figuring out rye

Hi all,
I am in the unfortunate position of needing to cut down my wheat intake, which seems a great excuse to perfect some 100% rye breads. I have had some sucess with rye before, but wouldn't say that I really understand it. The posts I have read give the odd formula, with mixed results, and some good advice, but I feel there is more to be said.

So I am going to try and chip away at this one, post my results here, and would certainly welcome anyone who wants to chip in!

From what I have been able to put together,

• Most of the structure in rye comes from starch networks, but enzymes in the grain digest the starches into sugars, which is a bad thing for structure.

• An acidic environment inhibits these enzymes
• The enzyme content of rye flours differs greatly depending on when the gain was harvested.
• A high salt content is good for structure development in rye breads
• Rye doughs are sticky (because of sugar from hydrolysed starch) and there isn't much you can do about it
• Rye likes a long slow bake
• You shouldn't cut your bread till the next day after baking
  

Re: variation in enzyme activity, really there is only so much you can do about that, so I would like to come to a method that is robust enough to cope with a range of flours.

In terms of fermentation schedules, I am thinking it shouldn't be unnecessarily long (because the starches will break down), but that it should be as acidic as possible from as early as possible. Fermenting a fraction of the dough (maybe in builds/stages) for quite a long time and then adding to the rest of the flour for a shorter proof might be the best way to do this.

In terms of kneading, I don't see any point for starch networks, it is just going to knock out gas and maybe even break the starch networks up. At high hydration and given reasonable time, any gluten development will probably happen without any help.

In terms of hydration, I don't know for sure, but if the starch & gluten networks are not so springy and strong, they probably need a relatively high hydration to form pockets. In any case, I have noticed gluten free breads (mostly relying on starches for structure) are more like a cake batter than a dough. So I will start by trying thick batters in loaf tins. I have no idea where to start, maybe even 90 - 100%.

In terms of additives, of course I want to avoid them, but I think some coarse rye grain is a good idea for structure and texture seeing as rye breads tend towards gumminess.

Finally, I want the simplest method possible. I don't want a needlessly complex formula, or to have any stages without a clear purpose. Some complex traditional forulas no doubt work, but you success will always be hit and miss unless you understand the why.


I have made a start by innoculating 100g rye flour/100g water with a tablespoon or so of wheat flour starter.
I plan to gradually build on that (including some coarse grain so it gets to soak), and finally double my nice sour preferment with fresh flour before a shortish proof and long slow baking. The general idea being that each addition of flour (except the first) is added to an already acidic batter.

Thoughts from wiser heads appreciated!