Bread Number 90: 70 Percent Rye with Spices

This recipe was adopted from a recipe for spiced rye rolls in Daniel Leader's Local Breads. I did 73 percent rye and I also made a rye starter beforehand. A slap on the back for some good planning. Apologies in advance if my math was off at all.

I grew the starter over the course of a week, having begun with maybe five grams of my regular starter, and adding only rye flour and water. I did three or four feedings.

Ingredients
150g rye starter
356g water
120g bread flour
365g rye flour
10g salt
4g caraway seeds
2g fennel seeds
2g dried chives

I added different spices than are in the original recipe and I recall a little less definitely that I altered the percentage of rye as well. The dough is has a hydration percentage of 80 percent.

Dough
The recipe called for kneading and I poo-pooed that instruction initially. I did one stretch and fold at 23 minutes, but the dough was not hanging together, so I switched gears and kneaded for three minutes. One should always be gentle with rye. It is much more sensitive a grain than wheat.

I covered the dough and let it rise for 6.5 hours. This is what teleworking is for. Instead of chatting with co-workers on the way back from the bathroom, I checked the dough and pondered for 20 seconds whether it was ready. Very productive.

Baking preparation
A  rye with such a high hydration percentage will not do well, in my opinion, without support. I made this bread in a loaf pan. I covered the loaf pan with the top of an oblong la cloche. It's a little clumsy kind of arrangement, but with slow movement, it works well.

First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rye does not need super high heat.

Second, place the top of the oblong la cloche in the oven to preheat. Let it preheat for one hour while you do the final rise.

Third, oil hands.

Fourth, use those oiled hands to put the nice, goopy rye dough into the loaf pan and cover. The final rise happens in the loaf pan. This is a plus because no further handling of the dough with actual hands is necessary. 

The final rise was another place where I diverged from the recipe. I did a much longer final rise. After feeling like the first rise could have been longer, I added a half hour onto the final rise, which, conveniently, matched the preheat of one hour and made me feel comfortable staying with my usual final rise duration.

Baking
I kept the 450 degree temperature throughout the baking. Baking time of 40 minutes.

There was some rise, but not much. This is a rye and though rye is lovely, it does not do the glittzy, glamour of a spectacular wheat oven spring.

This bread had a wonderful taste of a dark rye with nice spicing that lent flavor without overpowering the bread. Very pleased.