Exploring Sweden and Experimenting with Rye Flour
In April of 2015, my wife and I completed a long-awaited move to Luleå in the north of Sweden where she joined the university for her PhD degree. Having lived in Egypt all our lives before that, the move wasn't easy but we're slowly finding our way around town and starting to make sense of the language and the culture. One of the things that really stand out for me about food in Sweden is how much of a bread culture they are, which of course means a lot of variety. Being a cold weather country, rye, an ingredient that just doesn't exist in Egypt, is available in abundance around here. So I decided to pick up a bag of rye flour and try my hand at it. Unfortunately though, I had to give my sourdough starter that I've kept back in Cairo for more than a year to friends. I split it in half and gave to two different friends; one of whom actually used it and sent me pictures which was endearing. She also gave some to her aunt who was fascinated by the idea of a live culture that just keeps going. Anyway, I used a small amount of instant yeast to get a preferment going and let it sit for about 14 hours at room temperature then proceeded with the rest of the dough. Here's what I did: Pre-ferment:426g water + 200g Wheat flour + 200g rye flour + 1/4 tsp yeast The next day I added 200g of wheat flour, 13g of salt and another 1/4 tsp of yeast. I did three stretch and folds at 30 minute intervals and then let it bulk ferment for an hour. After the hour, I shaped it into a rough round shape (need more practice here) and let it bench-proof for about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, I pre-heated the oven all the way to 260C with a cast iron skillet in there. I flopped the dough from a towel onto the hot skillet, scored it, added steam and let it cook for about 20 minutes and for 30 more minutes without steam. The end result was a pretty good looking and smelling loaf which tasted very nice. I thought the rye added some depth of flavor and a bit of earthiness that barley flour just didn't do when I used it back in Egypt. Anyway, here it is and I'll definitely keep trying new things with rye flour in the future. Greetings from Sweden and Trevlig Midsommar! 
Here's a look at the crumb: 
Comments
We are traveling to Sweden, Denmark and Norway for a 2 week tour of these countries. Looking forward to the local breads !!!
Thanks for posting
deblacksmith
to be made with sourdough though....Since you have rye it is easy enough and this is the way they used to do it in the Northern Climes in the old days, Take 70 g of rye flour and mix it with 55 g of water. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit 24 hours. The next day add 70 of rye flour and 55 g or water to the mix and let that sit for 24 hours. The next day throw half away and add 70 g of rye flour and 55 g of water and let it sit for 24 hours. 24 hours later feed it 80 g of rye and 100 g of water and then 6 hours later feed it 100 g of rye and 125 g of water. In 4- 6 hours a portion of it will be ready to use as a levain for some fine rye bread and the rest can be stiffened up with some some rye flour as you new rye sour starter and kept in the fridge. Keep the mix at 75- 78 F while it ferments over the 4 days.
Your bread looks fine as is but with SD it should be great! Welcome and well done and
Happy SD baking in the World of Rye
Thanks a lot for these detailed instructions. I think I wouldn't have been able to find something so specific if I tried on my own =). I'll definitely get to it when things settle down a bit more around here.
Much appreciated.
I started another one today for an even darker and more whole grain pumpernickel
Old School Dark Sprouted Pumpernickel Sourdough – 2 ways
It's fun to do things the 'old school' way now and again.
happy SD rye baking