CIA 70% Rye from Yesterday's Starter

CIA 70% Rye from Yesterday's Starter

Well isn't that odd?  Yesterday I mused that I haven't used commercial yeast in a long time.  Perhaps just noticing that made me think of using some today.  And what I started to make with it was a bread that could only be made in a tin.  And wouldn't you know it?  While the dough was rising, a package came to the door: my new Emile Henry Pizza Stone.  Too bad I wouldn't use it today.  Sigh.  Maybe tomorrow.

I have high hopes for this stone.  I've destroyed three cheaper pizza stones, due to my high temperature needs.  However, this stone is supposed to withstand temperature of 750 degrees without cracking -- perfect for those barbecued pizzas I've been playing with.  I got mine in Canada from Goldas Kitchen

If it works, I might consider one of the Emile Henry Dutch Ovens.


Today's bread
Just to have something to do with my starter that I was otherwise going to discard after refreshing, I decided to make this 70% Rye bread.  I haven't made this recipe in a while, but as I remember, it was a pretty good loaf.  This loaf should get me through the weekend while I'm working every day.

I got the recipe via the Internet, long ago, probably through 'The Fresh Loaf' blogs, when someone was describing a CIA rye bread technique. 

What you do is, you take your starter that you were going to discard, and you weigh it.  Consider that your biga.  Whatever yeast is in it, you are not going to depend upon: you are going to add some commercial yeast.  But it has a lot of flavour still, so it is a shame to waste it.  Make a bread like so:

Consider the starter/biga to be 92.7% of the total flour you will use.  So with the weight of the flour, and knowing the ratio of the starter/biga, you can now measure out the flour.  I have used 100% rye in the past, but today, I wanted a 70% rye.  The rest is whole wheat.

• 92.7% starter/biga n=318g
• 100% flour n00/92.7 = 343g
• --- 70% rye flour = 240g
• --- 30% ww flour = 103g
• 0.8% yeast  = 3g
• 2% salt = 7g
• 85.4% water = 293g
• 0.005% breadspice (I used 4g fennel seed instead)

For this loaf, I also plopped 1/2 cup each of rye kernels and wheat berries into boiling water for a mere 20 minutes.  I wasn't sure this would work, actually, and it was a last-minute idea.  Would they be too hard?  In the past I have boiled them much longer, and then soaked them overnight.  I wasn't waiting, this time.  I cooled them immediately by running some cold water over them in a seive, and added them to the dough on the first turn.  The official recipe would have you bulk ferment a mere hour.  I turned the dough twice in an hour and a half, prior to placing it in a tin for another hour.

Baked at 450 degrees F with steam, for 65 minutes.  The last 5 minutes I brushed on some plain yogurt.

Results
This bread, despite the long baking time, is a bit moist in the middle.  The knife drags.  Not so impressed with this loaf this time.

Notes to Myself

• Without the fennel scent, this bread would be very blah. As it is, it is barely worth eating. And I think the reason is, the kernels of grain that are probably somewhat indigestible. They would not only benefit from a long soaking, they would also benefit from some sourdough. I propose cracking them, boiling them for an hour, and then an overnight in a sourdough and water soak.