( Notes from my kitchen, in which I bake bread

and raise a few other matters

' home about recipe index thoughts for fun

) yeastspotting contact faq search wild yeast...

% I advise you if you

A GOOD RYE don't know how to make
& September 21, 2008 • the staff of life to
learn with dispatch. ~
Emily Dickinson

enter email address

Subscribe

!"#$
freshly baked

I spent the first few decades of my life believing I did

not care for rye bread. Clearly I had a bad experience
somewhere in my childhood, and those early
associations are nothing if not tenacious. It’s a bread
that’s fairly easy to avoid in this country, if one is so
inclined, and I was.

The breakthrough came when we made a version of this

lovely simple rye bread in my first class at SFBI. At the
end-of-the day tasting, not wanting to eschew it more from my oven
completely and risk exposing myself as a bread wimp, I
opted for the smallest piece on the cutting board.
Happily, I found myself won over by its rich, earthy
flavor and chewy texture, and kicking myself for all
those wasted years of rye abstinence.

Rye flour can make a dough difficult to work with. To

begin with, it has less gluten than wheat flour, and the
gluten is more fragile. Rye also contains a high
proportion of pentosans, a type of sugar that absorbs
lots of water and can inhibit gluten development and
make the dough sticky. Further, rye’s amylase (the featured in
enzyme that breaks down starch into sugars) stays
active to a higher temperature than that of wheat, and TIMESONLINE
prolonged amylase action can make a bread gummy. 50 world's best food blogs

Some tips on working with rye doughs (over about 40% FOOD52
rye flour):

Mix gently. If you’re using a stand mixer, do most make a difference

of the mixing in low speed, and don’t mix too
long.
Sourdough acidifies the dough, which contributes
to its strength and reduces gumminess.
Slashing the loaves before proofing helps
maintain the definition of the slashes.
Slashing the loaves at at a least a 45-degree angle
to the long axis of the loaf encourages upward
rather than outward expansion during baking, so
the loaf’s round cross-section is maintained.
Take care not to overproof the shaped loaves.
When proofed, they will not look like they have
expanded very much.
Allowing the bread to rest for at least 12 hours
after baking reduces gumminess of the crumb.
Trying to wash gluey dough off your hands is an
exercise in futility. Instead, rub a small amount of
flour between your hands and the dough will
crumble away.
I always get a great result from this recipe. It has about
47% rye flour overall, which is enough for the rye’s
character to shine through but not so much that the
dough is excessively unruly. It can be sliced very thinly,
makes an excellent platform for soft cheeses, ham, or
smoked salmon, and stays fresh for several days.

This photo goes to jugalbandi’s Click! Crusts.

47% Rye Bread

(Adapted from SFBI)

Yield: 1700 g (3 loaves)

Time:

Elaborate starter: variable, depends on your

starter
Mix final dough: 10 minutes
First fermentation : 1 hour
Divide, rest, and shape: 30 minutes
Proof: 1 hour
Bake: 40 minutes
Cool: several (preferably at least 12) hours

Desired dough temperature: 76F

Ingredients:
 475 g finely ground whole rye flour Disclosure: As an Amazon
317 g flour Associate I earn from
qualifying purchases. I get
570 g water
commissions for purchases
1.6 g (1/2 t.) instant yeast
made through links in my
19 g (generous 1 T.) salt posts. This is to help support
317 g mature stiff (50%-hydration) sourdough my expenses for maintaining
starter Wild Yeast.

Method:

