Texture of rye flour dough in bread machine
Hi everyone, new poster here, love the website I find it very helpful!
I bought a used bread machine a few months back and I'm having so much fun with it. I learn something new with everything I make! But I was hoping for some advice on breads using rye flour.
I've gotten to the point where I know how to recognise if a white-flour dough is the "right" texture in the bread machine - when to add a bit more flour or water. But I have trouble with rye doughs, even a dough with small amounts of rye (and to a lesser extent all-wheat doughs). Rye or part-rye doughs are so stiff in the machine that the paddle just seems to move the big lump around, it's not actually catching into and stretching the dough. So far I've assumed this means it needs more water, usually a LOT more water (at least 3 tablespoons!), before it loosens up in the machine. Even then it seems to take forever to mix into the dough, leaving a thin slick of sloppy dough on top and stiff underneath.
Am I doing the right thing? Is it just me, or do recipes with rye flour really under-estimate the amount of water needed? Any advice on how to identify the right texture with rye doughs?