70 percent rye

I am beginning to think that the role of the final fermentation is not described clearly enough in the books I’ve read so far, or at least I haven’t understood it. In the last couple of breads, most of them using either a high amount of rye or other flours with poor gluten development, I reduced final rest to a minimum, meaning that the dough was put in the oven right after shaping. Results were promising, aeration did not suffer much; yes, the breads’ crumbs were a bit tighter, not in a compromising way though. And final weight of the finished breads seem to be the same (feels like that).

I am susprised about the good flavors of all these loaves and the good oven spring they had. This bread I gave only 5 minutes of a free-standing rest on the baking paper before I put it into the oven. Crust looks good, loaf feels light. I am proposing the following meaning to this babble: I think when speaking of final fermentation of rye breads it should have a stress on relaxation and not so much on the fermentation. And I would suggest that the quality of many rye breads is best with a short final rest. Indeed, the crust splits and has a rustic look. So for loaves with smooth crust, I’d reduce oven temperature.

70 Percent rye bread

• 200g rye sourdough, hydration: 100%
• 215 rye flour
• 135 strong white flour (or spelt or Einkorn)
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 230g water (to make a sticky and loose dough)
• 9g salt

Mix ingredients shortly, then let rest until well-aerated, approximately 2-3 hours (or less in a very warm room). Shape on a bed of rye flour, let sit seam side down on a piece of baking paper for 5-10 minutes and put into a hot oven, 250°C.

Bake for ten minutes, then reduce heat to 210°C and bake for further 40-50 minutes.

Senfbrot (mustard bread)

When it comes to stuff I’d like to see in dough, it usually is flour (or allied cereal products), water (or related liquids), yeast (or bef(r)iended leavening agents) and salt. Here, mustard and cheese are added to get a strongly flavored loaf with a mustard-sunflower-seed topping.

And the Oscar goes to…

Sometimes awards strike like lightning. Out of the blue this blog was called fabulous by Cindy from Gherkins & Tomatoes (see the post here).

Now it’s time to pass this award on to five other blogs. Naturally, since I don’t know if the mentioned food bloggers wish to take part in this, ye olde bread blogge hereby exempts you, the winners, from the obligation to pass the torch on. Just consider yourself fabulous and bask in the glory of the moment. In particularly random order:

Five fabulous food blogs

1. Apple Pie, Patis & Pâté

2. Chaosqueen’s Kitchen

3. Schnuppschnüss ihr Manzfred

4. ilovebreadblog

5. sass & veracity

Five food obsessions

1. Il caffè
2. Brot
3. Pasta
4. Olive oil
5. Desserts

…and the winner of the ostrich, ye olde bread blogge’s own award, goes to:

King Arthur’s Baker’s Banter

The author of King Arthur’s own blog proved that if you want to find a pun or alliteration, you will find it, even if it means sticking your head deep into sand. Ostriches don’t do that of course, because they are clever.

That made my evening

Alfons Schuhbeck, the German cook, on last night’s Lanz kocht:

People pay 27 Euros for a motor oil they put in their cars, but they refuse to fork out more than 1 Euro 50 for cooking oil. How stupid are they?

Einkornbrot

Ulrike has made one and since just now Einkorn is available around these parts as well, I had to try it, of course. Apparently Einkorn is one of the oldest grains known to mankind and rich in beta carotene and amino acids. The dough was quite wet and since my inclusion of a soaker made the dough even more loose, I skipped the final fermentation and put it directly onto a hot baking stone after shaping. Haven’t cut into it yet and will post about flavor later.

Back. Upon cutting into the loaf, the sound of a serrated knife reveals a very crispy, yet sturdy crust. The innards of the loaf show a warm reddish brown. Eating a slice, the impression of a superior crust is enhanced by the nutty flavor. A remarkable crust; evenly browned on the bottom with random bursts on the top of the loaf. Towards the middle the flavor gets milder and chewing on the soft crumb that is not wet a good balance between sweetness and acidity is apparent, the latter not having to do with the Einkorn itself, of course.

At the moment I would rate whole-Einkorn flour superior to most whole-wheat or whole-spelt flours I’ve used, looking at texture and flavor. At around 5 Euros per Kilo it’s a deliberate choice one has to make. Mixing it with other flour seems to be the way to go.