Borodinsky Rye from The Rye Baker
I've finally gotten around to baking from The Rye Baker. I made red rye malt powder, so the Borodinsky Rye, which he describes as the national bread of Russia, was in my sights. I loved the process of making the scald sponge, which (here) means making a hot soaker of coarse (freshly milled of course) rye with ground coriander and red rye malt, and then fermenting it for 3-4 hourse with the overnight sponge the next morning before mixing the final dough. The final dough includes some molasses, the salt, more medium rye flour, some bread flour, and more red rye malt.
The resulting bread is as tasty as any bread I've ever eaten. It's complex, at once gently sour and mildly sweet, and the crumb is soft like a typical high percentage rye with a rye sourdough preferment.
The overnight sponge:
The overnight sponge and the scald mixed ("scald-sponge"):
The final dough:
The final shape, with wet hands, sprayed with water:
The risen loaf: