Rye Grain Flakes
Hello,
Does anoyone have tips for using rye flakes? I've only seen recipes for using whole rye grains, soaked overnight. Since they're flaked, I assume they need different, quicker treatment, like whole, jumbo rolled oats. There are directions for making a porridge on the packet but I've yet to try it. I fear using them thus soaked will yield a sticky, tacky, inedible crumb, something similar to the oat-porridge breads I've made in the past.
I bought them initiially as a substitution for malted wheat flakes (for Granary style bread). I used it similarly, that is, straight from the bag and added to the dough. But they were, dissappointingly, nothing like malted wheat flakes.
I have an idea to toast them slightly in the oven before use (like malted wheat flakes).
Does anyone have inspiration for using flaked rye grains?
Thanks! :)
I make a loaf of 63% rye at my bakery with a soaker of rye flakes. The ratio is a bit more flakes to water to prevent a sticky mess resulting in having some nicely soaked rye flakes the next morning.
Toasting them is a nice possibility and I am sure it will give a bit of flavor to the loaf otherwise lacking from plain rye flakes.
Hey thanks for replying. Would you share your recipe?
Would you say 1 part water to 1.5 part flakes? After soaking them (in cold water overnight, not boiling water, am I correct....?), is the texture quite stiff or more, porrdigy/soupy?
Butter and toss a handful or two into the pan, they get toasted (in butter) as the loaf bakes. Toss some on top of the shaped loaf too, mist them if you need to. They are good soaker uppers to balance recipes that get tooooo hydrated.
I bet if you add water: 70 to 80% of the weight of the rolled rye to the dough or as a soaker, they will not be gummy. Toasting is a good idea if you add them to the dough. It is also possible to let them soak up something else like root beer or sour milk or apple cider & cinnamon or lemonade/juice. Make a swirl in the rolled out dough and add brown sugar and nuts to them. They would be good layered with berries as they will soak up juices holding them in place. Use em like rolled oats. Or combine them with rolled oats. Pinch of salt 1 to 2% always helps with a flat taste. Soak in milk and drain if you want them shiny on the outside of something like a coffee cake. Trail mix?
Roll a shaped loaf thru the flakes and then toss into a floured banneton or dust the banneton with them. I also wouldn't hesitate to throw them into a blender and chop them up a little bit or feed them to my starter. I think they are steamed first so they might not start up a sourdough starter with power but could be used to pep up a wheat sourdough starter.
Getting more ideas?
I'm going to have to give some of these ideas a go because I have about 8 1# packs of meusli. Time to use them up!
Cob, I always use flaked grains in my panned loafs as a pan release and under my boules (instead of crunchy corn meal).A light coating of oil and a generous sprinkling of flaked grain in the bottom and corners of the pan. Under the boules and in the loaf pans, they turn lovely golden along with the loaf but the flakes around the boule on the pan directly exposed to the oven heat tend to burn easily. Don't panic and you may need to cover the smoke alarm/detector.I just remove the freesitting flakes before putting the pan in the oven.
Enjoy! Think outside the loaf!
Great ideas there! Wow, thanks Mini Oven. I love the idea of dusting my loaf tin with them, but suspect they will be one hell of a munch once baked. My teeth won't be happy! I love the crunch of flakes in dough, so will have to extract their flavour somehow.
I do think a slow, dry toasting in the oven would be an idea. I love the idea of using them as a sweet mix base with sugar and spice. Here in the UK, flaked rye is something purchased mainly at health food stores, it's not widely available, so for me, its novel. I see you guys have it for brekkie? And in muesli? Apparantly it's great made just as porridge. I must try that seeing as porridge is wickedly good most mornings.
As for gumminess, that's a tricky one. I hesitate to make a porridge with meal since it has a tendency to never bake through, no matter how hot/long I bake the dough out. Whole grain is usually cooked in equal parts, but I'm not sure how much liquid is enough to hydrate flaked meal. To th point of hydrated, but not resembling mush.
I've never used any other meal to dust my bread save oats so will have to give this a go.
Another other ideas would be welcome.
I use rye flakes at about 10% in a loaf with rye, whole wheat and white flour and toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I use a boiling water soaker of about half the water for the recipe and mix as soon as the soaker cools. The flakes add some texture but don't seem to make the loaf as gummy as oats.
That sounds yummy and wholesome! But again, I would certainly toast them before use. I could not believe how bland they were. Grains love salt.
I must try simply re-hydrating grain and draining them before use, that way they absolutely will not wick moisture from the dough. Or do as you do, and use a part of the water used for the dough but this will result in drier dough.
I think soaking a grain until it disintegrates to resemble mush or a loose porrdige is a "no no" for baking. Then again, whole/flaked grains must be used not floury types.
