The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Cooking rye bread?

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

Cooking rye bread?

Hi,

in many recipes I read the cooking is required to be made "undercover", that is with the pan enveloped in aluminum foil, while in others the envelope is not required and generally a much higher temperaturae is used.

I noticed that when I don't cover the pan the bread comes out with a gummy and tough crust, that I consider really annoying; moreover the crumb comes out lighter and less sweet.

 

I'd like to have some advise on the cooking method to use; at the moment I'm relying just on luck and on past experience rather than on a methodology.

BTW, how to decide when the bread is cooked? a stick inserted in the bread comes out _always_ wet, even after 6 hours.

 

Thanks.

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

I would say that if you are making a 100% rye bread that you want a long slow bake at about 300° F or 149° C.  Use a thermometer to check the temperature in the middle of the loaf to see if the bread is done.  The final internal temperature of the loaf should be 200° F or 94° C.  When the loaf comes out of the oven spray the top very lightly with water to prevent a hard crust.

This instructions apply only to a bread made with all rye or almost all rye.

Jeff

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

Thanks,

thus without covering the bread during the baking?

Elagins's picture
Elagins

i agree with Yerffej about the long low-temp bake. i also find that starting it off at around 400 for the first 10 minutes, with lots of steam (1 cup of water every 3 minutes) will maximize the oven spring, which is mostly steam-driven. also, rather than spraying the crust when the loaves come out, I generally brush them generously with water and then leave the loaves uncut for at least a day, preferably two, so that the complex sugar gel that forms the crumb has enough time to set; cut a high-percentage rye bread too soon and it gets very gummy.

so that's my 2 cents ...

Stan Ginsberg

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

You can bake it covered or not.  Try it both ways and see which you like better.  The total baking time at 149° C should be somewhere around 3 hours.  As Stan mentioned it is very important to let the loaf cool for a long time.  12 hours would be the minimum time to let the loaf rest after it leaves the oven.

Jeff

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

Ok, thanks to both. I'll try and report.