A Very Different Result
I've been hung up on this line from Tartine Bread regarding the Country Rye ever since I read it: "Use a medium-fine grind of whole-rye flour as opposed to a course pumpernickel rye, which will yield a very different result." And that's it, end of paragraph, end of story. He just leaves that hanging there like I'm not going to wonder day after day just what sort of "very different result" it would yield. Yeah... no, that won't do at all.
It just so happens that I have a large amount of stoneground whole rye in my freezer. I don't know where it falls on the official grind-o-meter, but judging by the big flecks of bran and the fact that it is described as "Graham" rye I'm thinking it's a ways away from medium-fine.
I re-worked the formula a bit. I increased the rye and all of it went into the starter. My ww starter doesn't always react well to sudden white flour feedings, and since the numbers worked out nicely as well... why not. I stayed pretty true to the process in the book so I won't post that here, but I will say that, since I don't own a Dutch oven of any kind, I baked on a stone and steamed according to the wet towel method described in the baguette section of the book. This has become my steaming method of choice - simple, safe and effective.
The numbers:
The result - Yum. A little over-proofed maybe (I cut the timing too close with the bread that went into the oven before this one) but still got a nice spring in the oven. The crust shattered and flew when I put a knife to it. The crumb was very light and moist with just enough sourdough spring. The flavor was very well balanced. Caveat: I've never baked a light rye like this so I don't really have much basis for comparison, but I could eat this all day long.
So, was it a very different result? I don't think I care so much anymore, I'm too busy devouring this bread!
This one I will be baking again.
Marcus