Whenever I've baked 'binners' (or sticky crumbs that defy rescuing in any shape or form), I've always made a porridge of honey and oats. It's always that deathly mix of oats and honey, rarely alone do they bake up sticky with a crumb that clumps like dough. Also, the proportion of the soaker/porridge must never exceed a certain % of the dough.
My soakers ratio is 119% Water to Flakes.
I agree with Mini, butter a pan and placing the flakes in there gives off a lovely appearance to the finished product! You could also use the flakes in granola, replacing some of the oats.
I feel stupid for asking but must, is that for example, 100g rye flakes to 119g water? Sorry to work in metric!
These flakes are a bit like rolled oats, but rye?
I've been experimenting with 100% ryes lately, doing variations over the excellent "Russian Rye, Andy's Village Bakery version" (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25940/hussian-and-german-100-ryes-4-recipes). I have used 10% rolled rye flakes together with 10% white rye flour - both added in the second stage, while doing the receipe otherwise on only coarse sifted rye. Compared to using only the coarse sifted rye I think that the flakes add a bit of texture, and a bit more depth to the taste (but I'm not done doing variatons of that receipe..)
In Norway we also have them as part of a cereal called "4-korn" (4 grains, http://www.axa.no/Vara-produkter/Flingor--musli/4-korn/), which is a mix of rolled rye, barley, wheat and oats. Many eat it for breakfast with milk or youghurt and some jam.
-sig
Sig,
Yes, it's flaked rye.
One day I'll attempt 100% rye, I've never tried anything to that extreme but the temptation/curiosity is great.
It does not help I've spent £4 on an organic 'Scandinavian daily rye' brick heavier than my arm, resembling a pocket bible, that even the garden birds turned their nose up. I've never been disappointed with organic bakery bread.
BTW, that 4 Korn mix looks like bird food. Right up my street! :) I think I may try making my own granola with some of this rye. Actually, now that I'm here, you Americans can help me out. All the recipes I've seen uses this elusive 'applesauce'. Please can you confirm this is just a jar of apple puree with nothing added save a few preservatives, i.e. I can puree some sweet (or tart?) apples. Or even better, I can go buy some baby food, their apple compote/puree?
Cob,
the 100% rye I linked to is so easy it that there is almost no reason not to try it. If you have a rye sourdough (or can use a couple of days to turn a wheat SD to rye) it should take you about 10+10 minutes - and a couple of days of waiting...
Sigurdur, 20 mins for rye, that's what I call fast food! ;)
(I'm sure that's a typo!)
Yes, I am going to give 100% rye a go, but have another recipe in mind first by Andrew Whiteley, Bread Matters. (Sorry, this one looke even easier!) Once I get the rye bug, I will definitely be looking at the one you linked.
Is it true rye likes dough to be very wet, it's just AW makes his 100% rye at over 70% hydration. Apparantly low-hydration rye breads yield a brick. I've never had that experience, but then again, he must intend whole rye bread.
It's strange but he says rye flour is bland. That's even odder, because I love its flavour mixed with wheat in yeasted doughs.
On reading through the comments about adding rye flakes to bread dough, I can offer the following. It is not necessary to soak the flakes in water or other liquid. They can be mixed directly with the rest of the dry ingredients. Use 1/2 to 1 cup of flakes per 4 cups of flour used. Do not use rye flour as the bread will not rise well. You can use either 4 cups of white bread flour or else 3 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of wheat flour. Now add either 1/2 cup of flakes or 1 cup of flakes. You can use rye flakes or wheat flakes or 6 grain mixed flakes. Use 1/2 cup of flakes for a more light and fluffy loaf or else 1 cup of flakes for a more rustic and grainy-textured bread. The rest of the ingredients to make this bread - based on 4 cups of flour - are as follows: 2 tsp salt, 2 TBS sugar, 2 heaping TBS powdered buttermilk, 1 TBS bread yeast, 2 TBS vegetable oil, 10 ounces water. Put the water and oil on the bottom of the bread machine pan, add the mixture of dry ingredients on top of the liquids, set your machine to the white bread cycle.
A particularly delicious variant of this same recipe uses the following. Omit the 2 TBS sugar and substitute 1/3 cup molasses (not blackstrap molasses). Omit the powdered buttermilk. Use 3 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of rye flakes (instead of the 4 cups of flour noted above). Keep everything else the same. You will have a brown rustic-style bread which is virtually identical to the Walpack Inn bread mix (which, in turn replicates the famous bread served in their inn.). I played around with the ingredients listed on their package until I got it exactly right. It is fantastic bread! Any questions email me a brennele@npceu.com - Lois E Brenneman, MSN, FNP