Everyday Bread: A No-Knead Rye Sourdough with whole rye soaker

 No-Knead Rye Sourdough with whole rye soaker

I dunno.  This loaf just got tossed together without much forethought.  Haphazard loaf.

When I was refreshing my rye sourdough motherstarter, I thought I'd save some and make another that could be used to make bread.  Unfortunately, I forgot about it, and it sat on top of the refrigerator for about 24 hours.  That meant that it was more Lactobacillus Bacteria than Yeast, pretty sour stuff.

I persisted anyway, and made a dough based on one of my current recipes that I've been using:

• 92.7% Rye Starter:  444g
• 100%  Flour:  479g
• 1%      Yeast: 5g
• 1.5%   Salt: 7g
• 85.4% Water: 409g
• 1%      Homemade Bread Spice 5g
• 31%    Seeds or Grains 148g

 I thought that this time I might put it together with some rye berries that were soaked overnight (rather than boiled, as in last everyday bread experiment).  The rye berries were to be soaked in 2X the amount of water (296g).  Rather than add this water, I simply divided the water that was already in the recipe.

Mixing up  the rest of the ingredients, I kneaded until I arrived at a very dry dough which I figured out to be a  31% hydration dough (311g of flour in the starter, plus the flour at 479g is 790g total, compared to 113g water plus the water in the starter, 133g for a total of 246g).

I then plopped that round ball of dough into the seed water overnight.  Not knowing what to expect, I put that container inside another one, in case the first one overflowed.

In the morning it was found to be expanded somewhat, and I mixed the soaked seeds altogether into the dough.  It made for a pretty wet mix.

Then I went to work and didn't get back to the dough for 14 hours.  The dough had expanded, but it hadn't quite doubled.

I poured the mixture into a pan.

Starch

I made up a starch glaze, based on Nils Schöner's version of a starch bread glazing, on the page devoted to his Quarkbrot. 

To cool down the boiled starch solution quicker, I changed bowls several times, put it in the freezer, and added a tablespoon of plain yogurt and stirred until it had totally incorporated.


I docked the loaf deeply, and then painted on the starch glaze.  Finally, I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top of that.

After I baked it, I let it sit for another 24 hours before cutting into it.

The resultant dough was far too sour.  Nevertheless, I baked a bread that reminds me of a Rye Vollkornbrot.

It is edible, but I'll likely be eating it all myself.  The crust is a bit hard, and I doubt that this loaf would be to the liking of anyone else.  The whole rye seeds probably needed a longer soak, or would have been better cracked first.

Notes to Myself

• Does it need to be said?  Try making this when your sourdough peaks, and not when it is spent.
• Soak some cracked rye, not whole rye berries, or soak the whole berries longer.  Would they be better off soaking in brine first?  They need to be softened up a little bit more, but not too much more, because I like the texture.
• The most unusual part of this experiment was floating the early 31% rye dough in some water that had grain soaking in it, and allowing the dough to expand into the water.  The water will never be entirely incorporated on its own in this way, of course, but it remains a curiosity.  What if you had docked the ball of dough?  Would it have expanded more? 
• What is better for whole grains incorporated into a bread: boiling, like the last loaf, or soaking, like this loaf?  I think, boiling.