It's warmer this weekend but still winter. Let's remember sweeter days. My mind goes back to some hours spent in Germany. The Rhineland-Pflaz, on beautiful sun drenched afternoon, full of light, great wurst, salads, and of course great hardy loaves of rye bread.
Rye is, and always will be, a staple in my diet, a challenging kind of bread if you haven't considered what makes it tick. Lack of gluten, and a challenge to create the rich tasting moist bread when it can sometimes turn into a brick, whether for new bakers or old ones like me.
Below are some notes on a loaf I had made in school with a teacher, who had plucked it out of a book and handed out the basics to us for a lesson. Notes from classes for me are always a struggle. You are trying to absorb the verbal passing of a message, then jotting down the numbers. Generally, what comes out is dizzying mess. All to say, in attempting this, get out your calculators, spreadsheets and a lot of bakers common sense!
Landbrot nach Heidart (No idea what this Heidart is?) I think the translation is wrong, and must actually be Hirtenbrot, Shepards bread, or even Heidibrot another rye bread.
Here is the version I got from Nick Greco, formerly baking instructor at FCI.
My sole adaption was the exclusion of yeast.
Two 2lb loaves or one huge 4 lb, batard or round mischbrot.
Total formula(minus 2 percent yeast)
60%Rye
40%Wheat
2%salt
65% water
Starter:
270g Rye, (whole rye)
27g starter (I used white liquid levain)
216g water
Fed overnight, about 12 hours till risen.
Final dough:
486g starter
330g Rye flour
400g Bread flour (I used All purpose from Central Milling, organic)
20g salt
435g water
I just mixed by hand till dough came together, allowed to rise about two hours at bulk.
Divided in half, shaped and rose on a board in round mischbrot form seam side up, one loaf. About an hour and a half final rise, but could of been two, not watching the clock, feeling the dough! The breads were baked seam up not slashed, and one down for the slashed effect.
Baked in a creuset pan at 475 with lid for 20 minutes, off for 15.
Very light shallow slash on the seamside down loaf, and the other seamside baked without a slash!
They look great, especially the unslashed one!
How long did they rise after shaping?
I love 60/40 ryebreads the best. Such a good ratio of flours! And those pics, they look awesome!
Landbrot translates as ‘Country Bread’, so maybe Heidart was a German baker? Country Bread in the style of Heidart as opposed to Paderborner Landbrot or other varieties? I was asked to make Paderborner Landbrot by a German expat living here once; A big close crumbed loaf of rye with a buttered crust.
Jeremy, my friend,
This looks well worth stealing & I love the idea of Heidi bread.
I’ve still never improvised a rye bread – must be time to take the plunge.
Thank you for ideas as ever
Mick
No Swiss Alps in Northern Germany
Though the idea of a “Heidi Bread” is very cute – “Heide” means just “heath” or “heather”. Heaths are areas of poor soil where grazing sheep keep all vegetation from growing higher than grass, so that heather plants can flourish (a heath in full bloom is a tourist attraction).
German bakers name some of their rye breads “Heidebrot” or “Brot nach Heideart” (bread from the heath) to indicate a rustic, hearty loaf. But it’s really just a name, like country loaf or farmers’ bread, it doesn’t really mean a special recipe or a special origin (though you will find it most likely in Northern parts of Germany).
By the way – great blog. My daughter works with your brother in Colorado and sent my the link.