Hamelman's Litovsky Rye Bread

I had these L11 pans for a while but didn't really use them. Wasn't sure what to expect as they look small but I must say I'm really happy with the results. The slices are just the right size for this bread. And if one didn't have enough? Just cut another slice! All delicious!

I pretty much followed Hamelman's recipe (scaled for three of the recommended L11 pans so 1500 grams of dough) with two changes. One is that I used first clear flour instead of the all purpose and I inoculated the sourdough with 10% instead of 5% starter. It is curious to me that this is the only sourdough recipe in this chapter that specifies this smaller amount of starter for the same fermentation time and temperature. I just felt it would not ripen enough. Hamelman does not provide the reason for that. After 4 hours of bulk it was time for dividing. The dough was somewhat sticky but nothing that a little flour wouldn't fix. I used the Polish T720 rye flour for that and it worked very well for that. The proof was right on schedule as the loaves looked ready after the 2 hours so in the oven they went! Pretty hot, too, at 500°F. Then lowered, and lowered again as I noticed the loaves come out a touch too dark on top if I bake at the specified temperature for the specified time in my oven. The most difficult part was waiting before slicing the loaf. It came out excellent!