Trouble in Rye Flour City
I am having a VERY BAD MORNING! I make Peter Reinhart's Whole Wheat Bread all the time. For the soaker I like to use bulgar. Last night instead of going downstairs to my extra fridge to get my whole wheat flour I made my poolish with rye flour. Did EVERYTHING else the same. Used whole wheat bread flour for the rest of the dough this morning when I put it all together.
Here is my problem: I could not get a windowpane when I tested the gluten development. I kneaded the freaking dough for over 30 minutes. Forget the Kitchenaid, the dough hook just twirled around with the dough in the center. The dough would NOT ball up. First I thought, okay, it's too wet, so I sprinkled in some flour: no ball. Then I thought, not dry enough, so I sprinkled in some water: no ball. Then I resorted to hand kneading, which was fun for the first 15 minutes, but I could not get a windowpane!!! The dough started getting too dry since my kneading was drawing up so much flourat so I put it back in the Kitchenaide and sprinkled it with more water. I kept scraping the sides down over and over until it I got the texture I am used to, then put it back out onto the board to knead some more. NO WINDOWPANE. Kneaded some more, dough got dry, put it back in Kitchenaid for more water, I went through this procedure twice. No window pane. (window PAIN!!! is more like it)
So here is the question: Do you think the rye flour poolish significantly lowered the gluten content to make this dough behave like this? Is there gluten in rye flour? I thought there was. Should I have added gluten to the formula when I added the rye flour? If so, how much? OR did I use too much bulgar, preventing the gluten strands from holding together? I was using presoaked bulgar that I kept in the freezer in zip lock bags to pull out (my bulgar got wet by accident so I quick froze it) but I used that all up). By the way, don't use amaranth - too crumbly and it pops out of the bread in the toaster. It is possible that I put a bit more bulgar than usual.
I LOVE this bread and usually have no trouble baking it. I make two loaves a week. We eat one and freeze one to use in a few days. It slices well and freezes well, too. I always enrich it with egg and oil which helps to lighten it and keep it moist.
I have the 'freak' dough rising right now but am feeling very insecure. The dough feels wonderful in terms of the moisture content, just not elastic like I am used to.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, especially if you bake with rye flour.
Thanks!
Lori