The Fresh Loaf

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Help! Rye Bread Cracks While Cooking.

chrishayes's picture
chrishayes

Help! Rye Bread Cracks While Cooking.

Every time I make my rye, it seems to crack on the bottom and on the edges. I have run all out of ideas. Please help me with any suggestions. Thank you!!

 

Devoyniche's picture
Devoyniche

Score the loaf. It will let the bread rise through those cuts you made, rather than tearing the bread wherever as it rises in the oven. I read that scoring the loaf lengthwise to the rye bread helps it rise upwards, although people just score it however. On pan loaves like that, usually people will make several scores at maybe a 30 degree angle to the length of the loaf, if that makes sense. Look up images of vollkornbrot - sort of like this: http://www.rootsimple.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/darmmountainrye-669x501.jpg

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Can you give us your recipe and method?

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I suppose I should ask how much rye is in the loaf...  How much rye is in it?     

Are we looking at the bottom?  Cool!   I like it, you don't?

I like a xxxxx score pattern on a long loaf, also  ///////  or  -------   or  OOOOO (cookie or donut cutter)  or, or, or...

Soak the raw sesame seeds first and drain them, they could be soaking out moisture from the crust adding to the cracking effect.   Wait, that's not sesame seeds, it's corn meal or yellow wheat semolina.  Same thing, stuff is soaking up crust moisture.  Could try waiting a little longer on the final proof so the spring is not so large.  Or upping the hydration so the crust can handle the drying effect of the meal.   

Rye has a memory and will remember where all the seams are unless they are pressed together tightly with no flour.  Even then...   Do any of the cracks correspond to seams?  I notice the spiral on the end.  Could repeat everything you did but twist the dough (a lot) before panning it.  Then the seam will make a spiral crack around the loaf.  ???

Got a mister, mister?   Mist the loaf or use wet hands instead of flour to shape the loaf.  Then lay the slippery devil into the corn meal coated pan.   Or what do you think about misting the pan and later the top if the dough is rolled in corn meal?  

chrishayes's picture
chrishayes

Thank you for the input, we currently use caraway seeds inside and cornmeal around the top. The issues is this is the bottom of the loaf and when we slice it, our customers can not make a sandwich without the slices falling apart. We are going to try proofing it longer.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

must be pretty high with high hydration since it is proofed in a pan.  You will know when the loaf is properly proofed because, with the corn meal covering, you will see the top of the loaf develop little cracks - the sign  that it is ready to bake,

Happy Rye Baking 

pkeibel's picture
pkeibel

If there is too much rye, scoring will not work, Depending on the other flours involved anything above 60% probably needs to be docked rather than scored

chrishayes's picture
chrishayes

Right now all of our rye is docked.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

soaking and draining the caraway before adding it to the dough?   I don't know how long the caraway is in your dough but I often cover the caraway with a little water and bring it to boil in the microwave, let it cool to soften the spikes before adding to the dough.  The water gets drained off.  You can decide to include it into the recipe water if desired.    

Another option might include adding water to the cornmeal.  Add say 5% water to the cornmeal weight and stir well, it will still feel dry but not absorb so much moisture from the dough. Perhaps a mister might be helpful.   Increase if needed but prepare only batch wise as needed for the same day.  

I've also wondered if perhaps the yeast is too high for the rye's ability to stretch.  If you can slow down the fermentation just a little bit, it might stretch more for you.  Yes, that might include proofing longer or raising hydration or cutting back on added yeast. 

Are you chilling the dough before baking?  After panning?

fotomat1's picture
fotomat1

would help as well as the percentage of rye used. Pan or no pan? How long a final proof and in what temperature? Only change one thing at a time ie if you proof longer continue to dock or keep the proof time you have and score. I use to dock but found scoring with Rye made the exact proofing time less critical. Anything over 40% is really a challenge not to experience even a little blowout. Mine ,if it does happen ,is usually along the sides where the bread meets the stone. It happens early enough whereas by time it is through baking it has crusted firmly enough so as not effect beautiful slices.