Still chasing the Raisin Pumpernickel of my dreams
This week two more versions of Raisin Pumpernickel were added to the odyssey. One round - using rye/yeast water levain and one in a loaf pan - that one used only instant yeast for leavening. I'm getting closer; both breads are great tasting but I still have a ways to go with my rye skills - shaping, transferring from basket to peel, and judging when they're proofed enough and ready to go into the oven. 
The loaf on the left is an oatmeal raisin from "Bread" made with the leftover rye yeast water levain (I just can't throw anything away! ;-). Really tasty - that one. Those Hamelman formulas never disappoint.
The round on the right is the raisin pump. I started with the recipe from ITJB, but used a levain made from grape yeast water and whole rye flour - hoping to diminish the sour note and open the crumb a bit. Then for the final build I used coarse rye meal instead of the flour. Other tweaks: Added 1/2 C altus from a previous raisin pump effort, used black coffee instead of water in the final dough, baked it in a DO at a higher temp (460dF) than recipe states. Was that too high? I based it on rye baking temps in "Bread"
It looked great after the bulk ferment. Maybe I should have degassed more? Shaped loaf was placed in a wheat bran dusted basket and final proof was around 50 min. A finger poke bounced back very slowly. Maybe too rough transferring from basket to parchment to DO? The loaf baked covered for 15 min. and uncovered for another 40ish minutes - with the oven temps turned down little by little - until a thump on the bottom sounded right and internal temp was 205.
Here's the crumb:
There is some decent aeration, but no height ;-/ What would help here? Vital Wheat gluten? I was using KABF today - First Clear flour is on order. Or maybe this is 'as good as it gets' with so much coarse meal in the works? If anybody can help me here I'd love some direction...
The yeasted loaf pan version was also really tasty. I found the recipe here: http://germanfood.about.com/od/bread/r/pumpernickel1.htm
I did make two changes: I swapped out 2T of whole rye flour and put in 2T coarse rye meal, and used Guinness for all the water. It's delicious!! Tho' it's a little like Pumpernickel 'lite' - I'd like to try adapting this version using a rye sour.
More adventures in the kitchen! To be continued...
Comments
but no height ;-/ What would help here?
A bread pan.
For free standing, could also try using altus (day old crumbled rye bread into the recipe) or add some chia seeds to soak up moisture and stiffen the dough, the saturated seeds give moisture back into the crumb as it bakes. If soak the chia first, say 40g per loaf (one hour) add more water as needed to moisten the flour, aim for your favorite consistency. Same with the altus. Altus is convenient as no adjustments for salt are needed. Chia raises the calcium and fibre content.
Oh, and there is a trick used by Austrians for fruit/rye breads, wrap them in a plain white dough to make a skin around the loaf. The loaves are usually small and often decorated.
I've just read through your post on the 100% rye with chia variation - what a wealth of great information. I do use altus (toasted and crumbled and soaked) - should I try not soaking it? I love chia seeds - sprinkle them on salads, cereal, in smoothies, and I've used them for thickening jams (to decrease sugar). I will try them in my next raisin pumpernickel, and use the loaf pan too. What about baking temps? Is my 460 (dF) appropriate? And steam for 15-20 minutes?
That is really interesting about the loaves wrapped in white dough - I've seen that in old-school jewish bakeries, dark pumpernickel wrapped in white dough with nigella seeds on top. I found a photo - thought you might like to see...
These are the bakers at Russ and Daughters - a 100 year old establishment in NYC - purveyors of all kinds of fish and breads and spreads. Seems everything old is new again!
thanks again,
Cherie
the "daughters" must be out of site. You're doing just fine from the way the loaves appear. Don't go bonkers and keep tweaks minimal when comparing bakes. To reduce sour in rye dough try to slowly build the starter in steps with equal culture to flour portions.
I see the addition of altus now. Funny how that skipped my attention earlier. Soak it? up to you. Sometimes I dry the altus and then add water to match dough hydration. Feeding the sourdough starter build some altus along with fresh flour will also result in more complex flavours and worth a try.
Hello!!!
by any chance do you have the pan loaf version recipe ? the link is no longer working ! thank you
Hi leahbehar,
I found the recipe I used for the pan loaf here - https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-pumpernickel-bread-recipe-428175
I departed from the stated recipe by swapping in raisins for the caraway seeds and I used Guinness in place of the water. And I subbed 2 T of coarse rye meal for the rye flour. Good luck and happy baking! Have you ever tried making a yeast water starter? It's like a fun science experiment - takes around 5-ish days. I have been tweaking my yeast water version of the pumpernickel raisin over the past few years and it's a very reliable formula now. I will post it soon with some new pictures.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/11667/dmsnyder-recipe-index
Bound to find a scrumptious recipe there. :)