Ruchbrot / First Clear Flour Loaf

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sparkfan on 17 Jun 2025 at 12:20
First Clear Flour Bread

I wanted to try again a sourdough loaf with 100% "Ruchmehl". I'm not 100% sure, but afaik the closest match for Swiss "Ruchmehl" is the first clear flour. It is the traditional flour for bread in Switzerland. Something in the middle between bread flour and whole wheat. In the recent years some millers in Germany and Austria have begun to produce this flour, but it's not really mainstream.

BTT - this is my second bake with this flour. I wanted a more open crumb with 100% "Ruchmehl" / first clear

100% Ruchmehl / first clear

80% total hydration

2% salt

30% liquid sourdough starter

Nothing special, mixed the dough until the gluten structure was fully developed, bulk 1.5h @ 24ºC, one S&F, cold bulk overnight, continue bulk @ 24ºC until the volume increases by ±40%, divided the dough for 2 loafs, preshaping, shaping, final proof at 24º-25ºC. Unfortunately the bannetons where too big for the 2 loafs. They are a bit flat.

I'm very pleased with result. Didn't expect to get such an open crumb with 100% "Ruchmehl" from the supermarket on the second try.

That looks smashing, sparkfan, and I can only assume it was as delicious as it looks.

Where are you located that you're baking with ruchmehl? I've tried ruchmehl from the Coop supermarket when I've had the opportunity to visit relatives in Zurich -- but since I tend to bake ryes, I've never tried it on its own. Ilya Flyamer, a tfl member who lives in Basel (and who hasn't posted here for a while), told me many times that ruchmehl was great to bake with. I'm glad to see the ruchmehl fan club is expanding.

Rob

Thank you Rob. The organic Ruchmehl from Coop should be actually pretty good. At least the organic white flour they have was pretty good in the past. This bake is with the flour from Migros. It's ok, but nothing spectacular. The quality of the flour, in particular Ruchmehl, can vary a lot. I was very surprised by the results I've got.

Hi from Basel! Indeed my go-to regular white flour is the organic white flour from Coop, although I also quite like their Zopfmehl, even not for Zopf.

I don't think I've compared the Coop vs Migros Ruchmehl, would be interesting to see if there is a difference, actually. This bake looks great! I quite often use Ruchmehl as the base for the bread, sometimes mix it with something else... I've posted a couple bakes here a while ago:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69614/ruchbrot
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70056/ruchmehl-bread

 

Interesting color to it as well. I didn’t know how it was produced or that first clear flour was preferred for rye and whole grain breads.  It looks nice by itself and that’s a gorgeous loaf. I have never seen it on offer anywhere near me. thanks for sharing. 
D

That’s almost Ciabatta looking. I though it was when I saw the opening picture. Quite lovely result. I’ve never used first clear. There were several sources years ago and David Snyder used it here on TFL as well as others if you search. 

First clear was used by Jewish bakers in New York for "deli" rye breads.  I have always thought that the main reason is that it would have been cheaper in bulk than patent flours, since it was more or less waste byproduct. There was a second clear, which was more brown and used mainly for animal feed. If you weren't looking for a nice white crumb, why not use the darker first crumb clear?

Only my speculation...

Thank you trailrunner! Older posts are always a good source of inspiration. I didn't expect to find so many hits. Now I have something to read ;)

I used to use First Clear in rye breads but as mentioned above there are not a lot of sources.  I do have one about an hour or so away and have been meaning to pick some up.  I’ve made several bakes adding this flour to others but not sure I’ve done 100%.

Thank you! We like the 100% first clear loaf a lot. It has a more complex body (and more fibers) than white flour but it doesn't have the specific taste of whole wheat. I like the taste of a 100% whole grain rye loaf (if well balanced), but 100% whole wheat is far from being my favourite. I prefer 100% first clear. A mix of 75% whole wheat and 25% white flour is enough to change the taste so that I like it again.

A bit more info on Ruchmehl at https://www.homebaking.at/ruchbrot/

An extract here:

"Extract from the Swiss Food Ordinance:
Art. 67 Requirements for milling products >>

The water content of milling products must not exceed 15.5% by mass.

Normal flour must have the following mineral or ash contents, based on the dry matter:

a. Weissmehl max. 0,63 Massenprozent

b. Semi-white flour 0.64-0.90 mass percent

c. Ruchmehl 0.91-1.69 mass percent

Finding a Ruchmehl worthy of the Masterclass required two years of searching. We were supplied by around 30 different mills in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy, and we examined their flours in detail, both in terms of taste and baking properties. The flour is a clean, exceptionally gluten-rich, aromatic type 1100 wheat flour. The light, strong white flour is mixed with the finely ground, valuable outer layers in the right ratio. What makes it special is that, using the latest milling technology, we were able to harvest the bran close to the germ and use it for this flour. This difference alone makes it so tasty, and during fermentation, it allows the cultures to thrive. The gluten-free flour makes it easy to process and allows for long fermentation times. As you can see from the photos, the flour is also suitable for a crumb with wild pores and large bubbles."

So I would say Ruchmehl has a wholemeal content somewhere in between T80 and T170, maybe like a T110 on average (to use the French notation).

Also I think it is made by combining white flour with aleurone rich middlings - not by a simple sifting.

How that compares to first clear, I'm not sure!

In the UK, the only equivalent to Ruchmehl is Shipton Mill's Swiss Dark, which I just happen to have 2 x 1kg bags of....

Lance

The flour doesn't sound quite like first clear in US usage. As I understand it, when the inner endosperm is separated from the outer layers, the remaining streams, which include bran, germ, aleurone, and outer endosperm, are called "clear".  First clear combines and mills the more desirable part of these streams, and what's left is called second clear. 

The Ruchmehl flour seems to add some patent flour to the first clear stream.

OTOH, in the US, "first clear" is a term of millers' art, not a legal standard, and probably every mill, and kind of wheat, would produce a product with different characteristics.