German Sourdough Rye Bread

When I reactivated my rye sourdough starter to make Kontinenbrot, I ended up with extra culture. As you’ve probably heard me say, I have a hard time discarding sourdough so I decided to make another rye bread with the extra starter.

Many, but not all, German breads contain rye flour. This German Rye Bread would be considered a Krustenbrot. Don’t you just love those brots!  Krustenbrot means just what it sounds like, a crusty bread. This version is baked in a regular loaf pan or freeform, but typically this type of bread is baked in a square pan and would be scored using the cross-hatched pattern. Source: Bread: the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter.

 

This German Sourdough Rye is made with a blend of rye and wheat flours and utilizes a long fermentation process. It is also made with a sourdough so it has a noticeable, but mild, sourdough flavor. It makes a good sandwich bread. I particularly enjoyed it as a grilled cheese sandwich. I think it would also go well with sausages if you enjoy that sort of thing.

 

German sourdough Rye

Adapted from: Classic Sourdoughs by Ed and Jean Wood

Makes: 2 Medium Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (480 ml) rye culture (see process below)
• 1 cup (240 mL) almond milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup (115 g) rye flour
• 4-5 cups (560g - 700g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• Caraway seeds, optional

 

Process:

1) Making the culture proof

Begin by activating the culture and creating the culture proof. Use 2 cups of the culture proof in this bread. Put the remainder of the culture proof in the refrigerator to use as your new starter going forward.

2) Mixing the Dough:

Add the rye culture, milk, salt, molasses, and oil to a large mixing bowl and combine. Mix in the rye flour and the all-purpose flour, one cup at-a-time until it is too hard to mix by hand.  Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead it until it is smooth and elastic. 

 

3) Proofing the Dough

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Put it in proofing box if you have one. Let it proof overnight for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature, about 70 degrees F.  After it proofs, remove the dough gently from the bowl onto a floured work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes. If the dough flattens a lot during the rest, add in a little more flour to give it structure before shaping.

 

4) Shaping the Loaves

Divide the dough in half and shape into two rough balls.  Let the dough balls rest seam side up for 5 minutes.

 

Flatten one dough ball slightly and shape it into a rough rectangle. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up and gently press the edges together.

 

Bring the sides in to form an envelope shape and gently press the edges down.

 

Turn the loaf seam side down. Repeat the shaping process with the other dough ball.

 

Place the loaves in greased loaf pans and cover with plastic wrap.  I used 8 1/2” x 4 1/2” glass loaf pans.

 

5) Proofing the Loaves

Proof the loaves for 2 to 4 hours, until almost doubled in bulk.  The dough should be almost level with the tops of the pans.  Proof the loaves for the first hour at room temperature. Then let them rise in a proofing box, if you have one, at 85 degrees to 90 degrees F.

 

6) Scoring the Loaves

Brush the loaves with an egg wash and sprinkle with caraway seeds if you like. I omitted the egg wash and caraway seeds because I didn’t have any. Make diagonal slashes on the tops of the loaves using a lame or serrated knife.

 

7) Baking the Loaves

Places the loaves in a cool oven, then set the temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake the loaves for 70 minutes.  Partway through the baking cycle, rotate the loaves for even baking.

 

8) Cooling the Loaves

Remove the baked loaves to a wire rack to cool. If you’re using glass loaf pans, let them cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  

 

Remove the loaves from the pans and cool 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.  Since I didn’t use an egg wash, I brushed the loaves with a little bit of olive oil after I removed them from the baking pans.

 

I enjoyed these rye loaves. They are slightly tangy due to the sourdough, but not overly so.  The texture is a little lighter due to the inclusion of the all-purpose flour. 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Sourdough Rye and Rice Bread

A few weeks ago, a visitor to my blog mentioned that she was experimenting with a sourdough sponge made with spelt & rye and mixing it with various gluten-free flours. She was looking for recipes for breads that used a mixture of gluten-free and gluten flours. I thought this was a very interesting experiment.

My brain started clicking away and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a really good idea. So when I ran across this recipe in one of my books about grains, you know I had to try it.

