"Malzkruste-Roggenmischbrot 75/25"

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Gadjowheaty on 15 Apr 2022 at 14:09

I've been spending a lot of time learning German while trying to read books from Lutz Geißler and others, and just being an active member of an online community of German and Austrian bakers.  This one I'm just calling "Malzkruste-Roggenmischbrot 75/25" for want of a better term for now (still being tweaked.  It's actually more of a 73/27 mixed rye).  I usually try to keep it very simple and only change one or two things at a time, but this recipe was influenced by several things:

A Pommersches Brühbrot from "Brotdoc's" latest book, Heimatbrote, a wonderful and wonderfully written book.  This one was a bit over-proofed but it's really, really delicious, with a wonderful mouthfeel and really "juicy" crumb.

 

 

 

 

I also really love the rustic quality of Brotdoc's "Werner 70/30" crust, which he designs by a slightly shorter proof. "Werner 70/30."  

Then from Lutz Geissler, I made what he terms a "klassischen Dreistufenführung," a 3-stage sourdough gone into in detail in his accomplished Baking Book No. 4 (Sourdough).  This 3-stage is distinguished from the Detmolder process, which he also goes into in great depth (along with many other souring regimes and science).  Highly recommend the book.  Then, I drew from my experiences with his "Fröstlberg Kruste" from his Almbackbuch (and his blog).

I love the use of Köchstück, Malzbrühstuck, and Quellstück.  Here I have an 8-hour Malzbrühstuck with whole rye flour and an overnight Quellstück with stale roasted bread, ground fine and salted at 3%.  I also love a touch of "Roggen-Röstmalz" (red rye malt) in many ryes. I used it at 0.77% of the total dough weight, 1297 g.  I'm also partial to a touch of Brotgewürz in darker ryes.  Here, at .26% total weight. Hydration, 89%.

Cooling now, will cut into it tomorrow.

 

Lovely rye breads. I also like Lutz Geissler's recipes and there are so many recipes, I am curious which breads he bakes to eat. Since you are reading his books-which breads does he prefer?

Hey George, thanks.  That's a fantastic question.  I'll have to go through the books (and probably his pages from the site that involve his travels).  I do recall at least a few he declares "ein Brot für jeden Tag!" so that might be a good clue.  I'll tell you, though my German is new and baby-like, I'm still getting so much from his No. 4 (if you haven't seen, it's one of two on sourdough - this was for more experienced bakers (as opposed to the sourdough book from the "Brot Backen Mit Perfektion" series).  Very thorough, science based book but of them all, I most especially love his Almbackbuch - it just makes Alpine life so extraordinarily present and beautiful.  If you haven't see it, check it out.  Not cheap, but more than worth it imo.

I wish I could see one of his books. I got a preview peek at the Almbackbuch and it looks interesting. On his site there are almost too many recipes for a single bread and they are all variations on a single general type and his variations he only bakes once. This approach confuses me. (When I lived in Vermont, I was a neighbor of Rubaud and he baked the "same bread" always perfecting it anew, changing the formula and fermentation all the time. ) Thank you for taking your time to offer insight into his books! George

I see that you can buy the books in kindle. Do you have any experience in sending the text thru Google translate? Does it give you a good idea of what to do?

 

What you are doing makes me want to brush up on my German too!

I've never any of the Kindle versions but if you can copy and paste text from them I'm sure it would work - however, I will also say I depend on "Deep L Translator" a lot.  Very clear and pretty robust translation.  My German friends say it's better, at least from the perspective of my posting online (trust me - this boy is happily studying, but a total baby yet in German!).

 

I used the Google Lens Translate feature on my Android phone with a German bread Kindle e-book. It worked pretty good, but I agree with Gadjowheaty that DeepL tends to translate a little better.

Thank you my friend.  Crazy days - baked this off then a TIA into the afternoon and last night.  Back home and.....well, starter needs to be refreshed and looking on to the next rye with my little starter ("ASG").  Anyone else a freak like this?  If away from home when you know the starter needs refreshing.  Anguishing over it like a baby?

Thanks a bunch, Mini.  I'm a convert - such a special touch, just the right amount gives such a nice little quality.  Growing my own Schabzigerklee as soon as our ground clears from frost, which is late May here.  Patience practice!


Thanks for the comments on the cracks.  I love the cracks from see from German and Austrian baking!

Those are some schöne Brote! The crusts on both are amazing. I'll bet they taste fantastic, too. I'm also partial to using Brotgewürz.

I hope you fully recover from your TIA.