STIR THE POTS

Ein klassiches Deutches Roggenbrot

Once you get a handle on rye breads and the mystery of German baking, you'll return for the moist and deep flavors that permeate from a grain that's more or less a grass. Thankfully I got a copy of Nil's E- book, "Brot," over at his blog, The Inverse cook. You should get it, as well. It takes out the mistake and mystiques of trying to interpret a skill, a craft, a tradition and screw it up with some bad online translations.

Nil is a person who's completely dedicated to baking, even though he's been silent for a while on his blog. "Yo, Nils, what's up with that???" Anyway, there's plenty of great hints and formulas to make use of in his archives. I made his Classic German rye bread, and it's going to be a standard for me. This particular loaf uses an old bread soaker. So if you have old bread at home, don't toss it out,just  use it again to create the deep flavor and quality you'll find when making this loaf. I just need some liverwurst now....

Schrot für dammt!

I've been recovering from a kidney stone incident that hit me over the holidays. But it hasn't slowed me down in the baking department. Been toying with the idea of putting together another old soaker rye bread, after coming upon Herr Süpkes Rheinisches Schwartzbrot. 

It's a classic 100 percent rye, which calls for "gross und mittel  schrot," or chopped rye in various sizes. I'd baked it before and knew what it meant, but the step-by-step was still a challenge, whether following it in German or translating it to English! 

Out of both chops and rye meal, I had to grind my own. And I wondered what the grainy clay-like dough would give up in a final bake, as during the mix  rye lacks the characteristics of gluten rich wheat dough. Perplexed by the various short mixes and rest periods in-between, and lacking parchment, I opted to plop this dough into a loaf pan rather then go free form.

 

Well, now complete, it turned out great. Made me even a greater fan of rye than when I'd started, despite any problems along the way. Because with a bit of butter and some ham, oooh it's all the redolent memory of my days as a kid in Germany revisited, pure rye heaven!

Roggenmischbrot

I have failed baking landbrot bread. All to say, I went 100 percent roggenmischbrot, (100 percent rye, with mixed grains).  Maybe becasue I've been having an omega craving - satisfying it with everything from  pickled herring to Spanish bouquerones. I needed that familiar tang of rye to superimpose on my bites into smoked fish.

The loaves below were baked with a straight-forward formula from that amazing Roggen book by Ines Gromes/ Olaf Bauerman. It's a bit intimidating with German formulas; first the language, the long and short fermentations, the all rye quotient. But I think I did well, even if the crumb is a bit tight. This bread was marvelous, and allowed me to indulge my impatience, quickly slicing off some for a snack of pickled herring and smoked meat with cheese. A great nosh, indeed!

This roggenmisch uses all sorts of different grinds of rye, and is mixed for about 10 minutes, then given a short rest of 20 minutes bulk fermentation. From there I used small loaf pans to make little misches about 360g weight, designed for friends and neighbors. Using a bit of yeast (pretty common in German baking along with the sauerteig), the final ferment was about 70 minutes. Very hot oven, close to 460 F and with some steam.

I baked it for  45-50 minutes, then lowered the temperature to about 420 F until the loaves were nicely brown colored.

 

Quite often with rye, you want to let it rest a day or two wrapped in a towel so the crumb can set.....Not me, this needed something on it, and I was craving a good rye!

 

70/30 Rye

Notes from the pages of my French Culintary Institute class in German bread baking are cluttered with numbers, percentages, and flour types. Recently I had the urge to return and see whether, now years later, I can make these breads again, only better. 

The photo above is of a 70 rye/ 30 wheat bread. It was made from medium rye, because I was out of whole grain rye. And I substituted white whole wheat for bread flour. I find in a lot of German bread blogs, bakers use this white whole wheat flour. I don't know if it's for health or just because it's a lighter wheat. Anyone reading have an answer? If so, share it. 

The percentages of sourdough is 30 percent and yes, there is a bit of commercial yeast - about 1.8 percent. The notes read like this;

3 minutes mix on first speed, and a 1 1/2 on second speed,

20 minutes bulk proof, shape and proof in round - I went for a batard shape, though not sure why. 

The final proof was 50 minutes in the notes,

Baked at a high heat of 480 F, and I assumed if the loaf was larger, there would be a note of lowering the temperature in the final minutes.

My next mix will be 30 wheat 70 rye, so I can see the difference in taste, flavor, which in this one is very grassy, I may even up the salt, as it seems a bit lacking...

Notes, take them when you bake, they are a good source of information and stepping stones to successful baking, I know!

Rye...bake'm if you got em.

