Posts Tagged ‘Rye’

SFBI Week #6 All Rye, All Rye, Everything’s Gonna Be All Rye

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

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Well maybe not everything, but it doesn’t get much better than kicking things off with an East 17 pun. So, another week, another post. Are you bored of bread yet? You better not be.

Last week was all about European, predominantly German, style breads. Which means rye. And lots of it. I’ve got to put my hands up and admit that I’ve never been the world’s biggest fan of rye breads. I don’t mind a bit every now and then, and like the flavour in small doses, but I never crave those dark, heavy loaves like I do a good bit of toothsome, tangy sourdough.

You might be expecting me to say that having got hands on with them that I’m now a convert, but I’ve got to say, I’m afraid I’m not. I also find it hard to fall in love with breads with names like Volkornbrot and Swabian Bread. Maybe that’s because I’m shallow.

Sunflower Rye

Sunflower Rye

But that doesn’t mean that last week was a lost cause, in fact far from it. We started the week with some great sourdoughs incorporating increasing percentages of rye so we could see the effects on the bread making process, and taste the development of flavour. My favourites were the sunflower, Finnish and honey ryes, the latter of which went up to around 75% percent rye flower.

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SFBI Week #4 Whole Grain In The Membrane

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

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I seriously can’t believe that I’m now a month in to the course at the SFBI. Time really is flying by crazy fast.

Last week we moved on from more refined flours to the healthier, more wholesome, and some might say less fun, whole grains. But as we discovered, healthier bread doesn’t have to mean slicing into a loaf with the weight and consistency of a house brick. Over the week we used an array of new flours both in doughs and in preferments, including whole wheat, semolina, type 85 high extraction flour, rye, buckwheat and corn to name but a few.

Millet Bread

Millet Bread

But before we got busy, we discussed the various challenges of baking with whole grains. In comparison to more refined flours, there are two main factors to consider when working with them (again I’m simplifying and truncating things here). The first is the lower protein percentage / quality due to the presence of more bran in the flour. This equals less gluten, and therefore flatter breads as whole wheat doughs trap fermentation gases less readily. The second thing to watch out for are fermentation times. These are again affected by the higher levels of bran (also known as ‘ash content‘) in the flours. The minerals and nutrients in bran fuel enzyme activity, and that means faster and more intense fermentation, which effects a number of stages of the production process from bulk fermentation to final proof. Interesting, right? If not, you might be in the wrong place.

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SFBI Week #2 Preferments & Practicals

Monday, May 16th, 2011

So week two is over, and man did it go fast. After last week’s baguette-fest, we’ve started to mix things up both in terms of bread varieties and formulations, including the use of pre-ferments.

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The pre-ferments we used last week are kind of like junior sourdough starters, and mostly come in three styles. Liquid or ‘poolish’ (first developed by Polish bakers), a stiffer sponge also known as ‘biga’ (used traditionally by the Italians) and the more solid Pre-Fermented Dough (PFD). Unlike sourdough starters, they contain a small quantity of commercial yeast to kick start fermentation, and are usually left to develop for between 12 and 24 hours before being added to a final mix. Not only do they add character and flavour, but they also help aid gluten development allowing for less intensive mixing.

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1st Loaf Of The Year

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m a bit obsessed with Poilâne bread. I bought some grey flour from the shop in Paris when I was over there for New Years, and just got round to using it to bake my first loaf of the year. It also gave me the chance to use a couple of Christmas gifts I got from The Lighthouse Bakery, namely a peel and a proving basket.

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Not surprisingly, I’m still a way off nailing a good imitation, but this bread is pretty tasty, even if I do say so myself, and has a great crust.  The recipe uses an 80 to 20 mix of grey flour and rye flour to add a bit more flavour and texture. If you can’t get grey flour, strong white would do just fine.

Ingredients

400g grey flour

100g rye flour

5g yeast

7g salt

300ml water

1 x teaspoon honey

1 x tablespoon olive oil

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