The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge has gone awrye. Recipes #32, 34, and 35 for sourdough rye breads use either 100% or part sourdough starters and I think it's appropriate to put them together in one post.
I halved all three recipes and because I was being Miss Contrary I did not follow the book's shaping of the doughs: I baked the 100% Sourdough Rye in a loaf pan; I scored the top of the Pumpernickel loaf, and instead of pressing the crown with a dowel I scored the dough with a wheel spoke pattern. Why? Because I can.
I halved all three recipes and because I was being Miss Contrary I did not follow the book's shaping of the doughs: I baked the 100% Sourdough Rye in a loaf pan; I scored the top of the Pumpernickel loaf, and instead of pressing the crown with a dowel I scored the dough with a wheel spoke pattern. Why? Because I can.
#32: 100% Sourdough Rye. How do I describe this recipe without using some colorful words? Hmm. This bread doesn't taste very good and all the work and ingredients I put into making this brick went straight into the trash. I don't mind the dense texture which I think is good but the lack of flavor is puzzling. I absolutely hate it. Maybe I did something wrong along. Well, no use cryeing over it.
Rating:
flavor 0
texture 2
visual appeal 2
ease of preparation 3
performance 1
worth 0
Total: 8
Average: 1.3
#34: Pumpernickel Bread I used high gluten flour but did not add rye bread crumbs and caraway seeds. However, I used 100% rye sourdough starter instead of the white starter. I love this one maybe because it has brown sugar which makes it a bit sweet and because it is not very sour. It also has a molasses-like and chocolaty flavor, I don't know why because I didn't add cocoa powder in the dough, I used caramel powder. The crust is a tad chewy and the crumb is soft but chewy, very nice with chicken noodle soup. I will definitely make this again.
Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5
Total: 30
Average: perfect 5
#35: Sunflower Seed Rye The 7½-inch bread is a bit taller than the ones pictured in the book. I should probably have flattened the dough some more. Also, the hole of the crown almost disappeared making it look like a giant bagel. It is a little bit tangier and very tasty too, the seeds add a nice nutty flavor. I also like its chewy crust and crumb.
Rating:
flavor 4
texture 5
visual appeal 4
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 4
Total: 27
Average: 4.5
Note: Recipe #33 Poilâne-style Miche will have its own post.
10 comments:
Oggi, the 100% sourdough rye bread that I made was horrid. It didn't even feel like dough while I was working with it. Your pumpernickel bread looks delicious and the sunflower seed rye you could market! I am dreading the stollen, the candied fruit aversion...
Great job on this rye collection!
I agree with Oggi, my 100% sourdough rye ruined me for life with that kind of bread
but yours turned out pretty good!
Anne Marie, I think there's something off with this recipe. Oh I love stollen.:)
Sally, I think everyone, including myself, who had baked the 100% Sourdough Rye hated it. This is the worst of all the recipes. It looked good but tasted awful, actually no flavor. I wonder if Peter knows this recipe sucks.:)
Oggi, I agree! That brick looks like something out of a factory! I do however love your giant bagel. It's so pretty.
The brick up top looks like most breads here in Germany. Mostly kidding. But you can get bread like that almost anywhere. And they call it healthy! The other two have beautiful crust and crumb. I was dragging my feet since I don't like rye, but I guess I can start tRYEing anew. Haha.
Cindy, the giant bagel tastes great too.
Daniel, is "the brick" tasty or bran-y? I was also unhappy with too much rye/sourdough recipes and didn't expect to love the pumpernickel but I really like it.
I want to wave the flag for the 100% Sourdough Rye Bread! I just made it today and first thought it would be horrible because it didn't rise at all and the dough was hard to work with, but the result was great. I don't know why yours didn't have any flavor, mine was really full of flavor. Sour, though. But it's supposed to be sour because of the sourdough. Anyway, too bad nobody besides me seems to like this bread.
AP, it's just sour and very little flavor. I stopped using the bland white rye after baking this loaf, good thing I only bought a pound, and the next breads improved in taste dramatically. I will make it again using whole rye flour when all the baking is done, I have only 4 more to bake. Woohoo!:)
The big sunflower seed bagel looks really interesting. I shaped mine into bâtards to get oval loaves. But flavor-wise, it was kind of boring, I thought... The hubby loved it, though.
AP, it's not the best but better than the sourdough rye, although you prefer that one.:)
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