And they said it wasn’t possible to stuff 70% rye in one bread and get a good loaf…
This bread has such great taste and such a nice bite plus, combined with the scattered sweetness of the big raisins, every bite is a delight.
I strongly recommend that every home baker fan of the rye taste makes this bread. It is one of my top 3 favorite breads. Shaping it feels a bit like working with clay, as you can see in the pictures. It is on the other side of the spectrum compared with making 80% hydration baguettes for instance.
For the starter in this recipe I also use a sourdough culture which is made with 100% whole grain rye flour. A sourdough culture based on rye flour is easier to maintain, it does not transform into a slurry when you forget about it, it is easier to stir because it has almost no gluten and it smells very very nice, a bit like fruit. I maintain the starter as an ‘almost’ stiff starter. This way it stirs easy but does not add as much water to the dough as a poolish starter. It is also very forgiving in the amount you feed it. As I am a bit lazy in feeding, normally I only feed it once a week, after my weekend baking. I just give it a few table spoons of water and rye flour, stir, and ready!
This recipe consists of 3 stages spread over 2 days, one evening for the initial starter and the next day for the second stage starter and the making of the bread.
Note: For this recipe we use whole grain rye flour. You can also use medium or fine rye flour or a combination of different rye flours. Just be sure to adjust the amount of water you add to the recipe. Using finer flour means adding less water, because it absorbs less moisture (indication: somewhere between 3 to 5% less water).
Ingredients for the First Stage
12 g rye flour sourdough culture
34 g water
45 g whole rye flour
Ingredients for the Second Stage
the 91 g starter from stage 1
107 g water (warm)
107 g whole rye flour
Ingredients for the Third Stage
the 305 g starter from stage 2
189 g water
157 g whole rye flour
135 g wheat flour
7,5 g salt
1,4 g instant yeast
110 g raisins of choice (soaked and drained)
Making the Loaf
Stage 1 – Start on day one with the making of the initial starter. Yes, this is a small amount to make a first stage starter, but the amounts are correct for one loaf. Just double or triple the ingredients if you want to or can make more loafs in one go. Put the rye sourdough culture* and water in a bowl and stir so the culture dissolves a bit, add the rye flour and bring it all together, forming a sticky and rather stiff dough ball. Leave this to rest at room temperature for at least 15 hours to up to 24 hours at most. I usually make it at 17.00 hours on day one and go on with the next stage the following morning at 09.00 hours.
*You can also use a whole wheat culture if you do not have a rye culture ready (yet) but I would suggest you make one, they are my favorite sourdough cultures both to use and maintain.
Stage 2 – First soak your raisins in hot water for about 30 minutes, rinse in a colander, let them drain and cover until needed (stage 3).
The water you are going to add at this stage has to be warm enough to get your dough to a temperature of about 29ºC / 84ºF. This temperature and the wetter dough promotes the production of lactic acid which will be reflected in a mild sourness in the final bread. Now take the starter from day one, add the warm water and loosen it a bit, then add the rye flour and mix until you have a dough. This dough is a bit wetter than the dough from stage one. Leave to rest for 3 hours at room temperature.
Preheat your oven at 225ºC / 435ºF. Make sure it is well heated when you put in the loaf.
Stage 3 – Making the final dough and baking the bread. Take the dough from stage 2 and, in your mixing bowl, add the other ingredients, except the raisins, to form the final dough. Mix for 7 minutes. The dough will still be very stiff and sticky at this stage. This can be rather heavy duty work for your mixer, so keep a close eye on it, so it will not overheat. Add the raisins after the mixing by pinching them through the dough by hand. If you have a spiral mixer, it can do the work for you. Leave the dough, covered, to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
You can also leave out the little bit of instant yeast we add at stage three, but you have to allow for a longer final proofing time, probably 2 to 3 times longer.
Shape the dough (it’s a bit like working with clay I guess) into the desired shape. I always make this bread a batard/oval shape, because that way I get nice same size slices when I cut it. Proof the loaf for 60 minutes in a proving basket.
Now your loaf is ready for the oven. Please be careful in handling the proofed loaf. This type of bread has almost no oven spring, so it is important to keep as much air in the bread as possible. Slash/score the top of the loaf with a lame or bread scoring knife.
Bake for 45 minutes and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Before you cut this bread it needs to rest at least 6 hours so the crumb can set and loose its initial stickiness. If you are keeping it overnight you can put the loaf in a paper bag (after it has completely cooled). This rye bread keeps wonderfully well in the freezer. I always cut it in thin slices before I freeze it. A minute in the microwave and your lovely slice of rye bread is ready to eat.
