My preference for bread is predominately Rye, I have been happy with progress so far; have baked some loaves that are pretty much what I was looking for, my only problem so far has been handling the dough. My first loaf was 100% Rye I tried to knead it in the Bread machine however it would not mix, the hook just kept rotating but would not gather the dough. The second loaf was the 1 2 3 method and 50% Rye, 50% Wholemeal, this time I manually kneaded the dough but it was extremely sticky, Too much water perhaps? I particularly enjoyed this loaf and will bake more, however if there are any hints out there to better manage the dough I would be appreciative.
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In my experience rye is quite unlike any wheat flour. It has a very low gluten content so nothing to be gained from kneading, if you could. The recipe I follow just hand mixes a fairly wet soft mix in a bowl and then into a tin.
I find sourdough's have an extra sticky quality and that is just something you have to get a handle on. Add as late as possible into the mixing process.
Hey,
Rye is something totally different to work with, if you are use to wheat flours. What kind of ryebread are you going for? Here in Denmark Ryebread is like the national bread.
For a 100% rye bread, we add all the ingredients, wait 15min and look at the consistensy (bc rye soaks up a lot of water). You want it to be like a really thick porrige. If you stick a wooden spoon in it, at about a 85degree angle, it should fall VEEEERY slowly down. You never take it out of the bowl to knead it (only if you have about 60% wheat flour in the mix).
After mixing and hydration check, put it strait in the tin. poke alot of holes in the top and all the way down to the bottom of the tin and let it rise.
When the bread is done, you want to let it rest for about 24hrs, or else it will be really sticky.
I hope that helps. Thats how we usually make Ryebread in Denmark. But it's a lot thougher than breads made from wheat, in my opinion.
Mikkel
Thanks for the replies they are appreciated, my goal is to perfect a Low GI Rye loaf, at the moment I am trying different recipes to learn how to manage the dough etc, my next step is to add the appropriate grains to reach the low G I status.
If anybody has attempted similar I would be most grateful for any hints.
Mikkel, I am interested in your comment re poking holes in the rye dough; could you elaborate the reason for that?
You usually poke holes because when the loaf goes in the oven, the top cooks and theres nowhere for the steam to get out. And theres a tendency for the steam to create a hole under the crust. It's mostly commen with breads made with a high % of rye and seeds.