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Bauernbrot mit Sauerteig (rye bread) - recipe and questions

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Bauernbrot mit Sauerteig (rye bread) - recipe and questions

Hello all!

Today I made a "Bauernbrot", using DMSnyder's Greenstein Sourdough adaptation as a sour. This yielded 600 grams of sour after Stage 3.

My recipe is an adaptation of a Bauernbrot mit Sauerteig recipe from the Chefkoch.de site

The site uses 800g of "Sauerteig Ansatz", but as I had 600 instead of 800g of sour I adapted it as follows:

300g of wholemeal Rye flour. Chefkoch.de recommend a type 997 or type 1150 flour, but these are German classifications and my Rye is of British origin. I have asked the manufacturer whether it is possible for them to give me an equivalent German classification number for their flour. They haven't replied yet.

225g of Italian tipo 00 bread flour. I get this straight out of the kitchen of a local Italian delicatessen who use it themselves to bake bread, but as a result I have no idea of its protein content as I don't get to see its packaging. My guess it that it would be in or around 12.7%, but certainly no less than 10% protein.

11g salt

The German recipe uses 6 gram (4-5 gram in my reduced quantities recipe) of Rye malt but I didn't have any, and I was going to replace this by honey or brown sugar but I actually completely forgot. I can't say the end result tastes like it's lacking in anything.

The German recipe mentions optionally adding 2 grams of additional (baker's?) yeast, but the writer states that they never do this as their Sour is quite active, and I found the same applies to the Greenstein adaptation. It's very active, and I didn't have to add any extra yeast.

Additional considerations

The German recipe adds as much lukewarm water as wheat flour (where I used Italian tipo 00), but their Sour is much runnier than the Greenstein at Stage 3, so I had to add a bit more water as I was making my dough. Anyhoo. I started with

225g of lukewarm water

 

ProcessI mixed the 225g of Tipo 00 with the 225g of lukewarm water, and let it stand for half an hour to autolyse the gluten in the wheat.

I then put the 300g of wholemeal rye on the work surface and made a well in the center. I added the autolysed wheat flour to the well and started mixing, and then added the Greenstein sour. At this stage it was clear that I needed more water so I just added as needed until I had a fairly dense but easy to knead dough. As the recipe states: "der Teig klebt kaum" - the dough barely sticks, and it didn't.

I shaped the dough, and as it was less than the German recipe, I didn't create two small loafs as stated therein but one large boule. With the lukewarm water and the ambient temperature, and me putting the dough into a cold oven with a bowl of hot water the dough very quickly rose, and it really did only take just over one hour - as stated in the recipe - for it to rise and double in size.

I slashed the dough and placed it in a roaring hot oven at 250 degrees Celsius, together with a bowl of boiling water and throwing water on the oven floor to create a vigorous steam - the "kräftigen Schwaden" in the original German recipe - in which I baked it for the stated 15 minutes, after which I removed the bowl of boiling water and let off the steam, and continued to bake at 200 degrees Celsius. In the last 10 minutes I kept the oven door ajar using a wooden spoon - again as per the original German recipe.

 

The result

 

 

What I liked

The flavour hits you like a ton of bricks. I absolutely love the taste of this bread.

What can be improved

1) I don't think I quite gave it enough time to rise. I was under time constraints. I would have liked it to have proved a bit longer.

2) I don't think I added quite enough water to the dough, it could have been a little softer.

3) The crust is just on the brink of burning, and it was quite hard.

 

Questions

The baking temperatures and times are higher c.q. longer than I'm used to, but it needs it, apparently. How do I prevent the crust (almost) burning the way it did?

While I absolutely love the crispiness of the crust, is there a way I can keep it a bit thinner?

 

 

many thanks

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I do think it is quite charming with the little black on the crust.

You could put some Aluminium foil on top of the bread maybe?

I am German and LOVE Bauernbrot, I do miss all the German bread here in the UK and that is hwy I started baking my own.

 

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Thank you Petra!

When would be a good time to put on the Aluminium foil? At the steam stage or after?

I'm Dutch, but I was able to, by and large, understand the German recipe. The one thing I wasn't entirely sure about was the timing. I couldn't figure out for certain whether it stated to bake for 15 minutes under steam followed by 60 minutes at 200 degrees, or that it was a 60 minute bake of which the first 15 minutes were to be done under steam.

What would happen if I steamed it for less than 15 minutes or for more than 15 minutes?

PetraR's picture
PetraR

If I would bake my bread on the middle Shelf of my Oven I would put some Aluminium foil on for the last 20-30 Minutes of baking.

 

 

It  says to bake the first 15 MInutes under Steam at 250C, let the steam out and bake for 60 Minutes at 200C and after 50 Minutes leave the oven door a bit open.

I am not sure what Whole wheat Rye flour is, I know only Whole wheat/Wholemeal or Rye flour.

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

I thought so but 75 minutes in total just seemed like such an extraordinarily long bake that I started doubting myself. And thanks for the tip.

It's "wholemeal" alright. In fact, since you're in the UK yourself you can probably get this in your local shops as well. It's "Dove's Farm" wholemeal rye bread. This one, to be precise: http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/flour-and-ingredients/organic-wholemeal-rye-flour-x-1kg/ - would you have any idea what the German equivalent category would be for that brand of British rye?

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I think 75 minutes is a long baking time but it has a lot of Rye in it so it does need it.

I shall have a look if I can find out what the German equivalent is for this flour.:)

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Dear Mr Carafa

Thank you for your enquiry and I am sorry for the slight delay in replying.

We do not test for the ‘Roggenmehl’ type of our Light and Wholemeal Rye flours but as a rule of thumb  they would be approx. 997 for our Light Rye and approx. 1150 for our Wholemeal.