1. Place all ingredients (holding back a little water)

in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed
until combined. Adjust the water as needed to
achieve a medium consistency.
2. Continue mixing on low speed for about 5
minutes, then in medium speed for another 2
minutes or so, to a medium level of gluten
development.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container.
Cover and ferment for 1 hour.
4. Turn the dough into a lightly floured counter and
divide it into 3 pieces. Preshape each piece into a
cylinder by pressing gently into a rectangle, then
folding tightly in thirds, letter-style. Let rest,
covered and seam-side down, for 20 minutes.
5. Shape the dough into fat batards by turning the
dough seam-side-up, degassing gently, and
rolling the dough up tightly, perpendicular to the
direction of the rolling when you preshaped.
Place the batards, seam-side-down, on a linen
couche.
6. Sift flour over the tops and score each loaf in the
pattern of your choice.
 7. Proof, covered, for 1 hour.
8. Meanwhile, preheat the oven, with baking stone,
to 485F. You will also need steam during the
initial phase of baking, so prepare for this now.
9. Once the loaves are in the oven, reduce the
temperature to 460F. Bake for 8 minutes with
steam, and another 20 minutes or so without
steam. Then turn off the oven and leave the
loaves in for another 15 minutes, with the door
ajar.
10. Cool on a wire rack, preferably for at least 12
hours.
posted in loaves & rolls, recipes, sourdough

(')%& 287
SHARES

Comments
[LEAVE A
COMMENT]
bee
September 21, 2008 at 11:43 pm

thank you for a gorgeous entry. i will be making this

soon.

Angelica
September 22, 2008 at 12:58 am

This sounds like a great rye bread!

Question: Is the sourdough starter used in this recipe
based on wheat or rye flour?
 Joanna
September 22, 2008 at 2:46 am

FABULOUS loaf – and thank you for so many helpful

hints for those of us who have little experience with
rye flour.

Just like you, I thought I didn’t like rye bread, but now
find I like the taste of rye flour above all others. I’d eat
it daily if it weren’t for my family … the children all
like white flour, my husband likes wholemeal, but will
tolerate the occasional rye loaf.

Joanna

Jeremy
September 22, 2008 at 2:59 am

Wow, looks great! I just made a dud from Dan Leaders

Local breads, Siegle de Augverne. Described as
looking like the landscape bursting..etc., ended up
being a rock for my book stand! So I will slug at it
again and try my hand at some other rye recipe, like
this one.

Jeremy

Aparna
September 22, 2008 at 3:30 am

Looks beautiful. The decorative slashes look so pretty.

Unfortunately, I don’t get rye here. But I’ll try this
with some other flours.

sue bette
September 22, 2008 at 6:18 am

I recognized this rye bread immediately! It was also

one of my favorites at SFBI. Thanks for the notes and
hints, I am going to give this recipe a try in a few
weeks.

Jane
September 22, 2008 at 6:36 am

Great! Another rye to try. I have been trying to find

time to do my write ups, but time is not on my side.
So, I have a pile of great ryes building up. I’m having
fun discovering all these new rye breads.
Your looks stunning and the crumb perfect.
Jane

Chavi
September 22, 2008 at 7:40 am

Those are some of the most gorgeous breads I have

ever seen. I guess I should go seek out some rye
flour…

Laura
September 22, 2008 at 10:35 am

Haha you got me with your first paragraph, seeing as I

was sitting here think too bad she did rye this week
since i don’t care for it. Now I wonder if I need to try
it….

Boaz
September 22, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Stunning loaf! I love rye breads, and this one looks

absolutely gorgeous.

Faythe
September 22, 2008 at 1:56 pm
This looks awesome. I have never made rye bread.
Seeing your beautiful loaf makes me want to give it a
whirl. Good job!

Claire
September 22, 2008 at 3:07 pm

Absolutely gorgeous! …Especially the scoring patterns.

I will have to try the technique of slashing before the
final proof. I made my first rye in a long while this
past week. As the cool weather sets in I find the
heartier ryes to be a nice change of pace to the lighter
summer breads.

farida
September 22, 2008 at 4:14 pm

I’ve always loved rye bread! Especially with a delicious

savory spread on top, such as eggplant caviar we make
in Azerbaijan. Yum!

Kristen
September 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm

I fell in love with rye (and “black” bread) while

travelling in Eastern Europe. Never got the courage to
make my own. I may now. Thanks!

Susy
September 23, 2008 at 9:27 am

I always have had the same idea that I didn’t like it.
I’m just starting to add some rye flour to my wheat
breads and I love it. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
 MyKitchenInHalfCups
September 23, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Oh this one looks beautiful, especially the slashing

and the crumb! I’ve long loved rye. Tell me it slices
thing and holds things well and I know it’s great rye!
I would so love to go to some of those classes! What a
joy.

