Rye Buttermilk Bread

Back to the basics.  A simple rye-wheat dough with rye's favorite accompaniments:  buttermilk,  caraway seeds and molasses.

Ingredients:

For one round loaf

130 g rye flour (~1 cup)

348 g buttermilk (1½ cup)

¼ tsp instant yeast

Mix the above 3 ingredients together.  It forms a thick batter.  Soak for an hour or so (This is not necessary for bread,  but I had the time and followed the 'starter' concept,  giving the rye flour extra time to soak and develop flavor)

60 g bread flour (scant ½ cup)

250 g whole wheat flour (1¾ cup)

¾ tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp caraway seeds

Ingredient (with soaked rye-buttermilk paste)

Mix together flours,  salt,  yeast and caraway seeds well.  Add in oil and molasses.  Stir in the rye-buttermilk mixture and mix everything well.  Let rest for 5 minutes and then knead for 5-8 minutes.  When kneading dampen hands with water to minimize the dough sticking to hands.

10:05 am: Kneaded and ready for first rise

1:03 pm: First rise is done after a long time

1:05 pm: Deflated, rounded and ready for second rise

2:25 pm: Second rise is done

2:28 pm: Rounded in a boule shape and ready for proofing

3:10 pm: Slashed and placed in pre-heated cast iron combo cooker

4:07: Unusual oven spring?

I thought this angle was pretty

Sliced well with decent uniform crumb

Notes:

Date: February 21, 2012

Recipe: My own recipe

Flours: Whole wheat flour, rye flour, bread flour

Bread specific ingredients: caraway seeds

Sweetener used: Molasses

Liquid: Buttermilk

Comments: Nothing special in the making of this bread.  I've baked rye-buttermilk breads in the past,  just that this time I used my own proportions for the flours.  Not sure that the hour long pre-soak made much difference in the end result.  If anything I think letting the first rise take its time,  even though it was about three hours,  was the key.  I've started giving the first rise more time than I used to,  partly because the house is cooler these days and partly because it appears to help the rest of the baking process.  The bread tasted good,  sliced well and kept well.