I hope this is of help.  Please do contact me if there is anything else I can advise you with.

Best Regards

Jane

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I just had a look, in Germany we do have also 997 and 1150 but an 815 too.

I think I was used to 815 in Germany, it is finer.

I watched on youtube a German Lady making a Rye Starter and I wondered why the consistency was so different from what I got.

Well, now we know:)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

Ok, first of all, I am using the same Rye flour, I never noticed that it said Wholemeal too. doh lol

The German equivalent is  Roggenvollkorn Mehl.

In the Recipe they use the much finer Roggen Mehl , but I am not sure if we can find it here in the Uk.

 

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

:-) Great - can't go far wrong then..

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I think your bread looks great.

I just checked and the Wholemeal Rye flour that we get from the Supermarket is fine enough and does not need to be soaked.

I shall try this recipe in the new house * moving at the 30.8 * and hope the new oven does not give me a headache lol. 

 

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Great. Best of luck. I'll be trying it myself, again, with a few small modifications :-)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

Looking forward to see your next loaf.

I shall bake it in the new house , maybe the second week of September when we settled in. pffft

NOW I am craving Bauernbrot. pfft

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Well, brace yourself. The next one is coming up in 20 minutes. See below ;-)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I am bracing myself for the bestest Bauernbrot!

I will run and have a look.:)

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

PetraR's picture
PetraR

My my my what a beautiful loaf with a golden colour. 

Beautiful bake.

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

I applied your tin foil suggestion. Worked a treat :-)

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

amount of levain for a rye bread.  No wonder it proofed so fast :-)  At 100% hydration, it would proof faster too.  It would take a while for this one to bake.  looking at the crumb, I think you are right that maybe it could have proofed longer but without a before and after picture I can't tell.  The boule bloomed OK so maybe not.  This one had to be sour and tasty.  Well done and happy baking

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Thank you dabrownman - yes, the flavour leaves nothing to be desired.

I'm a little confused about what you mean by "before and after" picture. Before and after proving?

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

without a picture of what it looked like when it went into the basket and what it looked like right before it was tipped out fthe basket.

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Well, this bread was so tasty I will definitely be making it again. I'll make sure to take the "before" and "after" shots this time, and I'll let you know when the time comes.

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

I made the Bauernbrot again. I made a slight modification. In the final dough, I reversed the proportions of Rye and wheat, so I used 300g of wheat and 225g of rye and 300g of lukewarm water, making for a slightly wetter dough. Here are the pictures:

Before....

 

I checked about 1 1/2 hours later:

 

That didn't look nearly "ripe". I left it for another 2 hours. This is the final proof, I turned it over, slashed it and put it in the oven immediately after taking this picture:

 

By the way: I checked it about an hour before that, and it was almost that size already, but I didn't think it was "ripe" yet. It was about the size of the last picture but it looked more like the second picture; note how in the last picture one or two bubbles have started "breaking through" the surface of the dough, which wasn't happening an hour earlier. Just wondering whether I left it too long this time, perhaps? But I had to wait this long because there was a chicken in the oven at the time.

 

The bread is about 20 minutes from being done at this moment. I'll post the end result when it's ready :-)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I think I would have taken it out when it was before the bubbles come up, happend to me a couple of times, waited a bit to long and it was over proofed, not by much but still over.

I shall bake this bread in the new house, right now I have my last bread bulk fermenting that will be baked in this house. 

LOVE the look of you Bread.

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

I think you're right, it may just have been a tiny bit over. It didn't actually "deflate" terribly while I scored it, but it did do so a little bit. But like I said, there was a chicken hogging the oven. My hands were tied XD

PetraR's picture
PetraR

Yeah right, blame it on the chicken ;)

I do understand though, that is why mine was over a bit 2 times, I had my Goulash in the Oven and the other time my husband was making a roast.

BUT your bread turned out great.

I use a 50% hydration Starter now, it holds it shape much better when I gently tip it out of the banneton.

Might want to give it a try?:)

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Am game for anything, me. That, by the way, wasn't a banneton. It's simply a small linen couche draped into a metal bowl. I dust it with some semolina before placing the boule into it, hence the dusting on the boule. To tip it over I put a baking sheet on a plate that fits just inside the rim of the bowl, I tip the thing upside down, remove the bowl and gently peel away the couche. Hey, it works for me :-)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

Cool:)

I see, yes, I think I want a couche as lately my dough keeps on sticking to my oblong banneton, never to the round one though they are treated the same way and made from the same material. 

Strange.

I use a Dutch Oven for baking, so I tip the dough out on a parchment paper , score the bread and lift it with the parchment paper in to the Dutch Oven, keeps the Dutch Oven clean and is better than just dropping the dough in to the Dutch Oven.

I want to buy a baking Stone though, to test how the bread turns out that way.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

gave you that extra insurance for a rise.  Had this been a higher rye, 70% or over, the bubbles popping would be cutting it too close.  Notice the difference in bumps on the surface, subtle but it is there.  half way between would be about right for  a higher rye %.   :)

Looks good ...wouldn't mind it a bit browner.  "Naked on the rack!"  upside-down for 10 more minutes.  :)  

(Chickens can't kick when they're dead.)

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Thank you Mini Oven; yeah, I think I was a bit too eager with the tin foil this time, but you live and learn. It was a great improvement over my first one, that's for sure, so hopefully the next one will be completely perfect :P

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

Very happy with how this looks.... Now for the tasting :-)

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I would love to see the crumb:)

rozeboosje's picture
rozeboosje

There you go.... It's definitely better than last time. The crust is not as "thick" and hard, and the texture is lighter....

PetraR's picture
PetraR

Oh I LIKE.

The crumb looks beautiful and so does the height of the loaf:)