Peter Rienhart's 45% Rye Meteil
I wanted to bake a Rye bread from Peter Reinhart's book : Whole grain books, as a change from Hamelman's Rye recipes.
With 45 % Rye flour, and 55% whole wheat flour, the bread is very wholesome, and enriched. It contains butter, honey, caraway, and nigella seeds. The bread is leavened with the 45% Rye flour amount as Rye sour, but the final dough contains 2.25 tsp of instant yeast. The bulk fermentation and final fermentation takes from 50-60 minutes at most.
The dough was understandably sticky during mixing, and never came together well. I resisted adding flour to the final dough and adhered to the recipe. This dough sticks to everything, so i should have really kneaded the whole wheat dough (soaker) to proper gluten development as stated in the recipe before final incorporation.
As with most recipes of the book, the final dough ferments FAST! i had to watch it closely.
The bread is very, very aromatic and wholesome. 3-4 slices is all you can eat in one sitting, it really fills you up fast. This is the first time i use spice in bread, and oh my! was i missing so much with leaving out caraway in rye breads!
The Rye sour stands out here, with a pronounced sweetish tang. This is a very satisfying flavorsome bread.
-Khalid
Comments
so glad you you made changes and loving it. satisfying indeed and hearty too. they are very large loaves. how long it will last?
happy eating!
evon
I always alternate between the two books: Wholegrain breads, and bread, as i like to explore new flavors, and practice new recipes.
This bread isn't quite the popular one around here, so i may have to eat most of it myself :)
-Khalid
Khalid, This looks great. I was just thumbing through Reinharts book thinking I should make something other than the sandwich bread from it. You have put together a great roadmap. I also have been baking a lot of rye from Hamelman so it will be nice to try a different approach. -Varda
Thanks, Varda!
Oh pls. do try it and share the results with us.
Sorry for the late reply.
-Khalid
For years I just added a goodly amount of whole, toasted caraway seeds to my 50% -70% rye. Then I read somewhere about grinding seed and adding the powder to the mix In addition to the whole seed. That really gives the loaf a caraway boost.
Best,
Fred
Thanks for the suggestion, Fred. i will try that next.
-Khalid
Caraway has long been used as an aid to digestion. I have lately been adding it to breads that are not rye, but have a substantial amount of whole wheat. Whole wheat breads tend to cause me indigestion/heartburn. At 2% caraway, there have been no problems.
If you were to scrape some rye berries off the ear, right in the field, and eat them, you would find they have a strong minty/caraway taste. By the time it reaches my kitchen, the flavor is gone. Perhaps it is from loss of aromatics. I believe that caraway brings some of that fresh rye flavor back to the bread; thus its use as a flavor enhancer in rye breads.
As to nigella, I very much like what it brings to the rye bread, but find it can be overpoweringly strong. Have you experienced the same, or is it just me? What percentages by weight are you using with and without partnering with caraway?
cheers,
gary
Thanks for the valuable info on caraway, Gary, really interesting stuff there!
2tsp each of nigella and caraway were used. My total dough was 1670 grams. Nigella seeds were not overpowering at 2tsp. Indeed, it does stand out, and can overpower Rye and wheat flavors.
-Khalid
Hi Khalid,
What a wonderful loaf despite the sticky dough.
My favorite rye with caraway comes from Stan and Norm's book. It is great and not sticky despite the rye which is in the sour. The reason I love baking it is partially due to the texture of the sour. The aroma pushes it over the top as it bakes. :) I do have to knead it for a really long time for it to come together but I do it with all the final ingredients in the mixing bowl. I think I have to mix almost 20 minutes in my DLX. (I haven't timed it so that is an approximate guess.)
The sour goes through 2 feeds similar to the 3 stage but easier time wise. First 2 builds take 4-6 hours and then the ripened sour goes into the refrig. overnight to be mixed with the final ingredients in the morning.
Just looking at your loaf makes me want to pull out my recipe and bake one to :) But I have a bunch of loaves already in my line up so it will have to wait it's turn. *-)
Thanks for the post and your notes on how it all came together.
Take Care,
Janet
Thanks, Janet
Interesting technique, to retard a rye sour after 2nd refreshment. I don't have norm's book, so i don't know the % of flours in, but i'm guessing that it is mostly bread flour?
I'll try Hamelman's 40% rye with caraway, and this time i WILL add caraway.
-Khalid
tasting bread that can stand up to any kind of smoked meat! Isn't this really a Whole Wheat bread with a lot of rye in it? Why they call it a rye bread is beyond reasoning :-) We prefer whole grain breads to have some caraway, anise coriander and fennel as a mix with the caraway twice the amount of the others. Very healthy baking and it isn't so bad to have to eat most of it yourself!
Nice baking Khalid
Thanks, DA!
I'm sure this bread goes very well with cold cuts, it is quite rich!
Most of Peter Rienhart's recipes are 100% wholewheat, so any recipe with rye would be called Rye. Metiel is a french word for breads with less than 50% Rye flour. Siegle is for 50% or more rye breads.
I loved the caraway addition, but i'm stuffed from this bread, i ate it all by myself. (wife dislikes caraway in bread).
-Khalid
Hi Khalid,
I see your making excellent use of your rye flour!
The loaves are lovely and crusty looking, with a spongy (for rye) crumb that I'm sure has a very nice mouth-feel. Only in the last year have I been adding spices to rye bread, more out of a desire to make something authentic than personal preference, but the spices do add a pleasant flavour note that compliments the sometimes grassy taste of rye. A suggestion for next time is to toast the caraway seeds in a dry pan just until it's scenting, or showing wisps of smoke, then crush them and add to your mix. It takes the sharp edge off the caraway and helps to balance the overall flavour of the bread towards the flavour of the grain rather than the spice.
All the best,
Franko
Thanks, Franko! It was a good hearty bread.
I seek authenicity too, Franko. I consider myself new to rye breads, and to spices in breads.
Thanks for the suggestion on toasting caraway, i will try this in my next bake.
-Khalid
Gorgeous bread, Khalid! I'm loving the thoughtful discussion about adding spices to rye, food for thought :)
It is a whole new world to me, those bread spices.
Khalid
I tried this one when I first bought the book but it didn't come out as nice as yours. I love adding caraway to rye too and I'm going to try Franko's suggestion next time.
Too bad your family is missing out on this beauty.
Regards
Ian
I never really sought rye recipes from peter rienhart's book, all my attention was focused on creating good whole wheat bread. However, his rye recipes are worth trying, but i must warn: they are quite rich, with butter and honey, his rye recipes aren't for everyone.
-Khalid