Rye and Whole Wheat Bread - #BreadBakers

"...there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.” ― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition 

On December 23, I got some bad news. I accidentally called my mother (touch screens, gotta love them) as I was sitting down to dinner. She picked up and after a moment of "Did you call?" "Or did I call?" she said, "Well, I wasn't going to tell you this, but since you called..." My world stopped at that point. Looking back, it really wasn't the worst news - I've imagined worse - but if left as is, things could have gotten really, really, really bad. I was helplessly hundreds of miles away (in a different country) while she was there alone not having any idea how to fix things - and I didn't either. I broke down. I prayed. I cried some more. My dinner forgotten. I spent the next 22 hours alternating between praying and trying not to cry. Luckily, others got the ball rolling and the situation was resolved. We even laughed a bit while she related what happened during those 22 painful hours. I know she probably left any bad out but the final outcome was good so I won't dwell on it.

Round #3

During that time, I had the strong urge to lose myself in bread-making. I started baking more often 3 years ago when bad news paused my life. I didn't know what to do so I went to the kitchen and baked cakes and didn't stop baking for a while. Earlier that year, I had taken up growing a sourdough starter and bread baking to deal with the anniversary of a death. Before that, there was an uptick in baking when I found out that I had a brain tumour. Baking is my therapy. (Oh, I guess I shouldn't just casually mention a brain tumour. I'll write about that more in the future or link to my other blog that has more info. Short story: I had surgery and hopefully, it isn't growing back. )



Back to December 23.  I grabbed pencil and paper and started scribbling notes for this month's Bread Bakers. Anshie challenged us to bake with rye using no refined sugars or refined grains. Oh boy. I have worked with 100% whole grain doughs before. A friend introduced me to white whole wheat. Wait. Can we talk about white whole wheat for a second? Why not call it whole white wheat? Saying white whole wheat makes it sound like bleached whole wheat. I guess since we don't call the other one red wheat, saying white wheat would be just as confusing to those just hearing about it. I still prefer to say whole white wheat. Now as I was saying. I worked with white whole wheat a lot so a 100% whole grain dough shouldn't have been too scary. But for some reason, I was apprehensive. It didn't help that I couldn't find any white whole wheat around here and had to "settle" for traditional red whole wheat. Confession: This was the FIRST time I was ever buying/using red whole wheat.

Round #2

It really wasn't that bad to work with. With the addition of rye, the texture of the dough was like nothing I had ever worked with before. I actually made this bread three times in the last three weeks. For the first loaf, I used 40% rye & 60% whole wheat. I didn't like it that much. I think it baked a little too long but the main reason was that I forgot salt. A lean dough without salt or any other flavoring. Yeah, I almost turned it into bread pudding. For the second and third rounds, I lowered the rye to 30% and added a bit of whole wheat to the poolish. I definitely preferred to feel of the dough. And I most definitely did not forget salt after autolysis. I'll try 40% rye again but with all purpose flour and maybe some flavor additions.

My final products were decent enough - not my favourites. But I think I need to get used to the taste of traditional red whole wheat. The crumb is dense (as I expected) but I managed to avoid the gumminess than can plague rye doughs. I read that letting the bread cool overnight could reduce this. Now, I don't know if that definitely helped or if I just baked to the right temperature. But I did not have a gummy loaf - dense but not gummy. I am eating a slice of round #3 as I type this. Lightly toasted with butter. I think I prefer it toasted.

I am looking forward to what the other Bread Bakers made with rye this month. Scroll down to see the list below.

Round #3's Crumb

Rye & Whole Wheat Bread

Recipe by: Kelly

Yield: one ~680g (1.5lb) loaf

Ingredients Poolish 136 grams rye flour 44 grams whole wheat flour 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast 180 grams water Final dough All of poolish 275 grams red whole wheat 14 grams vital wheat gluten 130 grams water 1 teaspoon instant yeast 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions Combine all the poolish ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and leave overnight (8 - 10 hours). The mixture will be puffed not bubbly. Add all the remaining ingredients except salt. Knead for 2 minutes and then let rest for 20 minutes. After resting, add salt and knead for an additional 6 - 8 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled at room temperature 1 - 2 hours. After dough has risen, shape into a ball and then let rest for ten minutes. After resting, shape into a tight boule. Allow to rest until almost doubled. This could take 45 to 60 minutes depending on the temperature of the room. While dough is rising, preheat oven with a covered baking vessel to 450 F. Slash the dough and carefully place in the hot vessel. Bake covered for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 425 F, remove cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the loaf reaches 200 F.

Notes  Covered vessel examples - bread cloche, Dutch oven, oven safe slow cooker insert with foil. You could also create steam in the oven for those first 15 minutes. .

Tangzhong Rye Bread by Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Sourdough Rye Bread by Ansh at Spiceroots

Potato Onion Rye Meteil by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories

Swedish Rye Bread (Limpa) by Nicole at The 2nd 35 Years

Rye Fennel Crackers by Renee at Magnolia Days

Caraway Rye Crackers with Reuben spread by Jenni at Pastry Chef Online

Artisan Dark Rye Bread by Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writing

Chocolate rye bread by Rocio at Kidsandchic

Pain d'Epice by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas

Danish Rye Bread by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm

Hapanleipä - Finnish Sour Rye Bread by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story

Banana Rye Muffins by Adam at Bakers and Best

Boston Brown Bread by Holly at A Baker's House

Rye and Whole Wheat Bread by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Slow Cooker Boston Brown Bread by Mireille at Chef Mireille's East West Realm

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.