Is anyone else using buttermilk powder in rye?
Simplicity is my aim in making bread. I'm unsuited to mothering a starter. I don't knead except in the rarest of circumstances. Therefore, I am constantly tinkering to make fool-proof, easy breads that feel and taste like the real deal.
I've been working on a formula for a simple rye bread that is all dry ingredients + water. Previously, I was making rye with whey but I'd like to divorce making rye from making quark/ricotta/fresh mozzi.
So far, the formula is working pretty well but I'd love to discuss it with you all. The proportions I'm giving are not exactly "baker's percentage" (% of all dry ingredients) but rather a percentage based on only weight of flour. I've found the water percentage needs to vary with whether I'm using cream of rye, medium rye, or dark rye (the darker, the thirstier).
This results in a good sandwich rye.
Ingredients
- 390 g (65%) bread flour
- 210 g (35%) rye flour
- 30 g (5%) vital wheat gluten
- 60 g (10%) dried buttermilk powder
- 9 g (1.5%) instant yeast
- 9 g (1.5%) salt
- 30 g (5%) caraway seed (optional)
- 450-510 g (75-85%) water
Method
- Put all ingredients except water in a bread bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Add 450 g water and stir with a spoon and then fingers to mix. If the dough seems "tight" add more water until a stickly dough results.
- Form the dough into a rough ball in the bowl, cover tightly, and allow to develop at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Plop the dough onto an oiled counter and do two stretch-and-folds (stretch out into a rectangle and then fold in thirds each way)
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover tightly, and let develop a second hour.
- Repeat stretch-and-folds and allow the dough to develop a third hour.
- Gently form the dough into a loaf shape and allow to proof 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 325F (about 165C)
- Slash the top of the loaf and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until center reaches between 200F and 210F (93C and 99C).
I sometimes roll the shaped loaf in more caraway, cracked rye, or cornmeal and am usually baking it on parchment paper on quarry tiles.
I will add pictures as the present loaf, which is made with dark rye, comes out of the oven.
i add dried buttermilk powder to a lot of my breads; even if i am using a sourdough starter. it seems to improve the texture.