The Fresh Loaf

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66% Sourdough Rye from Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread"

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

66% Sourdough Rye from Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread"

This bread is a rye with 66 percent rye flour and the remainder high-gluten flour. A rye sour is elaborated using whole rye. The sour is 80% hydration, which ends up being a very thick paste, due to how much water the whole rye absorbs. This is fermented for 14-16 hours and is then mixed with Medium rye flour, high-gluten flour, more water, salt and instant yeast.

The resulting dough is very loose. Hamelman says to mix it (in a professional spiral mixer) for only 3 minutes at first speed and 2 minutes on second speed. He says you should have "a bit of gluten strength, but ... not much." I aimed for "a bit" of gluten development but had to mix for 16 minutes in my KitchenAid. The dough was extremely sticky and still rough and pasty. It had enough elasticity after fermenting to form into loaves, using more flour dusting on the bench and my hands than is necessary with lower-percentage rye doughs.

Fermentation was only 45 minutes and proofing was 50 minutes. Proofing is tricky with this type of rye. Under-proofing contributes to excessive oven spring and blow-outs. Over-proofing leads to the loaf collapsing when it is scored or when it is loaded into the oven. I think I hit it about right. <whew!>

I wasn't sure about scoring a bread like this. I considered not scoring at all or making rounds and docking them. In the end, I decided to make oval loaves and score one in the "sausage" cut and the other in the "chevron" cut.

Hamelman prescribes a 24 hour rest after baking before slicing. I wrapped the loaves in linen and left them on the counter overnight.

When sliced, this rye has a fairly thick, chewy (but not hard) crust. The crumb is fairly dense and quite moist. It is tender to chew. The aroma is assertively rye, as is the flavor with a mild sourdough tang.

The taste is good when eaten plain. It is strong enough to come through when eaten with a slice of aged gruyère cheese. Just as a light rye seems to call for corned beef, this rye calls for stronger cheeses and fatty fish such as herring or salmon. I wish I could get some smoked sable. 

David

Comments

erg720's picture
erg720

I made the 40% rye bread and now the Vermont Sourdough.

The 40% was wonderful. i'll wait for the crumb photo.

Ron

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

JeremyCherfas's picture
JeremyCherfas

Fine looking loaves. I'm just starting to reexplore rye breads again, and I think this is possibly a little too tricky.

Jeremy

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

If this had been the first rye bread I'd baked, I think I would have given up sometime mid-way through mixing. The dough is nothing like an all wheat-flour dough.

My advice is to get comfortable handling doughs with less than 50% rye before tackling those with more rye. 

This very sticky dough is "tricky," but once you know the "tricks," it is not hard, just different.

Hmmm ... It's time to update the TFL Handbook to include more material on handling high-percentage rye doughs.

David

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Lovely Rye loaves, David!

Sylvia

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

candis's picture
candis

look magnificent!

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Enjoy!

David

smasty's picture
smasty

Mmmm...I love rye!  Those look great!

Sue

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David