The Fresh Loaf

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Rye breads? Very little white rye left!

Niashi's picture
Niashi

Rye breads? Very little white rye left!

Greetings,

 

So I have a small issue (okay to me, really it's a big issue). It's birthday time for my other half and he reaally likes Rye breads. Great, fine. Problem: I've got only approximately 1.5 cups left of white rye. I have loads of medium rye, dark rye, pumpernickel, first clear, coarse rye meal. Amazingly enough, I cannot find a store in the Seattle area that I can walk into to buy white rye.

 

The only bread books I have are Reinharts Artisan Bread Everyday, BBA and Crust and Crumb and they all seem to use a lot of white rye. A nice sour rye would be awesome, maybe use some of this super coarse rye meal I bought from NY Bakers.

 

Any suggestions? =(

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Or dark, or first clear.

White rye has the lowest protein of the ryes and according to Hamelman, has "little in the way or color or flavoring and is generally a poor choice in bread making."

Maybe that's why it's not common on store shelves?

Niashi's picture
Niashi

Would I be able to substitute? I was playing around, I subsituted dark for the white once, became a very dense small loaf.

Maybe I'll look around and find another recipe to use.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Visit Hansjoakim's blog for inspiration  Just page through it until you find something you'd like to try.

He bakes beautiful ryes and includes his formulas.

You won't be disappointed, nor will your husband!

Niashi's picture
Niashi

haha thanks, I will look through that. Thanks!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Niashi.

I've substituted medium or dark rye for white rye in many recipes with improved flavor, to my taste. The thing to keep in mind is that this is like substituting whole wheat for AP. The medium or dark rye will absorb more water than white rye, so you should compensate. Similarly, the crumb structure will be different, just as a WW bread is different from one made with white flour.

Assuming you are making  something like a 60% rye, be sure to use a high gluten flour like First Clear, Bread Flour, etc.

David

Niashi's picture
Niashi

I will keep that in mind, thank you David.

I'm just hoping to create a rye loaf that's tasty and not a dense brick. That was actually my first attempt at rye, so I guess not too bad. He ate it hehe.

It almost seems like I'm starting a day late. Everything I seem to look at is around 3 days, instead of 2 because I don't maintain a rye starter, just a regular white starter. I just need to think this over I suppose. I'm far too inexperienced to make my own recipe.