June 11, 2010 - 11:31pm
Eric's fav rye
Hi all, I've been baking rye from Eric's fav and having great sucess as far a final results are concerened but............. The dough is rather sticky and I use flour on board but still have some problems. Do you use oiled board or what do you use? Thanks Patrick from Modesto
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I foun my answes. I guess i have to keep re-learning what I know. Patrick from Modestp
Patrick,
That mix is a bit of a challenge to handle. I've always been surprised that it springs so well but it does every time:>) I make a point to bake it one loaf at a time on a sheet pan. Makes it much easier to handle.
Glad you are enjoying the recipe.
Eric
Here is the link to the top of the thread. Scroll down for the recipe.It's on the front page under "Highest Rated Stories" near the bottom.
Eric
I am so happy to be abled to bake rye bread and thanks so much for the encouragement. Patrick from Modeso
Eric, after reading these posts and checking the link to the recipe, I decided to try and make this. A challenge? Yes, especially my first time playing with a dough this wet. I checked the recipe and calculated that the final dough is 73% hydrated and contains 30% rye. Not having a readymade starter in the fridge, I followed your steps to imitate one, using the rye, water, yeast and vinegar. In all honesty, I could not tell if it was active after it sat for the required time. Well, I mixed it into the next stage starter, adding the rye and water, and the next day could not tell if that was alive. Finally, I moved on to making the final dough. Now things really got wet. Forget feeling for gluten development, this was stretch and fold all the way. I mixed the dough, let it rest and then began a series of stretch and folds, keeping fingers wet and not wanting to add any more flour. The dough finally went into the bowl for the final rise. I confess that I feared that it would sit there again as it had previously. However, after three hours, I saw that it had close to doubled. Hooray. Now for the shaping.
This time I dusted the area with a bit of flour, enough to let me shape the dough into two batard shapes. This was the slackest dough I had ever worked with and I could see that it wanted to flaten out on the parchment-covered peel. So I took some dish towels, rolled them up and inserted one under the parchment between the loaves and the other two on the sides, under the parchment, to support the dough. At the end of the rise time, I slashed the loaves, misted them with a lot of water and got them into the oven on the stone.
The ovenspring was delayed just a bit. I didn't really notice it until 15-20 minutes, when the flat loaves began to inflate.
I took them out after almost 40 minutes, when the color was a rich brown and one loaf had begun to split along one of the slashes. Tapping the bottom for the "hollow" sound, I estimated them done. I sliced them after letting them cool for several hours.
The crust was as you described it, but I was a bit concerned by the texture of the crumb. It was moister than I have been used to. I kept having to rinse and clean the knife when I was slicing the bread, even though the bread was done. I have tried it toasted and note that it has a good taste and texture, even if not as dry as other toasted breads. Is it this moistness which keeps it fresh when you send it cross country? Or should I pop the slices into the oven for another ten minutes or so to dry them out a bit?
Thanks,
Bob