Monday, March 9, 2015

Artisan Rye Bread


Photo: Food.com

Another cold weekend, another loaf of bread. This time homemade rye bread.

It took 12 hours+, but not a lot of effort. To my surprise, the bread is delicious! As you can see from the steps below, I used our trusty Sullivan Street Bakery's No Knead method to make it. So here is my newest, Artisan Bread recipe:

No Knead Rye Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups rye flour
4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar (for flavor; also helps dough rise.)
1 1/2 cups + 1 ounce water (eyeball it)

Extra flour and oil for your hands.

Equipment: 

large wok with a glass lid
10 " cast iron skillet, or a Dutch oven

Directions:

Photo: TheFreshLoaf.com
1) Throw all the dry ingredients into a wok (or a mixing bowl if you don't have a wok). Stir the dry ingredients together uniformly.
2) Add the olive oil, vinegar and water.
3) Mix into a dough (using your hands if you wish).
4) Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for 12-18 hours. I use the wok and glass lid as a cover. Set the dough in the oven overnight with just the pilot light to keep it warm.
5) The next morning after the dough has tripled in size, I turn it over a couple of times, cover it again and set the dough back in the oven with just the pilot light a 2nd time to rise for 2 additional hours.
6) Next transfer the dough to a preheated cast iron skillet (or into a preheated Dutch oven). Note: I forgot to preheat the skillet. The bread came out fine anyway. The reason to preheat the pan is to prevent the bread from sticking to it. I was lucky!
7) Bake in a preheated 450 degree F oven for 30 minutes, uncovered.

This recipe makes a huge loaf of bread, as I discovered. After baking, I put half the loaf in the freezer to keep it fresh. The bread is too good, not to eat at the peak of freshness! You can also bake smaller loaves by dividing the dough in half (or thirds or quarters). I also forgot to score the top of my dough before baking. Next time! This recipe is very forgiving. 

I'm amazed at how easy it is to bake good quality bread. Now we (me included!) can check back here to get the ingredients in the right proportions for one, large, scrumptious loaf of rye!

You may also enjoy:

No comments:

Post a Comment