Name: Flaxseed Bread
Ingredients: sourdough; mature sourdough culture; salt; yeast; soaker; rye flour; bread flour; water; flaxseeds

Jeffrey Hamelman

Flaxseed Bread

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium
Dough Yield: About
25
loaves at 1.5 lb each

Appears in

Bread

By Jeffrey Hamelman

Published 2004

About

Flax is a Uniquely Valuable Plant. Not only are the seeds highly nutritious, the plant is also the source for linen and linseed oil, and in the days before vinyl flooring, linoleum was produced from it.

Flaxseed Bread, or Leinsamenbrot, is a trustworthy and tasty loaf common in Germany. The presence of the flaxseeds gives the crumb a nice mottled aspect, the rye contributes a fine tang, and the soaker gives the bread excellent keeping quality. The combination of flavors makes a delicious loaf.

Pre-Fermented Flour: 40%

Ingredients

Overall Formula

	U.S.	Metric	Home	Baker’s %
Medium Rye Flour	12 lb	6 kg	1 lb, 3.2 oz	60 %
Bread Flour	8 lb	4 kg	12.8 oz	40 %
Flaxseeds	2 lb	1 kg	3.2 oz	10 %
Water	15 lb	7.5 kg	1 lb, 8 oz	75 %
Salt	.36 lb	.18 kg	.6 oz	1.8 %
Yeast	.3 lb, fresh	.15 kg, fresh	.16 oz, instant dry	1.5 %
Total Yield	37.66 lb	18.83 kg	3 lb, 12 oz	188.3 %

Sourdough

Medium Rye Flour	8 lb	4 kg	12.8 oz (3¼ cups)	100 %
Water	6.4 lb	3.2 kg	10.2 oz (1¼ cups)	80 %
Mature Sourdough Culture	.4 lb	.2 kg	.6 oz (2 T)	5 %
Total	14.8 lb	7.4 kg	1 lb, 7.6 oz

Soaker

Flaxseeds	2 lb	1 kg	3.2 oz (⅝ cup)	100 %
Water	6 lb	3 kg	9.6 oz (1¼ cups)	300 %
Total	8 lb	4 kg	12.8 oz

Final Dough

Medium Rye Flour	4 lb	2 kg	6.4 oz (1⅝ cups)
Bread Flour	8 lb	4 kg	12.8 oz (3 cups)
Water	2.6 lb	1.3 kg	4.2 oz (½ cup)
Salt	.36 lb	.18 kg	.6 oz (1 T)
Yeast	.3 lb, fresh	.15 kg, fresh	.16 oz, instant dry (1½ tsp)
Soaker	8 lb	4 kg	12.8 oz (all of above)
Sourdough	14.4 lb	7.2 kg	1 lb, 7 oz (all of above minus 2 T)
Total	37.66 lb	18.83 kg	3 lb, 12 oz

Method

SOURDOUGH: Prepare the sourdough and ripen for 14 to 16 hours at 70°F.

SOAKER: Pour cold water over the flaxseeds. Cover with plastic to prevent evaporation.
MIXING: Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl. In a spiral mixer, mix for 3 minutes on first speed and about 3 minutes on second. The 40 percent white flour will give the dough a perceptible but not overly strong gluten development. Desired dough temperature: 80°F.
BULK FERMENTATION: 30 to 45 minutes.
DIVIDING AND SHAPING: Divide the dough into 1.5- or 2-pound pieces; shape round or oblong.
FINAL FERMENTATION: 50 to 60 minutes at 80°F.
BAKING: With normal steam, 460°F for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 440°F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes for a 1.5-pound loaf, 40 to 45 minutes for a loaf scaled at 2 pounds. For the best eating quality, cover the cooled loaves with baker’s linen and let stand at room temperature for at least several hours or up to 24 hours before slicing. Sesame seeds are commonly added to Leinsamenbrot: Once shaped, the tops of the loaves are pressed into a damp cloth and then into a pan of raw sesame seeds. Alternatively, the seeds can be sprinkled onto the moistened surface of the loaves.