When using it for baking bread, rye flour offers both benefits and constraints. The lack of gluten makes it more challenging then wheat to form, or even find a holey crumb. But the taste and dense crumb are what make it delicious, none the less.

Since my cupboard is full of rye, I have been attempting to use it up. Today I baked a Jewish rye bread of the type I learned to make at FCI, this one featuring caraway seeds. I improvised with the recipe, instead using  brotegewurze (bread spice) along with some kalonji seeds.

 

Then there is the "Schwarzer Hamsterbrot," full of seeds fit for a hamster but more likely to be slathered with some cheese or wurst for a human like me! This adaption of Wolfgang Süpke's blog favorite came from a fabulous baker/blogger.

 

Burning the stove, not the wood: Holzofenbrot

You know that you're slightly delusional when you dream about things that won't fit in your New York City apartment. Like a wood burning stove, for instance. Of course, "you" is me. And it's me wishing I could bake bread all day, but my vacation is just about over and now I'm about to go back to my real job. And my wife is coming home in the next few days. So now I'm wiping all evidence of flour from the walls and counters. Even as I feel the urge to bake, even though it's 97 degrees Faranheit, and I'm using our two ovens to make multiple bakes at 280 F degrees in both ovens. Talk about a hot kitchen, Shuna!

  

Call me crazy, sure... but what's not to like with a recipe like Holzofenbrot? A crusty blackened bread with rye and wheat, the kind you slather with butter and some blackforest ham. It comes from the book  Roggen das Standardwerk by Olaf Bauermann and Ines Gromes. With a load of different rye in my cupboards I say, volle geschwindigkeit voran, verdammt den torpedos!

That's what I am doing at the end of summer, while wondering if autumn's crisp cool air will soon come.  Without a cord of wood or hearth, I baked this wonderful loaf inside in my GE oven using my faux hearth, a creuset pot used to set and gelatanize the crust to it's wonderful hue! We'll be in the business with better instruments, hopefully one day!

Yes, it's baking madness, obsession whatever you may want to call it, but I like it!

Schrotbrot, fein, mittel und gross!

Given my previous tribulations with rye, any reader of this blog must know that I'm not the kind of baker to accept defeat in the face of adversity, especially in my search for wholesome German breads. 

While not fortunate with all results, I still can't throw in the towel. There are too many deep flavored breads, whether with whole rye, cracked meal, vollkorn as they are named. These are whole grain loaves with only the grain and occasional additions of nuts or seed held together by nothing more then the paste made from a finer milling of grain and water. Sort of like cement, but with a lighter aspect!

In my quest for the perfect bread, I have found so many different variations of well known loaves from the German speaking lands, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria. The language in each of these particular places are common but, like the breads, vary in colloquial jargon as well. So when I try to use whatever means at my disposal to make a loaf of rye or spelt, it's a bit like deciphering the Rosetta stone! Thankfully I can wander over to Nil's site. He's is always a good guide for any sort of bread.Thankfully he has translated recipes I can't understand, and occasionally even sends me some awesome looking bread. Recently, it was a schwarzbrot, which is one I aim to bake, myself. But this loaf, (in the picture above), was one Nil's adapted from Maggie Glezer's book, Artisan baking in America. It's his adaption of a schrotbrot, a grain bread with some added seeds. My dilemma is the ingredients, and how we can decipher the grades or types.

Some definitions: My own humble efforts with bad translating tools available.

Schrot: pellet, grain, cracked grain

Fein: finely ground grain

Mittel: a coarser or middle cracked grain

Gross: Large, cracked grain

So this mystery isn't answered, yet! I am still seeking advice and knowledge regarding these various types from all sources, googled or even e-mailed in by hopefully someone knowledgable in milled rye.

For example:

Roggen/ Rye: Fill in some of the blanks!

Roggen geschnitten =cuts

Roggenflocken = Rolledflakes,

Roggenganzkorn

Roggenkleie =Bran

Roggenmehl 2500

Roggenmehl 500

Roggenmehl 960

Roggenquetschkorn

Roggenvollkornschrot fein

Roggenvollkornschrot grob

Roggenvollkornschrot mittel

Roggenvollmehl

 Roggenganzkorn
 
Roggenmehl 2500

 Roggenmehl 960

 Roggenschrot extra grob

 Roggenschrot fein

 Roggenschrot mittel

 Roggenvollmehl= whole grain flour

It's not going to be easy, especially as the state that our milling process differs here in America. It's no wonder that German rye breads aren't commonly baked or found on many bakers shelves!
If you're a German speaker, or a schrot loving home baker like me, give us a hand defining some of these mysterious terms. I am sure once we get some knowledge,we can start baking with a lot more ease and understanding!