getting lower extracted rye in US
I am a little confused about denominations of rye flours in US. Often words such as light, medium etc. are used supposedly (my conclusion from my readings) to follow some ash content. However, I found here this topic where they discuss how to create medium rye by sifting. However, I am not sure if this would be compatible with ash content. Given how flour is produced in multistage process. Basically, there is no reason to expect to sieve out outer parts of the grain given already milled flour. What one really needs is the multistage process. Where one mills and sieves and mills and sieves slowly getting to the center of the grain. I am looking for lower ash rye flour (1.1%) as I have found that whole grain flours are disastrous for preserving the sourdough starter. However, since the system of mills is very different in US (compared with central europe), i am having a hard time finding this via google. E.g. Centralmilling is the only company that I have found that offers such flour but their shipping rates are ridiculous. Since they call it medium, i thought that is the correct term in US to call such flour but the above mentioned topic makes it unclear. What I am really after is milled out flour via multistage process that ensures that the outer parts of the grain that inhibit fungi growth are not present.
Do you have a tip for a good quality rye with about 1.1% ash that does not cost 3x the its price to ship?
Unfortunately, in the US, rye designations are not standardized. Apparently there just hasn't been enough demand for the millers to get together about it.
Here is a discussion about rye grading in the US.
https://theryebaker.com/rye-flour/
Where in the US are you located? That will have a bearing on the shipping charges and suggested millers.
Also, have you tried King Arthur's Organic Medium Rye? I contacted them a few years ago for specs and the ash content is 0.85% (14% moisture basis; equiv. to 1.0% dry basis) at a 72% extraction rate. It is very nice flour.
I have also used Breadtopia's medium rye, too.
I have bought milled rye from 3 sources: King Arthur Bakers, Breadtopia and Central Milling. If you have particular requirements, contact these vendors directly and ask your questions. KA in particular has a major phone-in help team.
David
I use Breadtopia, and have had helpful email support from them. Good company and knowledgeable about their products.
You say: "whole grain flours are disastrous for preserving the sourdough starter"
Please elaborate. I keep a 100% whole rye starter that seems inordinately happy sitting in the refrigerator for months at a time - so I'm wondering what the problem is that you are hoping to address.
as for availability of lighter ryes: if you're near a city with large immigrant communities you might find medium & light ryes in Polish groceries.
Rob
I can get rye flour stone-ground by a local waterwheel mill. When I sift out 30% by weight of the bran and larger particles, the flour resembles (and bakes like) that from Bob's Red Mill labeled "Medium Rye". I suppose that makes sense because Bob's was built around a waterwheel. I don't have any way to measure the ash content, of course, but it sounds like neither are what you are looking for.
I rarely use more than 30 to 40% rye in my bread. I've used various types including sprouted and Unifine ground rye. I also grind my own. For the most part, I don't notice much of a difference between any of them. If I were to pick a favorite it would be between home ground and the sprouted rye flour based on taste alone.
The few times I've made 50% and 100% rye bread, I always used home-ground whole-grain flour. I don't think sifting rye produces the dramatically different bread you get from shifting wheat flour.