Sledet
September 23, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Susan, I was inspired by the pictures and your

detailed explanations and decided to make one today.
While looking gorgeous and all, mine does not look so
brown but rather greyish looking compared to yours.
Perhaps the flour? I used Hodgson Mills, which is the
only one available in my little town. Mine has good
oven spring and rounded up after baking.

Thanks for your wonderful recipes, as always

Maggie
September 23, 2008 at 7:49 pm

A beautiful loaf and great tips!

I am always careful to wash doughy hands and bowls
with cold water. If you wash with hot the starches
gelatinize, like making gravy, but if you keep the water
really cold then they break up and rinse away a lot
easier.

Mike
September 24, 2008 at 1:41 pm

I also used to have it in my head that I didn’t like rye,

and then for no good reason, just decided to try it…
boy did I feel dumb for ignoring it all these years. I’d
like to work more with bread and I’d love to try this,
so I appreciate the tips. Also, that loaf looks fantastic!

bee
September 25, 2008 at 1:22 pm

i am eating this right now. fantastic crust and very

flavourful crumb. 12 hours? are you kidding me? i
waited just 12 minutes after it came out of the oven.

Susan
September 25, 2008 at 8:33 pm

bee, I have no doubt that your version came out

wonderfully.

Angelica, it’s a wheat starter.

Joanna, thanks, and you’re welcome!

Jeremy, I had the same experience with the Siegle de

Auvergne. I’m going to try it again, though.

Aparna, thanks!

sue bette, I hope you’ll post yours!

Jane, thanks! It is so hard to find time to bake

everything, isn’t it?

Chavi, I think you will love baking with rye.

Laura, yes you do.

Boaz, thank you!

Faythe, please do give it a try!

Claire, I agree the heavier breads are wonderful for

the cooler months.

farida, eggplant caviar sounds delicious!

Kirsten, I hope you do give it a try.

Susy, I agree, even a small amount of rye in a wheat

bread can add so much.
Tanna, the classes are indeed great but Michel Suas’
book, Advanced Bread and Pastry, is the next best
thing.

Sledet, hard to say — could be the lighting in my

photo, could indeed be differences in flour. Did your
oven have plenty of steam at the beginning of the
bake? How did yours taste? That’s the really
important thing.

Maggie, I didn’t know that about cold vs. hot water.

Thanks!

Mike, that’s how I felt too!

Jude
September 25, 2008 at 11:15 pm

I am in awe of your scoring.

So many good tips for baking with rye… Even better
than the SFBI book itself.

Elizabeth
September 26, 2008 at 6:02 am

The slashes are stunning, Susan – particularly the

herringbone pattern. I didn’t know to slash before
proofing rather than after – I must try that on the next
rye loaf I make – if I can ever find some rye flour
(rrrrrrr).

Is it rye or wheat flour that you have sifted over the

shaped loaves?

Jeremy
September 26, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Me thinks the Dan Leader book is somewhat not right

with the %?
 Gabi
September 29, 2008 at 10:02 am

This is possibly the most beautiful loaf of bread I have

ever seen. Really!
xo

javapot
October 13, 2008 at 2:25 am

Thanks for a wonderful recipe. I couldn’t get enough

of ti. Will definitely be baking more of this!

Moriah
February 3, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Your bread’s beautiful! Thank you for being so

generous and sharing so much information with us.
I’ve learned so much…

karen
October 20, 2009 at 12:29 pm

I love this rye and bake it often. Keep meaning to say

thanks for the recipe, but like ground-hog-day keep
forgetting! Today however it would seem is not a
ground-hog-day, so THANKS Susan! It is so great
with anything on it – marmalade, sliced tomato,
avocado, just butter! Brilliant :o)

aznninja
March 3, 2010 at 9:22 pm

I can never get this recipe to spring as much as yours.

I wonder if it was my shaping (it’s been a few months
since I baked this loaf, and I’ve learned more in that
time) or if I over-proofed?

I’m assuming overproof, because it hardly expanded

during the baking!

