Jewish Sour Rye
After last week's 70% rye bread, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I wanted to return to the first rye I had made – Jewish Sour Rye – to see if my tastes had shifted. I made the Jewish Sour Rye from “Secrets of a Jewish Baker,” by George Greenstein.
This is a classic “deli rye,” or “light rye.” It is made with a white rye sour. Rye snobs (who will remain nameless) turn up their noses at white rye because it has so little rye flavor. In fact, most of the time, I make this bread with whole rye. But, this time I made it “by the book.”
Well, not exactly by the book. Greenstein's book provides volume measurements for all ingredients. It has been criticized for this. Last year, I worked out the ingredient weights for the Sour Rye recipe, and these are provided below.
Ingredients |
|
Rye Sour |
750 gms |
First Clear Flour |
480 gms |
Warm Water (80-100F) |
240 gms |
Sea Salt |
12 gms |
Instant Yeast |
7 gms |
Altus (optional but recommended) |
½ cup |
Caraway Seeds |
1 Tablespoon |
Cornmeal for dusting the parchment or peel. |
|
Cornstarch glaze for brushing the breads before and after baking. |
Method
-
If you have a white rye sour, build it up to a volume of 4 cups or so the day before mixing the dough. If you do not have a rye sour but do have a wheat-based sourdough starter, you can easily convert it to a white rye starter by feeding it 2-3 times with white rye flour over 2-3 days.
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In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the rye sour and mix thoroughly with your hands, a spoon or, if using a mixer, with the paddle.
-
Stir the salt into the flour and add this to the bowl and mix well.
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Dump the dough onto the lightly floured board and knead until smooth. If using a mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead at Speed 2 until the dough begins to clear the sides of the bowl (8-12 minutes). Add the Caraway Seeds about 1 minute before finished kneading. Even if using a mixer, I transfer the dough to the board and continue kneading for a couple minutes. The dough should be smooth but a bit sticky.
-
Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
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Transfer the dough back to the board and divide it into two equal pieces.
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Form each piece into a pan loaf, free-standing long loaf or boule.
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Dust a piece of parchment paper or a baking pan liberally with cornmeal, and transfer the loaves to the parchment, keeping them at least 3 inches apart so they do not join when risen.
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Cover the loaves and let them rise until double in size. (About 60 minutes.)
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Pre-heat the oven to 375F with a baking stone in place optionally. Prepare your oven steaming method of choice.
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Prepare the cornstarch glaze. Whisk 1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in ¼ cup of water. Pour this slowly into a sauce pan containing 1 cup of gently boiling water, whisking constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until slightly thickened (a few seconds, only!) and remove the pan from heat. Set it aside.
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When the loaves are fully proofed, uncover them. Brush them with the cornstarch glaze. Score them. (3 cuts across the long axis of the loaves would be typical.) Transfer the loaves to the oven, and steam the oven.
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After 5 minutes, remove any container with water from the oven and continue baking for 30-40 minutes more.
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The loaves are done when the crust is very firm, the internal temperature is at least 205 d
egrees and the loaves give a “hollow” sound when thumped on the bottom. When they are done, leave them in the oven with the heat turned off and the door cracked open a couple of inches for another 5-10 minutes.
After the loaves are out of the oven, brush them again with the cornstarch solution.
Cool completely before slicing.
Jewish Sour Rye
Jewish Sour Rye crumb
Well, the verdict is: I like rye bread – white rye, dark rye, whatever. Each has it's place. The Jewish Sour Rye I had toasted for breakfast with Salami and Eggs was just right. The 70% Sourdough Rye I had for lunch with slices of Smoked Gouda and Cotswold cheese was perfect.
It's not such a hardship, having to make these choices.
David
Submitted to Yeast Spotting [1] on Susan FNP's Wild Yeast blog [2] (This week, hosted by Nick at imafoodblog [3])