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Rye bread
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350g Rye flour
150g organic, unbleached strong white flour
360g bottled water
100g sourdough starter
20g rapeseed oil
2g fresh baker’s yeast
10g Kosher salt
Makes 3 loaves (each about 320g)
Put the flour, salt, starter and fresh yeast into a bowl. Mix well and knead for 8 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and leave to rise for 1 to 2 hours. Cover with a tea towel. Dust the work surface and divide the ball into 3 (about 320g each). Leave (covered) to rest for 15 minutes.
Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, use the palm of your hand to flatten it gently into a rough oval. With the long side facing you, fold in a third towards the centre and press along the edge with your fingertips. Turn the dough 180°, fold in the other edge and do the same. Flatten and shape into an oval. Fold one half on top of the other and seal the edges together with the heel of your hand. Do the same with the other 2 pieces. Place the loaves, seams down on a greased baking tray. Leave to prove for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. This may vary by several hours due to the surrounding temperature, how active the starter is and what type of flour you use. This is not an exact Science! Lightly dust with the rye flour and score chevrons with lame or a razor blade just prior to putting in the oven.
Place a small tray of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C and bake for 17/18 minutes (for a large loaf bake for 26 minutes). Allow to cool on a wire rack covered with a tea towel.
Rye flour
Since the middle ages rye grain, secale cereale, has been widely cultivated in Central and Eastern Europe and used for traditional bread making.
The Organic Rye Flour has a distinctive flavour and is still milled the old fashioned way at Doves Farm flours, using whole grains of rye in the stoneground process. It is naturally lower in gluten than wheat, producing close textured breads with a pleasing continental flavour.
Rye bread during the second rising with chevron slashes.
Rye bread ready to go in the oven after the second rising of about 3 hours.
Bread out of the oven!
Health Benefits Of Rye
Some of the most impressive health benefits of rye include its ability to help with weight loss efforts, increase the efficiency of your digestive system, help prevent gallstones, lower your risk of diabetes, lower your blood pressure, generally protect your cardiovascular health, prevent various types of cancer, and even lower the chances of developing childhood asthma.
Rye is one of the most important cereal crops in the world, and this type of grass is grown extensively throughout the world. The scientific name of rye is Secale cereale. Agriculturally, it is very similar to wheat and barley, so it has many of the same applications. You can find rye being used as everything from animal livestock and the base of whiskey to different types of bread and rolled rye grain. Initially, rye likely began growing in the area of present-day Turkey, but it possibly could have come across from farther east. Suffice to say, it was already widely cultivated in Roman times, and it was likely grown far earlier than that as well, given how easy it is to grow and how hardy it is as an agricultural staple.
Even today, the majority of rye is grow in Eastern Europe into central and northern Russia, but it is also be grown in North America, China, and South America. In terms of importance in the grass/grain competition, rye is one of the top 5 most consumed cereals on the planet.
One of the most dangerous things about relying on rye for your agricultural needs is the high susceptibility it has to ergot, agricultural rot. This could wipe out an entire harvest of rye if it began and spread, which is why some countries choose to grow other grains and grasses that are slightly more resilient. However, the impressive number of health benefits that come with rye consumption makes a pretty good argument for adding rye to your diet!