70% Rye Bread Time Table
day 1 Make the stage 1 starter and let ferment for 15 (minimal) up to 24 hours (maximum)
day 2 Mix the starter from day 1 with water+ flour from stage 2 and leave to rest for 3 hours
- Mix starter from day 2 + rest of ingredients, except the raisins, for 7 minutes
- Pinch or mix in the raisins
- Rest for 20 minutes
- Shape
- Proof for 60 minutes
- Bake in oven at 225ºC / 435ºF for 45 minutes
I’ll be giving this recipe a try later on this week, starting the first stage tomorrow (23rd February). One question, which is probably answered elsewhere on your site, is “what do you mean by instant yeast”? Is this dried yeast, in which case you don’t seem to reconstitute before use? Or do you mean the instant type that you add dry to the flour? Can you advise me? Many thanks.
Hi Derrick,
It is the instant one you just add dry to the flour. Hope it turns out great!
Many thanks. The starter is just being refreshed in preparation.
Dough from 1st stage seems to be very thick. Is this correct?
Derrick, Like it says in the recipe; the first stage is a ‘rather stiff dough ball’ to promote the production of acetic acid (taste like vinegar) , the second stage is more wet, this promotes the production of lactic acid (taste like yoghurt). Both acids give the bread a nice flavor and improve their keeping quality. Please let the bread cool completely before cutting, the crumb needs to stabilize or it will stick to your knife like glue!
Happy baking!
Today’s the day! Stage 2 just started. I’ll let you now how it turns out.
A great tasting loaf and one that has been given a thumbs up by my 5 year old grand-daughter. Many thanks for the accurate recipe. Another one to make again.
Hi Derrick,
So happy it went this well. Isn’t it great when children love food that is healthy for them?! Neigbours kids eat our Pain rustique for dessert, they ask for it themselves, can you believe it. They call it Marieke bread…poor Ed, he’s the one that makes most of it.
Happy baking!
Hoi Marieke en Ed,
Ik heb gisteren dit brood gemaakt, en ik denk dat het redelijk goed gelukt is. Ik was even in lichte paniek toen mijn laatste deeg iets te nat was, maar dat is met toevoegen van een handje bloem bijna goed gekomen. Ik weet niet waarom het bij mij aan de natte kant was, ik heb jullie desemstarter gebruikt en roggebloem.De vorm is ook niet perfect, maar al met al ben ik niet ontevreden. Ik heb hem op 200 C hetelucht gebakken (heb alleen maar een heteluchtstand), op een pizzasteen. De smaak is erg goed.Ik heb een foto van het resultaat op mijn blogje gezet, met een verwijzing naar jullie site.Ik ga zeker nog meer recepten van jullie proberen!
Gebruiken jullie trouwens roggebloem of roggemeel voor dit recept? Nog een vraagje, er zijn recepten voor desembrood waarbij soms meer dan 200 ml desem gebruikt wordt. Hoe maak ik van mijn nu redelijk kleine hoeveelheid zoiets, gewoon voeden met bijv. 150 bloem en 150 water?
Bedankt,
Monique
Hoi Monique,
Wij maken het brood eigenlijk altijd met (volkoren) roggemeel, ik zal het nog duidelijker aangeven in het recept. Natuurlijk kun je het ook maken met roggebloem of een combinatie van beide, maar aangezien bloem wat minder water opneemt moet je de hoeveelheid vocht wat naar beneden bijstellen (ongeveer 5% minder). Je brood ziet er overigens echt heerlijk uit, wat lichter natuurlijk, maar heel aantrekkelijk.
En inderdaad het antwoord op je laatste vraag is gewoon 10 tot 20 gram desem nemen, door bloem en water roeren en 8 tot 12 uur laten staan om te rijpen en dan gewoon gebruiken. Niet langer dan 12 uur, want dan worden je gluten weer kapot gemaakt door de desem en krijg je een slechtere broodstructuur. Dit komt overeen met wat je in veel recepten ziet staan, namelijk dat je je zuurdesem moet verversen (in het Engels heeft men het dan over ‘refreshing your starter’).
Het grote voordeel van het aanhouden van een kleine hoeveelheid desem is dat je niet continue grote hoeveelheden hoeft weg te gooien tijdens het verversen en als je meer nodig hebt kun je makkelijk binnen 12 uur een grotere hoeveelheid opkweken.
Heel veel bakplezier,
Ed en Marieke
PS: Wij gaan je Peruaanse kip met avocadosalade zeker proberen. Wat ziet die er watertandend lekker uit!!
You are so right about the smell of the rye culture! Much fruitier and more stable than the wheat ones.
The bread looks fabulous
What a lovely post!
Oh, thank you so much Joanna!
It’s the rye bread we make the most. Just love it with cheese. A very different rye bread but very much worth a try if you are a rye lover is this one: http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/the-best-rye-bread/
10 hours in the oven overnight, wonderful wafts of rye filling the house :O
Marieke
PS: We entered the Mamalade competition again this year. Wait and see if we improved compared to last year…
Did you send a jar?
Hello Marieke,
I made stage 1 of this recipe 20 hours ago; can I progress to stage two and leave in the fridge overnight?
It is now 1700 hours and I will be unable to complete stage 3 until tomorrow morning.
Thank-you,
Elaine.
Yes that is possible. Just allow the dough to get to the right temperature again before proceeding with the recipe.
Good luck with it!