On Scalds and Scalding

Rye flour and red rye malt scald for Moscow Rye
Rye flour and red rye malt scald for Moscow Rye

Not long ago I was surprised and pleased to find myself, my new book (The Rye Baker) and this blog mentioned in a Washington Post food article titled “Why are some rye breads scalded?” By way of defining a scald, the author posted a link to the British blog Virtuous Bread that describes the how-tos of scalding and concludes – rightly so – that the technique produces a “gorgeous bread” with a crumb that’s “soft and chewy as if there was a lot of fat in it.”

From my point of view, the article was a very good start, but only part of a more complex and nuanced story. Keep Reading

Crusty Country Rye/Bauernkrustenbrot (Austria)

Crusty Country Rye_slice

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. Keep Reading

Finnish Rye/Ruislimppu

Ruis_slice

Rye %: 100%
Stages: Sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture, Yeast
Start to Finish: 12-14 hours
Hands-on Time: 25-30 minutes
Yield: Two 2¼ lb./1.0 kg loaves

Ruislimppu, which translates to “rye loaf,” is the traditional bread of eastern Finland, with a nutty-sour flavor profile that reflects the strong Russian influence on the region’s food culture. Unlike the sour ring ryes (hapanleipäa) of western Finland, which were baked only once or twice a year and stored over the winter on poles hung from the ceiling, the eastern Finns baked their rye bread regularly throughout the year. Keep Reading

Lublin Rye/Chleb Lubelski (Poland)

Lub_slice

Rye %: 100%
Stages: 3-stage sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture
Start to Finish: 24-28 hours
Hands-on Time: 35-40 minutes
Yield: One 2¼ lb/1.0 kg loaf

Lublin Rye, which I found in the Polish bread blog Adam Piekarz (“Adam’s Bakes”) appeals to me on many levels. Firstly, its history: according to Adam, “back in the 1960s, when the content of rye bread was regulated by the [Communist] state, Lubelski was considered a great luxury because it used 100% white rye flour, which was available only at certain times of the year.” Second, it’s the most basic of rye breads, containing only rye flour, water, salt and sour culture. If nothing else, I was expecting a bread that showcased the subtlety of white rye and the balance of a three-stage sponge. Keep Reading

Auvergne Rye/Pain Seigle d’Auvergne

AuvSeig_slice

Rye %: 73%
Stages: Stage 1 sponge, Stage 2 sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture
Start to Finish: 36-48 hours
Hands-on Time: 35-45 minutes
Yield: Two 1½ lb./700 g loaves

It recently occurred to me that most of the breads I’ve posted have been German and Eastern European, with an Alpine and Swedish bread thrown in for variety. But, in fact, those breads don’t begin to scratch the surface of rye’s diversity, so in the interest of broadening the map, I chose a French rye for my latest bake.

“A French rye?” you say. “Rye from the land of baguettes  and batârds; épis, fougasses and boules?” To which I reply, “Indeed; for the French were eating rye long before wheat, and the rye traditions are still strong along the sandy coastal plains of Normandy and Brittany, the Basse-Alpes region of Provence, and in the Auvergne, which centers on the Massif Centrale – the vast volcanic highland that dominates south central France and accounts for about 15% of its total area.
Keep Reading

Deconstructed Saison Rye

Sais_apple

Rye %: 60%
Stages: Sponge, Scald, Opara, Hops tea, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture, yeast
Start to Finish: 13-15 hours
Hands-on Time: 30-40 minutes
Yield: One 2¼ lb./1.0 kg loaf

This past weekend my friend Jim Crute, owner and brewmaster at the Lightning Brewery, decided to have a beer bread contest. Now, I’ve baked lots of beer rye breads, mainly from Finland, Germany and Sweden, and one of the challenges I invariably encounter is that I have virtually no control over the beer’s flavor profile, other than making my choice off the shelf. So I decided instead (since I thought it was time to start developing my own breads anyway) to take it from scratch and build a bread to my own tastes using the same ingredients brewers use: malt, hops and flavoring agents. Keep Reading

Swiss Rye Ring/Brasciadela/Kantonsbrot Graubünden

Brasc_slice

Rye %: 69%
Stages: Rye sponge, Wheat poolish, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture, Instant yeast
Start to Finish: 13-15 hours
Hands-on Time: 30-35 minutes
Yield: Two 1¼ lb. (575 g.) loaves

Graubünden is Switzerland’s largest canton, extending eastward between Austria to the north and Italy to the south. It’s also Switzerland’s most mountainous canton, home to several glaciers, as well as the 11,853-foot Tödi and 13,284 foot Piz Bernina. Not surprising, then, that its bread culture is based on rye. Like the circular breads of Scandinavia, Brasciadela’s ring shape made it easy to store the breads on poles hung from the ceiling during the long Alpine winter. Keep Reading

Wholegrain Buttermilk Rye/Vollkorn Roggenbrot mit Buttermilch

Buttermilk Rye Brunch

Rye %: 74%
Stages: Straight dough
Leaven: Yeast
Start to Finish: 3½-4 hours
Hands-on  Time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: Two 2¾ lb./1.250 kg loaves

Of all the different kinds of rye breads I’ve made and tasted, the coarse dark ones have always been among my favorites for their rustic mouthfeel and intense rye flavors. This buttermilk rye, which comes from northern Germany, has the added attraction of very short prep time, meaning that I can start a loaf at breakfast and have it for dinner. Keep Reading

Black Rye Bread/Juoda Ruginė Duona (Lithuania)

Juoda_slice

Rye %: 90%
Stages: Scald, Sponge, Opara, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture
Start to Finish: 24-28 hours
Hands-on Time: 30-40 minutes
Yield: One 2 lb. (900 g.) loaf

I love Russian and Baltic rye breads for their intensity. So when, a few months back, I found some imported Latvian breads at my local international grocery store, my heart skipped a beat.  Although I’d baked several different Baltic ryes while researching recipes for The Rye Baker, I’d never had the opportunity to taste the real thing, and so I immediately snapped up a loaf of the “Classic Rye Bread.”

Before I even sliced the loaf, I was struck by its density and the intoxicating sweet-sour perfume that enveloped me as soon as I unwrapped it – an aroma that I hadn’t experienced in any of the Russian or Baltic ryes I’d baked until then. Keep Reading

Weinheim Heath Rye/Weinheimer Heidebrot (Germany)

Heid_slice

Rye %: 80%
Stages: Sponge, Soaker, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture, instant yeast
Start to Finish: 22-23 hours
Hands-on Time: 30-40 minutes
Yield: Two 15-oz./425 g loaves

I found this bread on Lutz Geißler‘s blog (Ploetzblog.de), who in turn got it from the German Baking Academy (Akademie Deutsches Bäckerhandwerk) in Weinheim, in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemburg. I was intrigued because this loaf, at 80% rye, comes in at a higher percentage than most rye breads from southern Germany. It also uses an old-bread soaker, which moistens and tenderizes the crumb. Keep Reading