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Dark Starterless Rye Bread

So Saturday we were out pretty much all day shopping and running errands, so I took most of Sunday off to recuperate :-) Today was going to be the recipe I gave for bread from 1857, but Nancie requested rye bread instead, so that takes precedence. Since I didn't have a sourdough started, I tried to modify the recipe. It's just coming to the end of the rise, but I thought I'd share with you what I've done so far:

Dark Starterless Rye Bread

(modified from Leslie Bilderback's Light Caraway Rye recipe)

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast, about 1 package
  • ½ cup cool water;
  • 2 cups dark rye flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 – 4 cups bread flour
In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir to dissolve, and let stand until foamy, about ten minutes. Add cool water and rye flour; stir to combine and form a sponge.
Picture of the sponge, ready to pre-ferment.
Let the sponge stand for about 10 – 12 hours, until well fermented:
The sponge with bubbles well through all of it.
Add enough bread flour to create a firm dough. (And we mean really firm; you'll have to get your hands onto and into this one!) Add flour only to reduce stickiness.
This is the dough with all ingredients added.
Turn out onto a floured surface; knead for 8 to 10 minutes. (I found it needed closer to 10.) Return to bowl, dust the top with flour, and cover with a damp cloth. Rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about two hours. (Because I used a much bigger bowl than I was used to, I had trouble judging the "doubled in size". I let it go for not quite an hour and a half. So I let it proof for 40 minutes or so instead of 30. It's in the oven now; seems fine.)
It's risen. You can see the glutinous structure.
Turn risen dough onto a floured surface, divide into 2 equal portions, and shape into round loaves:

Preheat oven to 375 °F (190 °C; Gas Mark 5).

Using a serrated knife, slash two or three diagonal lines into the surface of the risen loaves, about ½ inch deep. Place a pan of cold water at the bottom of the oven to create steam. (But, as I discovered, don't fill the pan too deep—more than half an inch or so is too deep. If the water is too deep, it just soaks up the heat from the oven and there's no heat to bake the bread.) Bake loaves until golden brown and hollow-sounding, about 30 – 40 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool completely.

So here it is; it's cooling now. I don't know, though; when I tapped it, it didn't sound hollow so much as rock-hard. But we'll see when it cools. I have a feeling I should have raised it longer? I wouldn't be surprised if it has a really dense crumb. On the other hand, I can deal with very dense, intense rye bread (like pumpernickel—the real stuff, that is).

We'll probably have tuna salad on this tomorrow, and I'll make a Sandwich Day post! In the meantime, God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread.

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