Whole Wheat Rye

Baked another whole wheat/rye combination over the weekend, in preparation for the visit of our USNavy daughter, her USNavy (ret) husband, and their nine-month old daughter -- our granddaughter (aka the most adorable baby in the world; see www.summerprentice.blogspot.com for irrefutable proof of that unbiased statement). Here are the various steps:


6:30 p.m.,5/10/08: "New England" starter working and growing. I put New England into quote marks; I obtained the starter from King Arthur Flours in February, 1997, so I figure after it's been being used regularly in Central Ohio for eleven years, it's probably more a Central Ohio starter than a New England one.


7:23 p.m., 5/10/08: the barm formed; total of about five cups of flour in the barm


3:12 P.M., 5:11/08: the dough mixed--added a lot more whole wheat flour than I'd planned, in part because--without thinking--I added the entire bowl of starter, so there was a lot more liquid than there should have been.


7:56 a.m., 5/12/08: the dough, risen after overnight in the refrigerator. I'll insert the recipe here:

Whole Wheat Rye

Stutzman Farms Whole Wheat
King Arthur Whole Wheat
King Arthur First Clear Flour
King Arthur White Rye Flour
King Arthur Organic Pumpernickel
Stutzman Farms Corn Meal
Soy milk
Ground Flax Seed
Barley Malt
Kosher Salt
Organic Canola Oil
New England Starter



8:21 a/m/ 5/12: the loaves formed, ready for the second rise; I used the basic overnight rise method that Peter Reinhart used in his wonderful whole grains bread book; the ingredients minus starter mixed, then refrigerated overnight, while the starter is fed and expanded. Then on the next day (or the day after, for that matter), after the refrigerated barm is brought to room temperature (usually about three hours), the dough is mixed with the starter, then allowed to rise, loaves formed, risen, and then baked.


1:47 p.m., 5/12/08: risen and ready (if not over ready) for the oven). I had to run some errands and midday was the only time that could happen; when I got home, Ann was cleaning the oven. So the second rise was longer than it really should have been; indeed, you can see that the second loaf from the left (the one in the ceramic pan that we got at Penland several years ago) has begun to fall a bit. The two loaves on the right are rising in Chicago Metallic Pans, while the one on the right is in a long banneton, so it'll go on the ceramic baking sheet directly on a little corn meal base.


3;00 p.m., 5/12/08: the loaves baked--oven preheated to 450 degrees F, then lowered to 350 degrees F when loaves placed in oven. Baked for a total of 50 minutes, until internal temperature reached 200 degree F. Routinely use a ceramic baking pad.

Observations: the dough was slacker than I usually make, and the freestanding loaf flattened out a bit. Ann actually sees that as a plus; better for slicing at the table, she says. Not sure I agree, but there we are. Haven't tasted it yet, so will have to update once we've actually cut into one of the loaves! It'll be the freestanding one; the three baked in pans are already in the freezer.