did a fabulous job I think. I am as impressed as much by your not being spooked by how different from a wheat flour dough this is as by your outcome.
David