Sourdough Rye from Advanced Bread & Pastry
I have some experience baking Jewish Sour Ryes and German-type rye breads. Suas' formula for “Sourdough Rye Bread” (Advanced Bread and Pastry, pp. 212-213) seems to me to be for a French-style “Pain de Seigle,” although Suas does not label it as such. It uses a stiff levain identical to the one Suas uses for his “San Francisco Sourdough,” but then the final dough is 60% rye flour. Overall, the rye content is 52% of the total flour. The overall dough hydration is 70%.
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Levain Formula |
Wt (oz) |
Baker's % |
|
Bread flour |
2 1/2 |
95 |
|
Medium rye flour |
1/8 |
5 |
|
Water |
1 1/4 |
50 |
|
Starter (stiff) |
2 1/8 |
25 |
|
Total |
6 |
230 |
|
Final dough |
Wt (oz) |
Baker's % |
|
Bread flour |
6 |
40 |
|
Medium rye flour |
8 7/8 |
60 |
|
Water |
10 7/8 |
72.8 |
|
Yeast (instant) |
1/8 tsp |
0.12 |
|
Salt |
3/8 |
2.53 |
|
Levain |
6 |
40 |
|
Total |
2 lb |
215.43 |
Procedure
-
Mix levain thoroughly.
-
Ferment for 12 hours at room temperature.
-
Mix the dough ingredients to achieve some gluten development. DDT 75-78ºF. (I mixed for 7 minutes at Speed 2 in a KitchenAid stand mixer.)
-
Transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover tightly and ferment for 2 hours.
-
Divide into two equal pieces and pre-shape into balls.
-
Rest for 20-30 minutes, covered.
-
Shape as bâtards.
-
Proof in bannetons or en couche for 90-120 minutes at 80ºF.
-
Pre-heat oven to 500ºF for 45-60 minutes, with baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
-
Pre-steam oven. Transfer loaves to the peel. Score as desired, and transfer to the baking stone.
-
Steam oven and turn temperature down to 450ºF.
-
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.
-
Remove loaves to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.
This dough does develop some gluten from the 12.7% protein bread flour used, but it otherwise handles like a high-rye bread. The dough is clay-like and sticky, although less so than if it had had higher hydration. It was easy to shape with a light dusting of flour on the board.
The loaves expanded by no more than 50% after over 2 hours proofing at 80ºF on a couche, and they had modest oven spring. The cuts opened up nicely, considering.
The crust was hard and crunchy. The crumb was soft and moist. This is a pretty thin loaf - marginally bigger than a baguette. The ratio of crust to crumb is relatively high with a marked contrast in texture, which makes it quite interesting in the mouth.
The flavor is mildly sour with a sweetish, earthy rye flavor. Very nice. The French prefer this type of bread with smoked meats, soft cheeses and fish. We are having salmon for dinner tomorrow, and I have a nice Laura Chanel Chevre in the fridge. This rye should be delicious with both.
David
Submitted to YeastSpotting [1]