70% Rye

Mischbrot variations

In earlier experiments with breads having a higher percentage of rye flour I found that adding spelt, emmer or semolina complemented the rye very well.

With this bake I wanted to compare the effect of substituting the wheat part with emmer and spelt in breads with 70% rye. The flours are all from Shipton Mill.

The outcome:

I used my tried and tested Mischbrot formula as a base, this time using a rye starter with 100% hydration. The starter is made with dark rye, while the remaining rye in the formula is light rye.

Here the formula:

At the current cooler temperatures (about 23C / 73F in my kitchen) the starter took 16 hours to mature.
With 70% rye the doughs / pastes are very sticky and require only a short mix/knead so that all materials are mixed well.

After 100 minutes of fermentation at 23C / 73F I shaped rounds with very wet hands (in mid-air), and put t hem into baskets (floured with light rye) for the final rest..After 60 minutes the rounds showed cracks, a sign that they are ready for the bake.

The bake (on a stone, with steam) started at maximum temperature (ca.  240C / 464F), after 15 minutes I turned the loaves and lowered the temperature to 210C / 410F, After another 20 minutes the bread was ready.

I am very happy with oven spring and bloom. All three breads performed equally well and were indistinguishable from the outside.

After a day I cut into the loaves. The crumb is quite similar in all three loaves, the bread containing wholegrain emmer  is a bit darker and more dense.(The wheat bread got a bit of a shadow - bad photography!)

Although the crumb looks fairly dense, the breads actually feel light.

The crust could be thicker, but that's my oven – not much I can do about this at the moment.

The taste of the three breads is also very similar – quite complex with rye dominating, and a distinctive tangy after-taste. The emmer bread has the most complex taste.

There are a few things I would like to try with this formula:
1. using all wholegrain flours
2. going back to the original German way: using all medium rye and refined flours (which would be called ”Berliner Landbrot”)
3. Reducing the amount of rye sour and using some of the wheat/emmer/spelt in a stiff starter as a second preferment
4. using a wheat/emmer/spelt poolish as a second preferment
5. adding spices

Lots to do!
Juergen

Hey All,

Just wanted to share with you my bake from 4/15/10.  70% rye with caraway seeds.  I'll post my recipe shortly.  Enjoy.

Tim

Total Recipe
2310g Organic Rye Flour (70%)
990g Bread Flour (30%)
2574g Water (78%)
60g Kosher Salt (1.8%)
20g Active Dry Yeast (0.6%)
52g Caraway Seeds (1.6%)
6000g Total Dough (approx)

Rye Sour
1155g Organic Rye Flour
924g Water
10g Kosher Salt
4g Firm Sourdough Starter
2089g Total

Final Dough
1155g Organic Rye Flour
990g Bread Flour
1650g Water
50g Kosher Salt
52g Caraway Seeds
20g Active Dry Yeast (6 1/2 tsp)
2089g Rye Sour
6006g Total

Instructions
Evening before baking
8:22pm - Mix rye sour, cover and let rest on counter at room temp for 23 hrs.

Bake Evening
7:55pm - Mix final dough ingredients with wooden spoon for about 10 minute or until well combined.  Cover and bulk ferment.
8:45pm - Divide in to 8 equal pieces (750g each), shape into boules, place in floured linen lined bannettons, cover and let proof for 1 hr.  Place baking stones on 2 levels along with steam pan in oven.  Preheat to 550F with convection.
9:45pm - Load oven (4 per stone), add 1 cup of water to steam tray, close door.  Bake for 10 minutes at 480F, bake for another 50 minutes at 410F. Shift loaves between stones halfway through bake.  Turn off oven, leave loaves in for another 5 minutes.  Loaves are done when internal temp reaches 210F. Cool 12-24 hrs before cutting.