Fun with fermented rye
This is one of those bakes that sort of comes together by accident. I had soaked some rye grains a while back, planning on using them in a pumpernickel, but it turned out I had soaked too much grain, so I drained the remainder and let them sit for a day. They sprouted (as they do), and I stuck the bowl in the fridge, planning on 'doing something' with them later. By the time I remembered to pull the bowl out a couple of days later they had mostly malted (i.e. they had a tangle of little rootlets along with the tiny sprouts). I could have toasted them and made some red rye malt, but instead I decided to try something I'd been thinking of for a while - fermenting them. I soaked them in about half kombucha and half water, then covered (to keep out the pesky fruit flies) and let them sit at room temperature again for a day or two, then cooked them for around 20 minutes. They ended up tender and very, very fragrant!
The other thing I wanted to try was to make a formula for a poolish bread that could be made in one day. That meant pre-fermenting a fairly high percentage of the flour in a poolish for a shorter period of time. I used a blend of bread flour, whole wheat and whole rye flour, and threw in some raisins (and a bit of spices) just because I felt like it.
The dough was really beautiful, coming together quickly and developing very nice gluten and structure.
After about three stretch & folds on a wet counter, I put it into an oiled container to ferment.
It only took about an hour to nearly double, with a lovely dome. It was pillowy and soft.
After a pre-shape and short rest, I popped it into the bannetons. It proofed quite quickly, taking me by surprise, and the oven wasn't quite ready so I think it over-proofed just a touch.
There wasn't a lot of oven spring but it was still decent, holding its shape well and expanding somewhat.
And the crumb is very nice! Creamy and moist, and very tasty for a fairly quick bread. The grains almost disappeared into the dough which isn't too surprising considering all the soaking, sprouting, fermenting and cooking they went through! I'm glad I put the raisins in; they're a nice touch. :)
I don't think I'll make quite this same bread again, what with all that work for the grains, but I will probably make it again with a different cooked (and possibly fermented) grain porridge.