Quarter Rye

      Well, 9/40ths Rye to be exact, but that doesn't roll off the tongue so well.  I haven't had rye flour on hand in a while, so I've been wanting to do a partial rye loaf for a while.  I did a full rye loaf two weeks back, which was tasty but a whole different beast.

      I also wanted to try baking on a pizza stone since I'm staying with my parents for a bit, and they have one.  I typically bake batard loaves in a dutch oven that is just slightly larger than the loaf, and it tends to constrain the bottom on the loaf, making a slightly rounded bottom.  

350g (78%) bread flour

100g (22%) rye flour

315g (70%) water

1/4c. wheat germ

~tbsp salt

      I pretty much did my usual approach.  I left the dough in the basement overnight to finish bulk fermentation because I was afraid it would progress too quickly at room temperature (mid-low 60s), but I ended up needing to give it a couple hours more at room temperature in the morning.  

      To bake I preheated a pizza stone in the oven (500) as well as a pot.  I put a little cornmeal on the stone, turned on the dough directly on the stone, scored it, and inverted the pot on top.

I liked the outcome quite a lot!  As I was hoping for, the loaf splayed wide with a nice flat bottom.  The bottom crust also caramelized nicer than usual, giving a nice flavor.  The crumb is nice, soft, airy, and has good rich flavor.  That big air pocket in the top is a bit of eye sore.  I imagine sub-par shaping is to blame, but I also read a recent comment on a post that suggested that a too hot oven can be a source of this as well, though I always bake as hot as I can, and have never run into that being an issue.