The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Rye Boule

KenK's picture
KenK

Rye Boule

I was thinking about Rueben sandwiches the other day and decided to try baking some rye bread. 

The only rye flour I could find locally was Hodgson Mill stone ground whole grain rye flour.  Is this the same thing as pumpernickel?

I kind of followed the recipe for marble rye in the BBA. I reduced the rye flour to 4 ounces and used 9 ounces of KA bread flour.  I didn't have any mollasses so I substituted a tablespoon of regular sugar.  I prefermented the rye for 10 hours at room temperature and then 10 hours in the refrigerator.  Used a stainless steel mixing bowl for a banneton.

I'm frankly amazed at how well it came out, I had very low expectations. This was my first try at this type of loaf.  It baked 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  It seems like maybe the oven should have been a little hotter.  The internal temp said it was done.

 

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

How was the flavor and crumb?

Betty

sphealey's picture
sphealey

That looks great!

=== The only rye flour I could find locally was Hodgson Mill stone ground whole grain rye flour.  Is this the same thing as pumpernickel? ===

True German pumpernickel is a ground product (as opposed to a chop), but with a very coarse grind resulting in granules of rye about 1 mm in diameter.  Bob's Red Mill Pumpernickel is like this.

Given that you wanted a sandwich bread, you probably did want to use a rye flour.  There are no standardized names for rye flours in the US.  The Hodgson Mill Stone Ground is a 100% whole grain flour which is equivalent to other manufacturers' dark rye (or perhaps a little darker).  King Arthur also has a pumpernickel flour which is actually a dark rye flour a bit coarser even than the Hodgson Mill.

Bob's Red Mill probably has the widest variety of rye flours of any of the mills with specialty flour.  You might want to order a "6-pack" of their different rye products (flours, milled, and chopped).  Also the King Arthur pumpernickel.  Then compare those to the Hodgson Mill.

(for me unfortunately BRM let their new facility become contaminated with nuts immediately upon opening it two years ago, so I can no longer order BRM and most King Arthur rye products are nut contaminated as well.  Hodgson Mill maintains a nut-free environment so that is what I use now)

Here are links to some extensive discussions about rye breads and flours:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4683/rye-flour

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/6941/rye-meal-and-rye-chops

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2230/rye-flour

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4667/rose-l-beranbaum-rye-bread

Happy rye baking!

sPh

KenK's picture
KenK

Here are a couple pics of the crumb.  This bread is a wonderment to me.  It is extremely soft and tender.  Moreso than the white bread loaves where that was my goal. I normally add a couple tablespoons of butter to my sandwich bread for a this much flour; in this case I used shortening.

It's hard to say because I have a cold but I believe it needs caraway seeds for the "rye" flavor I'm used to.