So I baked a small version of my go-to deli rye and it came out looking beautiful.
As always, it was lofty, with a thin shattery crust, & a moist & light interior. It's 45% whole rye, 10% whole spelt, 45% bread flour. About 80% hydration.
But: it's lacking the sweetness that the crust normally has. In fact, it's a tiny bit bitter.
What do you think might be the issue?
Among the possibilities--
--the bags of flour, though almost a year from their 'sell-by' dates, have been in my closet, open though the tops are rolled up, for maybe a month. I baked the same bread with the same rye & spelt but different bread flour a month ago and the sweetness was present.
--the starter, after having been refreshed, sat in my fridge for a week or 2.
--I used the starter straight from the fridge -- and the water I used was only luke warm. Then I refrigerated the levain for 12 hours until I had time to bake. This made the final dough quite cool, so I gave it extra fermentation time -- about 2 1/2 hours of bulk instead of 2 hours, about 1 1/4 hours of proof instead of an hour.
-- when I did the final shaping, I sprinkled the counter with spelt flour because I was out of rye.
-- I dripped some water on the boule rather than spraying it before it went into the dutch oven.
Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
Rob
I would blame it on old flour. Enjoy!