I've been feeding my newly acquired Danish Rye starter equal parts rye flour and water and it's doubling if not tripling in volume big time. Since I just started reviving this dried starter I figured I'd give it about a week of twice daily feeding in order to develop and activate the culture, but with this much volume I'm forced to dump most of it out so that it doesn't explode out of its container. Is this the right thing to do? Or should I adjust the feeding quantities.

I read somewhere that rye flour really activates a culture and since it's a rye starter I thought feeding it rye flour would be the right approach. Does this also make sense?

Lastly, if I'm aiming to achieve a specific hydration of a sourdough starter that may be different than its current hydration, do I simply dump most of it, and then begin feeding it at its new hydration levels? How many feedings at the new ratios would accomplish a change in hydration levels? Do bakers constantly change the hydration levels of their starters to fit specific recipes?

Thanks all for your help!

Hi --

I went looking for some rye flour in Chicago today so I could start one of the levains in Hamelman's book. After some searching, I finally found a tiny bag at Whole Foods.

So, where should I go for rye in Chicago?

Thanks!

Heather

Flour Girl

There has been discussion of having a Handbook "chapter" on rye baking. Given the current outline, it seems more appropriate to have sections on rye in several places - ingredients, methods, recipes, etc.

So, I created this topic as a place to discuss material pertaining to rye that should be in the Handbook.

David

Can I made Rye Cereal by Boling Rye Flour?

Presumably there is some magic ratio of water to flour.  Can I put the ingredients in a large pot and boil uncovered for an hour or so and produce something edible?

Thanks

I'm hoping Norm or Mike or David or anyone located here in the US who knows rye flours will respond to this question. I'm sure there are many others who like rye breads but for the most part our only option is the supermarket which carries Hodgson Mills Whole grain Rye. Yes there are some local expensive health food stores that carry other types but at boutique prices. King Arthur has a selection but again at unreasonable pricing if you do a lot of baking. So the questions are.

1. Should I be looking for a good quality Medium rye flour for all around use? That is, Jewish rye and the various rye breads in Hamelmans and Reinharts books. We have extensive threads on the subject but I think it would be good to once and for all have a definitive answer to the question.
2. Do you have an opinion on a particular national brand or product that is either shipped or distributed on a wide scale? I would like to buy a 25 Lb bags of the best tasting rye on Earth. If I'm going to pay shipping, let's go all out! OK if the only way is 50#'s I would do that but I'd rather not have to freeze it for storage. Guisito's is not an option here.
3. Do you have an opinion on Organic Rye being better tasting? I don't usually buy Organic flours thinking the actual difference is minimal. I know some are avid "Organic Only" advocates and I respect that.

The point to this question is to try and identify the best tasting and best value flour for the job. In my own case I have found that the 5# bags of Harvest King at $2.35 produces as good or better tasting and looking loaves as flour costing 3 times that amount. I'm not trying to be cheap at the expense of quality. It's just in this particular area of food product there seems to be a lot of value placed on marketing.

Eric

A while back strattor was asking where to find rye flour in NYC. I replied that it was difficult to find in Toronto as well but that there was one store we knew of.

Well, not any more....

Yesterday, we rode our bikes over to the store to replenish the rye flour. There were NO 5kg bags of "Five Roses" dark rye flour!! Nor any 2.5kg bags of "Five Roses" dark rye flour!! They did have some little bags of "Bob's Red Mill" at around $3 for 600gms! We continued riding, visiting all the supermarket chains. Not one of them was selling rye flour in bags larger than 600gm (Yes, it was BRM, all priced about the same, give or take 25¢). Most of them had zero rye flour on their shelves. Some of them had 5kg bags of a multigrain blend wheat flour (white and whole wheat), cracked wheat, cracked rye and whole flax. How useless is that?

This morning, I spoke with someone at "Five Roses" and am absolutely devastated to learn that their "dark rye" flour has been discontinued due to slow sales. Wah!!! One good thing though, the woman I spoke with did say that she would pass on my dismay to the correct department, with the note that as the price of wheat rises, people will be looking for alternative grains. "Five Roses" (was a Canadian company) is now owned by the US based company "Smucker Foods".

And now here's some really disturbing news. "Robin Hood" (that I always thought was Canadian, but googling shows that it was started in the US and moved into Canada in the earlier part of the 1900s) is now ALSO owned by "Smucker Foods". So much for competition....

Where in Toronto can I buy rye flour at a reasonable price? A 5kg bag would be nice.

Hello, fellow bread enthusiasts.

I recently moved to Glendale, AZ.  Our family likes dark breads of all kinds...including multi-grain, rye and whole wheat. I have had no luck in finding Rye Flour at our local grocers.  The Whole Wheat flour is available, but in small 5 lb bags and is very expensive.  

Any suggestions where I could buy 25 or 50 lb bags of these fours in the Phoenix/ Glendale area?

 As you can see from my photo, I like baking specialty breads, like the traditional Russian Easter breads.  However now I am looking to bake some basic, spongy dark country breads with texture and a good crust.

Looking forward to your suggestions

Elena

May 3, 2008 

Only weekend I have enough time to make bread, otherwise only muffins I could.

I cultured a starter using apples, nice odour and taste. The breads are also crunchy, light and soft. 

Recipe:

200g  All-Purpose flour

5g Rye flour

95g bread flour

2g Salt

2g instant yeast

40g apple starter

150g water

Here is a little gem, fell out of my cookbook (guess he figured his time was ripe).  It is like a Friendship Bread in that one is given Siegfried sourdough sample and a recipe with instructions.  I think it's funny how it contains both metric and cups.  I would just take a sample of your own sourdough and try it.  How much?  Anywhere from a tablespoon  to 1/2 cup, up to you....  Thoughts & comments welcome.