Name: Sourdough Rye with Walnuts
Ingredients: salt; whole-rye flour; sourdough; water; walnuts; mature sourdough culture; bread flour; yeast

Jeffrey Hamelman

Sourdough Rye with Walnuts

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy
Dough Yield: About
26
loaves at 1.5 lb each

Appears in

Bread

By Jeffrey Hamelman

Published 2004

About

The Rich Flavor of Walnuts combines with the full-bodied flavor of rye to make an excellent bread, one that pairs especially well with goat cheese.

Pre-Fermented Flour: 30%

Ingredients

Overall Formula

	U.S.	Metric	Home	Baker’s %
Whole-Rye Flour	10 lb	5 kg	1 lb	50 %
Bread Flour	10 lb	5 kg	1 lb	50 %
Water	13.6 lb	6.8 kg	1 lb, 5.8 oz	68 %
Salt	.36 lb	.18 kg	.6 oz	1.8 %
Yeast	.3 lb, fresh	.15 kg, fresh	.16 oz, instant dry	1.5 %
Walnuts	5 lb	2.5 kg	8 oz	25 %
Total Yield	39.26 lb	19.63 kg	3 lb, 14.6 oz	196.3 %

Sourdough

Whole-Rye Flour	6 lb	3 kg	9.6 oz (2⅝ cups)	100 %
Water	4.98 lb	2.49 kg	8 oz (1 cup)	83 %
Mature Sourdough Culture	.3 lb	.15 kg	.5 oz (1 T + 2 tsp)	5 %
Total	11.28 lb	5.64 kg	1 lb, 2.1 oz

Final Dough

Bread Flour	10 lb	5 kg	1 lb (3⅝ cups)
Whole-Rye Flour	4 lb	2 kg	6.4 oz (1¾ cups)
Water	8.62 lb	4.31 kg	13.8 oz (1¾ cups)
Salt	.36 lb	.18 kg	.6 oz (1 T)
Yeast	.3 lb, fresh	.15 kg, fresh	.16 oz, instant dry (1½ tsp)
Sourdough	10.98 lb	5.49 kg	1 lb, 1.6 oz (all of above minus 1 T, 2 tsp)
Walnuts	5 lb	2.5 kg	8 oz (2 cups)
Total	39.26 lb	19.63 kg	3 lb, 14.6 oz

Method

SOURDOUGH: Prepare the sourdough and ripen for 14 to 16 hours at 70°F.
MIXING: Add all the ingredients except the walnuts to the mixing bowl. In a spiral mixer, mix for 3 minutes on first speed, and 3 to 4 minutes on second. A moderate gluten development should be noted. Add the walnuts and mix on first speed just until they are uniformly dispersed in the dough. Desired dough temperature: 78° to 80°F.
BULK FERMENTATION: 1 hour.
DIVIDING AND SHAPING: Divide the dough into 1.5-pound pieces; shape round or oblong.
FINAL FERMENTATION: 50 to 60 minutes at 78° to 80°F.
BAKING: With normal steam, 460°F for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 440°F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

The Detmolder Method of Rye Bread Production

The Detmolder Method of making sourdough rye bread, developed in Germany, is a fascinating and highly effective technique that represents the highest expression of the baker’s skill. It develops the latent potential of a mature rye culture through a series of builds before the mixing of the final dough. Rye sourdough cultures possess three distinct characteristics—yeast, acetic acid, and lactic acid—and each aspect thrives under different conditions of moistness (hydration), temperature, and duration of ripening. In the Detmolder system, the sourdough is built up in three phases, each favoring the development of one aspect of the sourdough. Paying careful attention to the time and temperature requirements of each phase is necessary in order to obtain the highest-quality results.

The first, or “freshening,” phase encourages the development of the yeast cells of the sourdough. The yeast microorganisms present in sourdough thrive under moist conditions at an average temperature, and these conditions are supplied with a high-hydration paste (150 percent hydration) that matures for 5 to 6 hours at about 78°F.

Once the yeast phase has been properly developed, more rye flour and water are added to it. This second build is called the “basic sour” phase. Proper development requires a rather stiff-textured paste (60 to 65 percent hydration). The ripening temperature for this phase is 73° to 80°F and ripening time is 15 to 24 hours (lower temperatures require longer ripening times, and higher temperatures require shorter ripening times). During this phase, the acetic acid potential of the sour is developed, which will eventually impart a prominent sour tang to the bread.

After full ripening of the basic sour, more rye flour and water are added to make the “full sour.” This phase develops the lactic acid, which will provide a smooth and mild acidity to the finished bread. Lactic acid development is favored by moist and warm conditions, and in this phase we have mixed a paste of 100 percent hydration and a ripening temperature of about 85°F. Note that ripening is accomplished in a relatively short period of time, 3 to 4 hours. Once the lactic development is complete, the full potential of the sourdough has been developed, and the final dough is ready to mix. Before mixing together the ingredients of the final dough, the baker removes a portion of the ripe sourdough in order to perpetuate the culture.

The building process began with less than 50 grams of culture more than 24 hours earlier, and has been expanded to produce a final dough of more than 18 kilograms. That represents an expansion factor of 360, and the finished loaves are indeed a testament to the wonder of nature, the health of the culture, and—not least—the expertise of the baker.

The precision required for the three-phase method is unlike anything else in bread production. It also is very labor-intensive, and other Detmolder methods simplify the process: For example, there is a one-phase method, as well as a two-phase. Although these breads don’t have quite the ultimate flavor complexity of breads made with the three-phase technique, they are of excellent quality and fit more easily into many production schedules.

Long Trail Rye Bread

As the PH of a Dough Decreases, there is a corresponding increase in acidity. Other than the flavor provided by the acidity, it contributes another distinct benefit: Keeping quality improves. Historically, rural people throughout Europe baked just once every three or four weeks. The large loaves kept well partially because of their size (often more than 12 pounds), but mostly because of their sourdough characteristic.

I had an interesting experience with well-aged sourdough bread in the late 1970s. I had a one-month vacation during the summer, but was short on funds, so decided I would do something that was inexpensive: I decided to hike the Long Trail. The Long Trail winds its way through Vermont, beginning in the south at the Massachusetts border, and follows the Green Mountains for 275 miles until it ends at the Canadian border. It isn’t feasible to carry enough food for the entire hike, so I did what many hikers do: I loaded boxes with preweighed provisions and sent them to myself to post offices that were near the Trail, with a note on the outside saying “Please Hold for Long Trail Hiker.” Each week or so I would come to a road crossing and walk or hitch into town, retrieve my food parcel, load my pack, and return to the forest. In each of the food boxes there were a couple of loaves of naturally leavened 90 percent rye bread made with the three-stage building method. By the time I picked up my last box of provisions, the bread was five weeks old. It had been kept wrapped in aluminum foil at room temperature in the height of summer—by no means the best of storage conditions. In spite of this, those last loaves had a crisp tang, a moist crumb, delicious flavor, and not a hint of mold.