Saltless Seeded Rye
Last week, I’ve baked my first recipe from Andrew Whitely’s “BREAD MATTERS”: seeded rye bread. The bread was wonderfully delicious and truly addictive. However, I failed to notice that the dough weighs 650g, and cannot fill up my large terrine pan. The bread, however, was an immediate success and half of it was literally devoured while being sliced!
A few days ago, I wanted to triple the quantity (* 3.4) and make two 1.2 kg loaves. The bulk fermentation lasted for 2 hours only, and the final proofing was 45 minutes; while the previous loaf fermented for 4 and 2 hours respectively. I’ve considered them ready for baking when their top started to tear and sounded hollow when tapped from below. In the oven, they puffed high and quick! i was exhilarated for a few seconds, but then all started going down hill. The loaves deflated and shrunk back, and continued to do so for the next 30 minutes.
Baked, the loaves had a wrinkly teared crown. "Umm, they may be overproofed", i said to myself. Little did i know.
Finally, I cut through the loaf. Up to this point, I was contented with the results despite not being optimal. The bread sliced well and was not crumbly. I laid down a few slices in a bread basket, brought in the butter and cream cheese, and sat for dinner. I spread butter on a slice, and chewed my first bite. I was instantly struck by the relative blandness! OMG! I forgot the salt, that’s it.
I was disappointed. I tried butter, salted butter… nothing seemed to work at this point, not even toasting. So, out of despair, I sliced the remainder of the loaf and freezed it. I wrapped the other loaf in linen after it had cooled and left it to mature for 3 days. Last night I’ve thawed a couple of slices and decided to give it a try with salted feta cheese. It was DELICIOUS!! Freezing / thawing seemed to have salvaged the flavor of this loaf, but I’m unable to explain why. I’ll try other toppings, but what matters here is that it was not a total loss after all! Today, I plan to slice the linen wrapped loaf and observe any improvement in flavor.
On another note, we shall resume pastry classes soon. Following a pause from vocational training (due to the recent re-location of the institute), we are scheduled for a class on cold desserts tomorrow.
-Khalid
Comments
I think we have all been there before and accidentally left out the salt or some other ingredient. I'm glad your patience paid off and it ended up tasting great a few days later. Certainly looks like a beautiful crumb and I'm sure with some cheese was just perfect.
Look forward to reading about your continuing adventures in pastry.
Regards,
Ian
Thanks, Ian!
I've forgotten salt in a few bakes before , but this was especially annoying. I tripled the recipe, and dumped in a hefty load of toasted seeds, and was hoping to give a whole loaf to my dad.
I'll try to blog about cold desserts soon.
-Khalid
Hi Khalid,
Love it that you knew how to save this loaf. Too good to toss out.
Interesting that you are making these loaves lately….so am I. I just baked John the Bakers Swiss Seeded Rye yesterday which appears to be just like you loaf above.
I have been baking about 3 years now and have avoided these kinds of breads…well actually I had baked Andy's Borodinsky several times but never felt solid in preparation or baking so I have not attempted many others UNTIL Karin challenged us with her loaf this fall. It got me on a roll with these dense breads and I now LOVE baking them and I am even more in love with my lidded Pullman pans.
I love the variety of ways and grains that can be added to these loaves and the ability to switch to different methods to prepare the doughs. I am hooked. In fact I want to bake a loaf for my garbage collector soon loaded with seeds and chocolate chips. Not traditional but he needs the energy since he does so much physical work all day long…
Thanks for sharing how you saved this loaf. I know if I ever leave salt out I will now know what to do.
Take Care,
Janet
Aren't they great?! rich , healthy and full of flavor.
I would love to try andy's borodinsky, but i can't source malted rye, nor was i able to sprout rye to creat some.
The bread was ok, but disappointingly lacking. I've been the only one consuming it, and my wife and childen did not enjoy it.
Thanks anyway, Janet!
-Khalid
That's a great looking save, Khalid! Sounds like a winning formula, too, if the flavor develops that well without salt - even if it takes some extra time. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Marcus
It makes a delectable Rye, but needs the salt.
bake one, Marcus.
-Khalid
Hi Khalid,
If I remember rightly Andrew Whitley cut down on salt levels drastically a good few years ago now. I think he uses 1% on flour, but I'm not totally sure as he always dismissed bakers' % on flour when I worked with him. So I'm just wondering if you included the salt, but just couldn't taste it!!?
Whatever; a very fine looking rye loaf, as always
All good wishes
Andy
The recipe's salt is 1.7% salt. I've baked this rye with salt before, and it was absolutely delicious. I'll try more of his recipes soon. I'm not bothered much by the absence of baker's percentage in Andrew's book. His formulas are easy and straight forward.
Wishing you the best,
-Khalid
The speedier bulk fermentation is indicative of leaving out salt as it helps to control fermentaion as well as contributing a great deal to the taste.
In the past working as a dough maker i have been able to taste a piece of dough that didnt seem quite right to see if the salt or possibly all the ingredients had been forgotten in which case the dough was put to one side and incorporated into subsequent mixes without that dough being total waste. (bosses like that)
kind regards Derek
I had to take a hint when the dough fermented quickly, but i though that the warm oven was responsible.
From now on, i should either stick to mise en place, or begin tasting my doughs as you said.
Thanks!
I would think the salty feta helped compensate a bit too, but interesting that the freezing/thawing brought so much more out of it too.
Thanks, Floyd!
Freezing and thawing usually enhances flavor for many of my breads. It gives an aging effect for flavor while retaining freshness.
-Khalid
that the salt, gone missing, might not be missed :-) I forgot the salt so many times that I always put it on top of the autolyse and if there isn't supposed to be an autolyse..... I force Lucy to make it have one just so we don't forget the salt! I did that with Mini's rye bread we made today - what she doesn't know won't hurt her now that she is Canadian and no longer a Chilean:-)
Glad the feta saved the day - a good reason to keep it in the fridge at all times - just for salads.
Happy baking Khalid
I may try youe method in the future, DA.
Salted feta cheese is quite a vesatile cheese. I'm glad i had some.
Thanks!
-Khalid
this Tuscan rye:-)
Blad rye is a curse. Fortunately your recovered in the freezer. It looks very nice with all those seeds.
Thank, Nico!
I believe, that with all the toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and a proper sour, the bread was able to retain a good deal of flavor.
-Khalid