March 1, 2012 - 5:43pm
knäckebröd
I've been making a knackebrod using a pure rye leaven and either a groft (stoneground) rye or a fint (fine) rye.
But... although it is a good taste it is rather jaw breakingly hard - a lot of crunch with no softness at all.
Should I be using a combination yeast/leaven or just yeast? If so what sort of amounts (I use fresh yeast) - I'm guessing maybe 1%?
Please help - the Danes here are all laughing at the English woman trying to make Scandinavian bread!
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Knaeckebrot (sorry, my keyboard won't let me type the Umlaut), as we Germans call it, is not supposed to be soft. However, it also shouldn't be "jawbreakingly hard". You should end up with a light, cracker-type flatbread that is easy to bite, yet breaks and is crunchy at the same time.
What is your recipe? A quick scan online found a bunch of German recipes, none of which had any sort of leaven or yeast added. However, when I look at my Wasa Knaecke in my breadbox, it is light and airy... I seem to remember that, when I was in school, I heard mention of Knaecke almost being "poured"onto the baking sheet before baking, because the dough was so soft.
If you post your recipe, we can hopefully figure it out. it might be as easy as significantly increasing the liquids in your dough.
Stephan
No, it shouldn't be. Teeth are in seruious danger. The Swedes make a knackebrod (I have a western keyboard too) using leaven to give the dough that "tang" which I think works really well with rye.
I'm using.
200 g water
100g rye leaven
200 g rye flour
3/4 tsp salt
It is a thick paste which you proof, dredge heavily with flour, then roll, then proof again, then bake.
None of hte older baker in the village here seem to make it any more so I can't even pick their brains...
Hi,
Another tip is to include sesame seeds in the dough and/or roll out the breads in a mixture of flour and sesame seeds instead of just flour.
(I use unshelled sesame seeds, as they have a better nutrition value; the shells are rich in calcium and iron)
The seeds help to make the bread crisper and easier on the teeth, adding both texture and healthy fat.
regards,
Eva
I looked at some other recipes again - looks like some of them are using oil. By adding some oil, your final product might be a little more brittle and less "brick-like"? For the recipe you're using, I'd maybe start with 2 Tablespoons and see how that helps? Are you baking it at a fairly low temperature for quite a while? I guess Knaecke is more "dried" than baked.
Stephan
Fab idea with the sesame - it will add lightness but still won't make me a knackebrod which is light in itself...
I'm cooking it hard - it goes really "need a hammer to break it if you do it at a low temp" so it is 220 degrees C for about 40 minutes which is when the colour starts to change. Any less and it is still wet, any more and it over colours.
I've had a look and Dan Leopard says that most commercial Knackebrod has yeast in it. I think when I make a batch next I'll add some (say just 1%) and see what happens.
I'll try a batch with oil in too.
How can something so simple fox me :lol:
into the dough (wall paper paste trick) and see how long you can let it stretch upping the hydration. (See Dan Lepard's Pepper bread - heating some water and thickening with a little flour) Something along similar lines is adding boiling hot water to the bowl of flour when mixing (there are many ways to go about this so keep strict notes on temps and time lag between adding and stirring up the dough and how you stir up the dough. (slowly, quickly, a small amount of flour at a time or all at once) It could also be you need to let the dough rise longer or shorter so if you decide to include any crumb pictures, get a close up on the cross section. Heaviness next to the bottom would indicate over-proofing.
I wonder if there is a trick to rolling out the dough onto seeds and letting the crust air dry before flipping it over to bake. ???
I like the idea of posting a basic recipe and letting us rye nuts run with it and try stuff. We might come out with some interesting finds and it would make an interesting challenge. I got a starter ripe now that wants to be something crispy.
The more gasses trapped the crispier the bread. Let the baked bread dry out a bit at low temperature to expel any remaining the water.
There are a few recipes in the archives.
As my rye leaven is really really going for it I'm going to make up a couple of batches this afternoon and try a couple of different recipies.
But interestingly I had a very odd conversation with one of the old ladies in the local shop yesterday (odd as she spoke in very regionally accented Danish and I answered, mostly when I didn't look blank, in English).
It appears she uses a hot water rye mix to soften the grains if the rye flour is very dark. But she also said that a good mature leaven and yeast is the best combination for her aged teeth, and probably my not as hardened as her's, jaw!
I'm certainly not over rising.
We have a pole in our house which would once have been used for drying the winter breads (traditionally here they were make with a round hole in the middle) and I intend one day, when we don't live in a semi derelict house, to use them for that again!
I do adore rye, can get such a good selection in Scandinavia and knækebøl is so perfect to have with pickles or just as a midnight snack!