The Dark Side Attacks: 70% rye plus wheat / emmer / spelt
Mischbrot variations
In earlier experiments with breads having a higher percentage of rye flour I found that adding spelt, emmer or semolina complemented the rye very well.
With this bake I wanted to compare the effect of substituting the wheat part with emmer and spelt in breads with 70% rye. The flours are all from Shipton Mill.
The outcome:
I used my tried and tested Mischbrot formula [1]as a base, this time using a rye starter with 100% hydration. The starter is made with dark rye, while the remaining rye in the formula is light rye.
Here the formula:
Straight formula | Percent | Amount(g) | Amount (oz) |
Dark Rye | 24 | 108 | 3.83 |
Light Rye | 46 | 208 | 7.33 |
Bread flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
Or light spelt flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
Or wholegrain emmer flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
salt | 2 | 9 | 0.32 |
water | 75 | 339 | 11.96 |
yield | 177 | 800 | 28.22 |
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Rye sour |
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Dark rye flour | 24 | 108 | 3.83 |
Water | 24 | 108 | 3.83 |
Mature starter | 2.4 | 11 | 0.38 |
Yield | 50.4 | 227 | 8.04 |
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Dough |
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Light Rye | 46 | 208 | 7.33 |
Bread flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
Or light spelt flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
Or wholegrain emmer flour | 30 | 136 | 4.78 |
Salt | 2 | 9 | 0.32 |
Water | 51 | 231 | 8.13 |
Rye sour | 48 | 217 | 7.65 |
Yield | 177 | 800 | 28.22 |
At the current cooler temperatures (about 23C / 73F in my kitchen) the starter took 16 hours to mature.
With 70% rye the doughs / pastes are very sticky and require only a short mix/knead so that all materials are mixed well.
After 100 minutes of fermentation at 23C / 73F I shaped rounds with very wet hands (in mid-air), and put t hem into baskets (floured with light rye) for the final rest..After 60 minutes the rounds showed cracks, a sign that they are ready for the bake.
The bake (on a stone, with steam) started at maximum temperature (ca. 240C / 464F), after 15 minutes I turned the loaves and lowered the temperature to 210C / 410F, After another 20 minutes the bread was ready.
I am very happy with oven spring and bloom. All three breads performed equally well and were indistinguishable from the outside.
After a day I cut into the loaves. The crumb is quite similar in all three loaves, the bread containing wholegrain emmer is a bit darker and more dense.(The wheat bread got a bit of a shadow - bad photography!)
Although the crumb looks fairly dense, the breads actually feel light.
The crust could be thicker, but that's my oven – not much I can do about this at the moment.
The taste of the three breads is also very similar – quite complex with rye dominating, and a distinctive tangy after-taste. The emmer bread has the most complex taste.
There are a few things I would like to try with this formula:
1. using all wholegrain flours
2. going back to the original German way: using all medium rye and refined flours (which would be called ”Berliner Landbrot”)
3. Reducing the amount of rye sour and using some of the wheat/emmer/spelt in a stiff starter as a second preferment
4. using a wheat/emmer/spelt poolish as a second preferment
5. adding spices
Lots to do!
Juergen