Rye Bread: Tips, Techniques & Recipes

[mrose]

Irwin

I grew up On Long Island, and I have been looking for a recipe for corn bread. I loved it as a kid. You are the 1st person I have come across that describes (understands) what this bread is. Do you have a recipe?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm starting to dabble with the idea of baking that "great loaf of rye bread" that I talked about in Recipe Challenge 2010. I will follow George Greenstein's (Jewish) Sour Rye recipe, substituting my wheat sourdough starter for the rye starter, and making up for the loss of rye flavor with the addition of altus, or soaked and mashed old (rye) bread. Only problem is, and this is a biggie -- if I don't have a loaf of old rye bread laying around, having never made it, what the heck do I use for the altus? Do I pick up a loaf of rye at Moishe's when I'm in Manhattan next week and save a portion, bake an inferior loaf of rye bread, wait a week, and use that, use a hunk of Beefsteak rye, or just forgo the altus altogether?

I may have just answered my own question, but suggestions would still be appreciated.

Skip the altus in the first loaf. You'll have it for the next batch!

[clove2873]

Lahey no knead recipe ftw!

[bor]

13 hours ago, gfron1 said:

I've been on a rye kick lately, although my attention span is not allowing me to do a starter. I've been using THIS book which is really, really good. I've mostly done my Finnish rye and Icelandic, but lately have been branching out. Most recently a hard apple cider rye. The biggest challenge for me has been remember, as with all bread baking, that flours vary in their milling and dryness. A few adjustments normally gets me back on track.

I started with the same book! But haven't had much luck with it. Most of what I have learned so far is coming from rus brot blog and youtube channel (in Russian). A throve of knowledge, the guy is truly unique. Heavy on technology, but with a specific focus on home baking.

 

The flours are so variable. I zeroed in on a local (MN) supplier and just use their whole grain flour all the time, adapting all recipes to it.

[TdeV]

Hello @bor. Welcome to eGullet!

[gfron1]

3 hours ago, bor said:

I started with the same book! But haven't had much luck with it. Most of what I have learned so far is coming from rus brot blog and youtube channel (in Russian). A throve of knowledge, the guy is truly unique. Heavy on technology, but with a specific focus on home baking.

 

The flours are so variable. I zeroed in on a local (MN) supplier and just use their whole grain flour all the time, adapting all recipes to it.

Now I'm curious what troubles you've had. Like I mentioned any troubles I have had were related to needing to add or delete moisture levels to match my grains. I'm currently using Great River Milling organic dark (via Amazon).

[bor]

10 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Now I'm curious what troubles you've had. Like I mentioned any troubles I have had were related to needing to add or delete moisture levels to match my grains. I'm currently using Great River Milling organic dark (via Amazon).

I'm getting mine from Natural Way Mills, splitting delivery with a friend. 

 

As s rule I have to increase hydration by at least 5%, sometimes more, compared to the EU recipes. But mostly, my trouble is my ignorance:) I literally never baked before I started this less than a year ago, so had to start from learning the very basics. Unfortunately, the Rye Baker book gets some basics wrong, so that caused some troubles. Getting the right ingredients, or substitutes of right ingredients - such as for fermented malt rye or the traditional Russian sweetener ("patoka"), is another.

 

 

[Violin_guy]

Very nice bread! Here are some that I made in my outdoor wood oven. I don't take temp readings etc..just put em in when the oven is hot and bake for about an hour. And I use dark rye flour, as that's all I have available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bor]

4 hours ago, Violin_guy said:

Very nice bread! Here are some that I made in my outdoor wood oven. I don't take temp readings etc..just put em in when the oven is hot and bake for about an hour. And I use dark rye flour, as that's all I have available.

Nice! I do wonder what the temp was. Judging by the very thin crust, prob. not higher than 200C?

[Violin_guy]

In the past when I have put bread in (and checked the temp) it was around 800F, after opening the door and adding the bread the temp steadily decreased. The oven was about 100F 12 hrs later.

[bor]

I figured how to make my own fermented malt rye, so here's my first Borodinsky bread with it. It's a dark and dense scalded bread spiced with coriander.  The fermented malt intensifies the rye flavor and darkens the color. The result is quite good for the first attempt; should work on getting deeper flavors and characteristic deep black crust.

 

(The wiki tells several versions of the origin story; I tend to believe the last one - that it was probably invented by the Soviet food engineers.)

 

 

 

Scald ingredients

 

Zavarka (scald)

 

Opara (fermented scald), before fermentation

 

Opara after fermentation

 

Proofed

 

 

[bor]

Linking this fermented malt rye topic here too - a successful experiment in producing it DIY. Can be useful to non-EU rye bakers who can't get the stuff off shelf.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I'm late to this discussion, but I have a few thoughts about boosting the flavor of rye bread. First, using very fresh rye flour makes a difference. I buy rye flour from a baking supply company in Morelia, and I must say that the aroma of rye coming from a freshly-opened bag is remarkable. Now, I don't always get flour from a bag opened in front of me, but as a rule the flours of all kinds tend to be fresher. This shop supplies most, if not all, of the bakeries in Morelia (of which there are too many to count), so the turnover is faster. I also store it in my second fridge because I typically buy 2 or 3  kilos at a time.

 

Second, for some reason a scant 1/4 tsp. of ground allspice does something to augment the rye flavor. If I forget it when making a rye loaf it's obvious. There's a little something that's missing in the flavor. Try it--see if you like it.

 

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Having just made a rye loaf, I realized that I forgot to mention that my recipe calls for a Tbs. of molasses as the sweetener. This is for 3 cups of flour--2 white bread flour and 1 rye. I also include caraway seeds because I like them. Rye makes a compact loaf, ideal for slicing thinly and slathering with butter and then topped with thinly sliced radishes. I could make a meal from that!

[bor]

On 12/25/2020 at 1:07 PM, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

I'm late to this discussion, but I have a few thoughts about boosting the flavor of rye bread. First, using very fresh rye flour makes a difference. I buy rye flour from a baking supply company in Morelia, and I must say that the aroma of rye coming from a freshly-opened bag is remarkable. Now, I don't always get flour from a bag opened in front of me, but as a rule the flours of all kinds tend to be fresher. This shop supplies most, if not all, of the bakeries in Morelia (of which there are too many to count), so the turnover is faster. I also store it in my second fridge because I typically buy 2 or 3  kilos at a time.

 

Second, for some reason a scant 1/4 tsp. of ground allspice does something to augment the rye flavor. If I forget it when making a rye loaf it's obvious. There's a little something that's missing in the flavor. Try it--see if you like it.

 

 

 

I wonder what is other's experience with using fresh vs. aged rye flour? I hear statements in favor of both. 

 

[bor]

Putting my new fermentation rig to work, did a twist on Borodinski inspired by this rus brot's experiment. 8 hours scald with coriander, caraway and two malt ryes (fermented and not), 24 hours fermentation, and a mistake in hydration calculation leading to runny dough and cracked bread. Very deep dense flavors with pronounced spices, delicious. They say such bread should stand for 1-2 days before consumption, but who's got patience.

 

 

Scald ingredients (coriander is milled with the fermented malt)

 

Adding starter after 8 hours + cooling

 

Scald after 24 hours of fermentation

 

Opara (pre-dough)

 

Dough