The funny thing about the original version of this recipe is that it listed “wheatless” in the title, but it is made with a regular sourdough starter. I’m not sure why they called it wheatless since it uses a sourdough made from all-purpose white flour, but I decided my version would be wheatless. My version is made with a rye starter and includes rye flour, rice flour and a little bit of oat flour. It has a really good flavor. I poured off the hooch when I fed my rye starter so this bread is not sour at all. 

 

Rye looks like an extra tall wheat plant, but it is from the genus Secale cereale. It is a cool season crop.

Note: Although this bread doesn’t contain any wheat, it does contain gluten.  Rye has a different type of gluten, called gliaden.  Breads made with rye and no wheat can become gummy because the gluten structure doesn’t develop very well. This is where the sourdough starter comes in, it actually helps dissolve the gumminess.

This bread also includes a good bit of active dry yeast to get the activity going.  The dough rose really well during the proofing with the added yeast; however, I’d like to see how will do without the added yeast.

 

Sourdough Rye and rice Bread

Makes: 1 Large Loaf and 1 Small Loaf or 1 Pullman Loaf

Adapted from: Small-Scale Grain Raising: An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing, and Using Nutritious Whole Grains for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers by Gene Logsdon

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rye sourdough starter
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups rye flour (I used home-milled whole grain rye flour)
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 teaspoons dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups organic rice flour
• 2 cups rye flour
• 2 – 3 tablespoons oat flour (I used organic oat flour from the Farmer’s Market, but you can make your own flour by coarsely grinding oatmeal in the blender)

 

Directions:

1) Feed the Rye Starter

The day before you plan to make this bread, feed your rye sourdough. I doubled my starter so I would have enough to use in this recipe.

2) Make the Sponge

The night before you plan to make this bread, mix together the rye starter (or regular starter if you prefer), rye flour and water. Set this aside overnight in a warm, draft-free place.  The oven (turned off) is a good place for this.

 

3) Mixing the Final Dough

The next day, dissolve the molasses in the lukewarm water and sprinkle the yeast over the surface.  Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes until it is creamy.

 

Stir the sponge down, then add the oil, salt, yeast mixture, and all of the rice flour.

 

Mix in as much rye flour as you can by hand, then transfer the dough to a working surface that is well floured with rye flour.

 

Add the remaining rye flour and knead briefly to incorporate it thoroughly.  Finish by adding a couple of tablespoons of oat flour to help reduce the stickiness.

 

 

4) Bulk Fermentation

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn it to coat in oil.  Cover and place it in a warm place.  Let it rise until double in bulk. 

 

This can take anywhere from an hour to a couple of hours. I turned the dough in bowl after about an hour, then placed it back in the bowl to rise for another hour or so.

 

5) Shaping and Proofing the Loaf

You can shape the dough into a large loaf and a small loaf, but I chose to make a Pullman loaf.  To make a Pullman loaf, remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a cylinder.

 

 

Place the loaf in the greased Pullman pan.  This was rather tricky.  The log lost it’s shape as I transferred it to the pan so I just patted it gently in the pan to make it even. 

 

Let it rise for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours until it rises well in the pan. It may not double in size.

 

6) Baking the Loaf

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 35 minutes or until done.  Make sure the loaf is baked through or it might turn out gummy.

 

7) Cooling the Loaf

Remove the loaf to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.

 

8) Slice and enjoy!

Rye breads are usually better the day after they are baked because it gives the crumb time to set. I decided to try it a couple of hours after baking and then again the next day.

This was my dinner the night I baked the loaf.  It was really good, especially with the cheese and grapes.

 

This is the bread the next day.  The crumb is set well, but it is still moist and tastes fresh.  This bread has good keeping quality due to the rye and sourdough.

Celeste, this one’s for you!  Enjoy!

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Five Grain Sourdough with Rye Sourdough

This Five Grain Sourdough Bread is one of the November breads for the Mellow Bakers. It is made with a rye sourdough and a multigrain soaker which gives it a delicious whole-grain flavor despite the fact that it includes a high proportion of white bread flour.