Reshmi Ahmed
July 1, 2010 at 3:23 pm

the more i read about your techniques and the science

behind bread baking, i am falling in love with your
blog. will for sure give a try on this “very Good Rye
bread” soon……

phil
November 18, 2010 at 5:51 am

Hi Susan,
hope you see this post & can offer some advice..
This is my first attempt at rye bread & unfortunately
wild unruly cracks appeared across the surface of the
loaves, and also along the side &base area. my
slashing is also poor as there was not much definition
of the ‘grins’….:(

Is the cracking caused by underproofing..my kitchen

was quite warm that day and if anything 1st rise was
1hr over ( included a strecth/fold after 1 hr), but proof
time was 1 1/4 hr.

NB I scaled the % down to 66% as I only wanted 2

loaves – used a rounded 1/4 tsp of IDY as I thought
this would be approx right…perhaps not?

cheers!

Susan
December 10, 2010 at 7:42 am

Phil, sounds like they were overproofed — 1-1/4 hours

in a warm kitchen is too long. Get them in the oven as
soon as you see the surface start to “break.” As
“rounded” is a subjective description, weighing yeast
is always preferable, if you have a scale that can do it
with 0.1 gram accuracy, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001G5ZBIY/wilyea-
20

Mark
November 18, 2011 at 6:03 am

I want to try this recipe this weekend. I have

everything except a stand mixer. What would be the
best way to mix this dough without a mixer?

Thanks!

Marilyn-Joy
May 8, 2012 at 11:00 am

lovely blog and beautiful bread. great tip regarding

scoring before proofing. scored my two light rye loaves
just as you did, can hardly wait to see if they turn out
half as gorgeous as yours!

Dganit
December 20, 2013 at 2:29 pm

this looks GREAT! would love to give it a go but i have

a few q.. if you could find the tine to answer them i
would be most grateful.
1. what is “letter-style”?
2. What is the best replacement for a “linen couche”
3. What can i do if i don’t have room on my oven for
all 3?
2. the shaping of the dough into fat batard… any
chance there is a video of that somewhere?

Thank you for the inspiration.

 RI
December 22, 2015 at 7:34 am

If my calculation is correct, this recipe yields a dough

with a hydration of 76%. That is a very wet dough.

RosieV
April 15, 2017 at 5:16 am

I tried your sourdough bagel recipe: hands down the

best and most genuine bagels that I have eaten outside
of NY (I now live in Europe and miss those very
much). Those will become a standard weekend staple
at my household for sure. So now I am giving your rye
sourdough a go, but I was wondering if you use also a
rye flour starter, or plain wheat, or a mix?

Trackbacks

jugalbandi » 100% Whole Grain Sourdough Rye

Meteil says:
February 9, 2009 at 7:37 pm
[…] with rye calls for a different approach. This is
outlined at Wild Yeast. In a […]

jugalbandi » CLICK: Crusts. The winners are … says:

February 16, 2009 at 1:22 am
[…] goat cheese tartlets @ Cookbook Catchall Sweet
Focaccia @ Health Nut Rye bread with chevron cuts @
Wild Yeast Pain de Campagne Redux – Diademe @
Bread cetera Click crust for Jugalbandi @ Sindhirasoi
Chocolate […]

Rye Onion Walnut Rolls : Andrea Meyers says:

November 23, 2009 at 1:29 pm
[…] Wild Yeast – A Good Rye […]
Sourdough Breads « hep-i-book'a says:
January 9, 2012 at 6:57 am
[…] is 47% Rye Bread from www.wildyeastblog.com.
The recipe will make 3 loaves, dense and just […]

Sunflower Seed Rye Sourdough Bread « Baking Badly

says:
November 18, 2012 at 2:08 am
[…] from the website Wild Yeast, the following
adjustments were made to the original […]

The Grilled Cheese Formula says:

April 7, 2015 at 7:24 am
[…] A Good Rye (WildYeastBlog) is a good example of
bread to use, while this Overnight Cibatta
(WildYeastBlog) is a bad example. […]

Copyright © 2007 - 2014 Wild Yeast.