Pumpernickel

300g rye flour

150g organic, unbleached strong white flour

50g precooked bulgur wheat (20g wheat with 30g boiling water)

450g bottled water

120g sourdough starter

60g clear honey

40g mixed seeds (coriander, fennel, caraway and sesame)

10g kosher salt

Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the water, salt, sourdough starter, honey, bulgur wheat and seeds. Mix together well until the mixture is creamy. Leave to rest for 1 hour covered by a tea towel. Spoon the dough out of the bowl into 2 well greased baking tins (17 x 7.5 x 7.5cm), cover tightly with well greased foil and leave to prove for 16-20 hours. Pre-heat the oven @ 110°C. Bake for 6 to 7 hours. Allow to cool on a wire tray, covered with a tea towel.

On my first attempt I forgot to grease the foil but I gently eased it away from the bread. This was a little sticky and difficult to cut, so the next batch will be baked for 7 hours. This batch was left to prove for 16 hours. It had a great taste and consistency. My next batch will prove for 20 hours and I will bake it for 7 hours.

My third batch was allowed to prove for 20 hours and baked for 6.5 hours @ 110°C and 450g water instead of 500g.

28 April 2017

Pumpernickel (English pronunciation: /ˈpʌmpərnɪkəl/; German: [ˈpʊmpɐˌnɪkəl]) is a typically heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with sourdough starter and coarsely ground rye. It is often made today with a combination of rye flour and whole rye berries.

At one time it was traditional peasant fare, but largely during the 20th century various forms became popular through delicatessens and supermarkets. Present-day European and North American pumpernickel differ in several characteristics, including the use of additional leaveners, and, in North America, colouring and flavouring agents, the addition of wheat flour, higher baking temperature, and a dramatically shortened baking time.

Pumpernickel has been long associated with the Westphalia region of Germany, first referred to in print in 1450. Although it is not known whether this and other early references refer to precisely the bread that came to be known as Pumpernickel, Westphalian pumpernickel is distinguished by use of coarse rye meal and a very long baking period, which gives the bread its characteristic dark colour. Like most traditional all-rye breads, pumpernickel is traditionally made with an acidic sourdough starter, which preserves dough structure by counteracting highly active rye amylases. That method is sometimes augmented or replaced in commercial baking by adding citric acid or lactic acid along with commercial yeast.

Traditional German Pumpernickel contains no colouring agents, instead relying on the Maillard reaction to produce its characteristic deep brown colour, sweet, dark chocolate, coffee flavour, and earthy aroma. To achieve this, loaves are baked in long narrow lidded pans 16 to 24 hours in a low-temperature (about 120 °C or 250 °F), steam-filled oven. Like the French pain de mie, Westphalian pumpernickel has little or no crust. It is very similar to rye Vollkornbrot, a dense rye bread with large amounts of whole grains added.

While true Pumpernickel is produced primarily in Germany, versions are popular in the Netherlands, under the name roggebrood, where it has been a common part of the diet for centuries, and in Denmark where rugbrød is a staple. German pumpernickel is often sold sliced in small packets in supermarkets, where it may be paired with caviar, smoked salmon, sturgeon, and other expensive products on an hors d'oeuvres tray.

3 Potential Health Benefits of Pumpernickel Bread

Pumpernickel bread has a low glycemic load (GL) Traditional pumpernickel is made with coarsely ground rye flour (and perhaps some wheat flour) and is fermented with sourdough starter. ...
Pumpernickel bread aids digestion. ...
Pumpernickel bread contains healthy plant compounds.