The grains provide a nutty and chewy texture and the high-gluten flour provides the strong gluten structure that is needed for a bread containing this many grains.  I substituted rye flakes for the rye chops so I used a cold soaker instead of a hot soaker. I also used home-milled whole grain rye flour so I added more water than the original formula called for. Home-milled flour tends to require more water to achieve the appropriate hydration.

This is a very light bread considering the high amount of grains that are included.  It also has great keeping qualities due to the moisture retention in the overnight soaker and the sourdough.  All in all, this is a great bread!  I’m glad I made three loaves.  I was able to give two away and keep one to enjoy.

 

Five Grain Sourdough with Rye Sourdough

Makes: 3 Loaves

Adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman

Ingredients:

Sourdough:

• 8 oz (1 3/4 cup) whole-rye flour
• 6.7 oz (7/8 cup) water
• 4 oz (1 T + 1 tsp) Mature sourdough culture

Cold Soaker:

• 2.9 oz (1/2 cup) Flaxseeds
• 2.9 oz (5/8 cup) Rye flakes
• 2.4 oz (1/2 cup) Sunflower seeds
• 2.4 oz (3/4 cup) Oats
• .7 oz (3 1/2 tsp) salt
• 1 5/8 cup water, cold

Final Dough:

• 1 lb, 8 oz (5 1/2 cups) high gluten flour
• 12 oz (1 1/2 cup) water
• .19 oz (1 3/4 tsp) instant yeast
• .5 oz (2 tsp) honey
• all of the soaker, above (1 lb, 8.5 oz)
• all of the sourdough, above 14.7 oz (minus 1 T + 1 tsp)

 

Directions:

Making the Sourdough:

Prepare the sourdough and let it ripen for 14 to 16 hours at 70 degrees F.  I prepared it early in the morning and placed it in the unheated oven all day to ripen.

 

Preparing the multigrain soaker:

Prepare the soaker at the same time as the sourdough. I started the sourdough and the soaker at about 2:45am. At 5pm, I made the loaves following the process outlined below:

 

Mixing the Dough:

Add all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix on first speed for 3 minutes.  Check the hydration.  Since I used home-milled whole grain rye flour, my dough needed a bit more water than the original formula. The dough should be moderately loose and somewhat sticky.  Mix for another 3  to 4 minutes on second speed.  There should be a reasonable amount of gluten development.  The desired dough temperature should be 78 degrees F.

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Let the dough ferment for 1 hour with no folds.

 

Diving and Shaping the Dough:

Divide the dough into three 1.5 pound pieces.  My pieces came out to about 1.65 pounds each. I decided to shape each piece in a torpedo shape.

Begin by shaping each piece into a round.  Cover the balls with plastic and let them rest on a lightly-floured counter.

Next, flatten the dough into a rough rectangle.

Gently fold the bottom third of dough, letter style, up to the center and press to seal, creating surface tension on the outer edge.

Fold the remaining dough over the top and use the edge of your hand to seal the seam closed and to increase the surface tension all over.

Turn the dough over and gently rock it to shape it into a uniform-looking torpedo shape.

 

Final Fermentation:

Place the loaves on parchment paper and cover them with plastic.  Let the loaves proof for 50 to 60 minutes at 80 degrees F.  It wasn’t that hot in my kitchen but the loaves still proofed in about 50 minutes.

 

Scoring the Loaves:

I decided to experiment by scoring two of the loaves with three diagonal slashes and one loaf with a slash down the middle. 

The one with the slash down the middle turned out so good I wish I had scored all three loaves that way. Next time…

 

Baking the Loaves:

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan underneath.  Place the loaves on the hot baking stone using a baker’s peel or the back of a baking sheet. Fill the steam pan with hot water and close the door of the oven.  (I also sprayed the walls of the oven with a spray bottle filled with water about 3 times during the first few minutes.) Then, I reduced the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.  Let the loaves bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Bake for a total of about 40 minutes until the loaves are golden brown.

 

Cooling and Slicing the Loaves:

Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

 

Then slice and enjoy.

 

This bread tastes really good plain, but it also tastes good warm with butter.  It is a very light bread.

 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup. Thanks to Frankie (Tartine Bread Experiment) for hosting this week’s roundup. 

 

Mellow Bakers was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy