Rye %: | 66% |
Stages: | Sponge, Soaker, Final dough |
Leaven: | Rye sour culture, Yeast |
Start to Finish: | 15-17 hours |
Hands-on Time: | 25-30 minutes |
Yield: | Two 1½ lb./675 g loaves |
Austrian rye breads are less well-known than their German cousins, which is a shame because they’re incredibly flavorful. I found the recipe for this well-balanced nutty-sweet-sour country loaf in probably the best of the Austrian bread books, Der Duft von frischem Brot (The Aroma of Fresh-Baked Bread) by Barbara van Melle. The recipe itself comes from Vienna baker Horst Felzl, who, had he been 2 cm taller, as the book states, and qualified for the police academy, would never have become one of Austria’s best bakers.