The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

40% Rye Bread

DavidAplin's picture
DavidAplin

40% Rye Bread

40% Rye Bread40% Rye Bread40% Rye BreadHi Everyone,I baked a small batch of Hi Everyone, I baked a small batch of 40% Rye bread using the formula in Jeffery Hamelman's "Bread" book. I haven't made a lighter Rye bread in some time what with all the Vollkornbrot flying around everywhere. This was very satisfying and I was enjoying some later in the afternoon with butter, Jarlsberg cheese and a hot cup of strong tea. Very yummy.

staff of life's picture
staff of life

And what a great crumb too!  Esp for 40% rye!  Do I detect a little cornstarch glaze on top, or are you just that good at steaming your oven?

SOL

fleur-de-liz's picture
fleur-de-liz

What a great looking rye bread!  Is it the 40% Caraway bread?  Did you use caraway seeds?  I am really starting to enjoy rye breads, especially since I started milling my own rye. What a difference in taste!  But, I am treading slowly and haven't delved into the super heavy ryes yet.  I think this might be more my speed!  And, how did you get such a lovely shiny crust?  The crumb is superb!  Any special hints you would like to impart?  Thanks, Liz

weavershouse's picture
weavershouse

Your bread looks so good I have to try it. I'll wait to see what you answer for the above posts  so I'll know which recipe you used. Great job.                               weavershouse

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

Husband I were talking about what kind of bread to bake this week-end since we've still got two sourdough loaves in the freezer. I think you've inspired me to try rye - could you give us some tips regarding crumb and shiny crust?

Thanks!

Trish

DavidAplin's picture
DavidAplin

Hi to Everyone, Thanks for all the kind words, especially about the shiny crust. To be honest I didn't think the crust was actually that shiny. (maybe the flash on the camera did something funky). I steamed the oven in my usual way, which is flinging about a cup of boiling water onto the floor(of the oven) just after I load the bread in. As far as the formulas goes I used The 40% Rye recipe in Jeffrey Hamelman's book "Bread", followed it as exact as possible without getting retentive about it.. The form' is pretty simple, all of the rye flour is acidified in the sourdough stage (big flavour) and the percentage of caraway seed is kept to about 2%. I always try to save leftover coffee, tea or vegetable cooking water to use in the final dough stage when I make bread: it uses up the liquids and adds a bit of extra flavour to the loaf. Something that I never really paid much attention to before was temperature. Now my thermometer is my new best friend. Water temp, preferment/sourdough temp., final dough temp., control your temperatures and you gain a lot of control over your outcomes. It's pretty basic stuff but it holds true! Anyway, one loaf is gone, I put the other 2 into the freezer for a family event on the weekend. Bye, take care, happy baking!

-David Aplin