Early start

Hi David,

To tell you the truth, I don't know any books for the home baker that deal with rye breads in any more detail than Hamelman. Unfortunately.

There is a book called "Technologie der Backwarenherstellung" by Claus Schünemann and Günter Treu that has some in-depth information on baking with rye sourdough. A limited preview of the German version is available via Google Books (direct link here). There's also an English language version of the text, but that's far too pricey to justify purchase for a hobby baker. What I've read in the German version is pretty interesting, but mostly aimed at large operations.

My starting point was Hamelman's book, but I've ended up tweaking his formulas to better fit my starter and my flour. The most important tweaks include:

• Increase hydration to make a rather sticky dough. This will give you a more open crumb, better keeping qualities and more "harmonic" rye breads. Low hydration appears to hamper good fermentation.
• Reduce amount of rye sourdough. I usually find that my rye breads benefit from less rye sourdough compared to Hamelman's formulas. Clicking here will show you a table that I took from Schünemann and Treu's book, that provides estimates for the amount rye sourdough to be used in 1-step rye sourdough builds. Apart from in 80% - 100% rye breads, I've found that reducing the amount rye sourdough does not significantly alter total fermentation time, but it improves dough handling, resulting in less sticky doughs.
• Omit commercial yeast. I prefer the flavour of naturally leavened rye breads, so I don't use commercial yeast when I bake rye breads. For lower percentage rye (i.e. < 50%), I've had good results with 2 hr. bulk fermentation followed by overnight proof in the fridge. For higher percentage rye (i.e. >= 50%), I typically end up with roughly 1 hr. bulk fermentation followed by a 1 hr. 30 min. final proof.

If you're just starting out with rye, I think Hamelman will be the best guide. If I recall correctly, the 66% rye sourdough in his book is a terrific bread. Notice the high hydration of this formula compared to virtually all the rest of his rye breads. My best recommendation is to start out with his formulas. Then, if you think there's room for improvement, you might consider tweaking and altering the procedures. The best is to start with something that works, and Hamelman's formulas work. :)