Danish rye bread

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Precaud on 2 Aug 2025 at 15:48

I came across this on YT and it looks like the kind of bread I'd love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTOF9qjmqVg

Have you done something similar?

I'm thinking of doing a variant with CLAS replacing the 'liquid sourdough' and Solod replacing the 'malt extract'.

The main uncertainty is what the liquid sourdough consists of. He uses quite a bit of it. Any thoughts?

Here's a screenshot of the ingredients given at the end:

the sourdough was made with rye and coarse wheat flour.

Yippee 

I've only baked with red rye malt (aka solod) once -- producing a small but fantastic borodinsky.

But that limited experience leads me to think that replacing malt extract with solod in this formula will greatly change the character of the bread. Without a doubt it will be good. But solod is dank and complexly sour while all the malt extracts I've tried are engagingly sweet like caramel.

Also, to me, 30g of salt sounds high. It might work in a sweet bread but could overpower a sour loaf.

Rob

 

Rob: Good point on the malt extract. The stuff he used is darker than any such extract I've seen, so I (wrongly) associated it with the Solod. I associate darker colors with deeper, more complex tastes, so I question whether barley malt extract would be a suitable replacement. I may have to do some experimenting/improv here.

I totally agree on the salt, I limit my salt intake and routinely use half the salt most recipes recommend.

Yippee: Yes. I guess I will improv/experinment with that one too. It sure doesn't look very coarse to me...

I've baked this twice now since posting,  using a slightly different recipe and process as a basis:

Danish Rye Bread Recipe - Original - YouTube

I used CLAS instead of his "liquid sourdough", barley malt syrup replacing his darker "malt syrup", and SAF instant yeast as leavening. His process is very impromptu and dimensionless, fix-it-in-the-mix (perhaps because he's done it dozens of times). Until I get to that point, I need and want quantites defined. I used these, for a  USA Pan 14"x4"x4" pullman.

12hr room-temp pre-dough:
   50g CLAS
   350g dark rye flour
   350g water
   0.1g SAF IDY

12hr Soaker:
   250g cracked rye
   400g H2O

 Dough:
  Predough + drained soaker
  110g dark rye flour
  1.25 t salt
  1/2 t SAF IDY
  50g chopped pumpkin seeds
  50g flax seeds
  30g raw sunflower seeds
  1.5 Tb barley malt syrup
   H2O from drained soaker

(By "dark rye flour" I mean fresh-milled rye berries. And 'cracked rye' was rye berries hand-ground in an old-school Corona corn mill)

The first loaf was too wet and the top collapsed badly in baking ( 1:10 @ 360º in Oster toaster oven).


(Sorry for the focus, the camera locked onto the doorknob behind it...) This was my first time baking in this oven and I would raise the temp next time.

As evidenced by all the bubbles on the perimeter, crumb was surprisingly open and tender, and the taste was fantastic!

Second round, I increased the soaker and predough times to 16 hours, subtracted 50g of H2O from each of them, added 50g more flour to the predough and 20g more in the final mix, and used the mighty Walmart oven to bake. Bake times :10 @ 450º, :20 @ 375º, :30 @ 375º top foil-covered, and :08 out of pan.

And I asked the doorknob if it would kindly disappear for a sec while the camera focussed  :)

A better bake, for sure. And the taste was even better, the longer ferments bringing out a sweetness I've never experienced in a rye before. The top still collapsed a little (1/2") so next time I'll back off the water a tad more and use less yeast as well. Or, bake it in two smaller pullmans instead of the long-boy one.

(As always, yeast amounts are appropriate for 6900 ft altitude, you will likely need 50-100% more at sea level).