The Fresh Loaf

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36 hour Rye Pain au levain

Mebake's picture
Mebake

36 hour Rye Pain au levain

I've finally jumped into the 36 hour sourdough bandwagon. I had some ripe Rye sour on hand, as I created a preferment out of a starter for no certain recipe  (Happens to me often), and decided to give the 36 hour sourdough a trial. With all the rave on TFL, I knew that the method will yield excellent bread.

The Recipe:

Generally, I’ve followed the procedures for the 36 hour sourdough, as written by Txfarmer but refrigerated rye sour after it has ripened for scheduling purposes, and added some flour to the final dough.  First, the bread flour and water were mixed and left to autolyse in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, I mixed the cold rye sour and the autolyse, added more rye flour , bread flour and some water and mixed the dough slowly by hand (I should have used a mixer, as the dough was very cold!). For the next 3 hours, I stretched and folded the dough 6 times every 30 minutes. The dough was then retarded in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Next day, I removed the dough from the fridge and let it stand covered at room temperature for 2 hours to remove the chill. It has risen considerably in the fridge (almost doubled). I dusted my work surface and divided the dough into a boule and a batard, and preshaped both into rough rounds. After a bench rest of 30 minutes, I shaped the rounds and placed them in floured proofing baskets.  After an hour and a half, I preheated my oven with baking stones in for one hour. The loaves were inverted onto a parchment paper lined peel, and loaded. I baked the loaves for 500 F / 250C for 15 minutes under steam, and 20 minutes at 400 F without steam.

I cut into the cooled loaves 2 hours later, as my young son demanded some sourdough bread. I was delighted yet amazed at how he consumed the slice I gave to him: he started by peeling the crust off and eating that first. By the end of the third slice, all that was left was a single shred of a soft inner crumb! If a 6 year old boy prefers an untoasted bread crust as against its softer interior, then the bread must be really good.

The flavor of the crust was nutty/sweet with very good caramel undertones. The crumb was soft, slightly moist, with clean custard like flavor and a slight sour. Thank you, Txfarmer.

 

Khalid

 

Comments

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

Khalid:  Another beautiful bake. They look perfect!  I've got some rye starter ready to go; I just need some more rye flour.  Thanks for sharing and all the best,  Phyllis

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, Phyllis. You'll love this one.

Khalid

varda's picture
varda

Wow.   That's something.   A kid eating the crust first?   I think you could make a good bread using just about any methodology, and this one looks great!  -Varda

(lame arrived.)

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Yeah! He was yearning for this particular bread, it seems. Poor kid, he misses his father's bread :) lately,  i've not baked bread as often as i wish. 

Thanks for the nice words, Varda!

Khalid

Syd's picture
Syd

Have never tried txsfarmer's 36 hour sourdough, but it does sound good.  

 I had some ripe Rye sour on hand, as I created a preferment out of a starter for no certain recipe  (Happens to me often),... 

I do exactly the same Khalid.  All the time.  I just mix up a preferment before I go to bed and the next day decide what to do with it.  More often than not I will follow a 1:2:3 formula and mix up the combination of flours, maybe add something I haven't added before...

All the best,

Syd

Mebake's picture
Mebake

So.. i'm not alone in this ;)

The recipe is pretty straight forward, and suits those who Have little time to spend with a dough.

best of luck,

Khalid

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

recipe and good bread maker to make a great bread!    It has to taste fully flavored with the extended bulk ferment.  Any kid that eats the rye bread crust first ...has to be a bread baker later:-)   Everything looks great and I bet this would be a good market bread too,.

Well done and happy baking Khalid

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, DA!

I think that i've unintentionally trained the palate of my children; they love sourdough bread ( lighter versions, for now). Indeed, sourdough crust is were all the flavor resides. 

I've printed the recipe, and i'll seriously consider baking it for july market.

happy baking to you and lucy!

Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So glad you gave this a try and by the looks of it you hit it out of the park.  You know I have done this basic technique many times and I always love the way it comes out, so now you know too! 

Looks like you really nailed it.  I think I may need to do another one myself soon.

Regards,
Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Thanks, Ian

I appreciate your kind words.

Khalid

v's sis's picture
v's sis

Hi Khalid,  I wanted to thank you for being the first one to comment on my first ever post!  I have been reading your posts for the past year and your breads always look great!  This post has convinced me I should make a rye starter.  I wonder how many coyotes I will have to feed before I get a loaf or two like yours!

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Hi, V's sis

Thanks, i'm glad to be of help. If i should keep only one starter, then it'd be a Rye one. Rye starter has the necessary vigor to leaven most breads, and can be used from the fridge after a single refreshment. So convenient. 

I think the coyotes will soon have to find other sources for food ;)

Awaiting to see more from you,

Khalid

v's sis's picture
v's sis

Hi Khalid,

With your encouragement, I made a rye starter and then made this bread!  My only major change was to bake it in a dutch oven.  The bread came out very delicious.  Could possibly have been baked a bit longer or hotter: I lowered the temp to 425 after 10 min at 500, a little higher temp than you indicated, but 425 is the lowest I have ever baked at and the loaf measured 206 F when I removed it from the oven.

No food for the coyotes here!

thanks, Leah

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Great ear, bloom, crust color, and flour pattern. Crumb looks spot on, although i believe that it would reveal its beauty better with good lighting. 

You nailed it from the first try! Now there's no stopping you.

Khalid