If you ground the rye berries fresh, and this seems like common sense to me but, why not grind the white flour fresh too so that those watching the video and reading the recipe know what wheat berries they should grind!?!?!?!
Iāve made this recipe twice now. Iām a complete newbie and only ever made Vollkornbrot before a few times. The first time I followed the recipe and made it in a round loaf. I donāt have a proofing basket and I didnāt bake it in a form so it wasnāt very thick, but the flavor and texture and crust were spot on perfect! The second time I made it I substituted Einkorn flour for the bread flour, added more seeds, both pumpkin and sunflower and then, because I wanted a slicing bread for sandwiches, baked it in a Pullman loaf pan with a baking sheet below it to deflect some heat (as suggested by someone here) and keep the bottom from getting overcooked. Its the best bread! the Einkorn flour changes the flavor to a richer, nuttier taste, and the slices are solid but light and great crumb. My only change next time would be to increase the recipe by either 1.5x or 2xs so that the Pullman pan is more full after the final proofing. It would give a larger slice of bread which would be cool for sandwiches. cheers.
I love the recipe. Iām just wondering roughly how long to leave it in the oven at 475.
@Emmryss Good morning!
Bake at 475F for 30 minutes.
Remove lid of baker, reduce heat to 450F and bake for another 10 more minutes.
Temperature of baked bread should read about 200F.
Let the bread cool completely before slicing and eating. Rye bread slices best if itās completely cool first.
Baking blessings,
Leah
Well I admire the lofty loaves others got. My is flatish and I found this dough incredibly wet and and hard to work with. I had to add at least Ā½ cup of additional flour to be able to form a loaf. It does smell amazing. Cooling now.
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This is a wild recipe at well over 80% hydration. I tried to use a coarse pumpernickel rye flour from Sunrise and had to add 50 grams of additional bread flour after using the morning mix and refrigerate technique. It was apparent that my pumpernickel rye didnāt take up water like a finer rye would have. In the future I will either mill or use a finer flour. When I took it out for the overnight rise it just seemed so soupy. Bears little resemblance to a standard sourdough so techniques need adjustment. After the 11 hour rise I worked the dough with plenty of flour and it was still quite sticky. Into my banneton for a one hour + final rise and 45 minutes later it was erupting from the basket. Thank goodness I had started the oven as I put the loaf into the banneton so was able to truncate the final rise. Of course it overproofed in that short period and started to deflate when I put it in the Romertopf. 20 minutes covered, 25 minutes uncovered. Very rye-eee but the crumb isnāt large, again indicating an over-proof and also loaf moisture may have had an impact here. This is not a trivial loaf to accomplish and definitely requires fine rye flour or significant recipe adjustment. Flavor is good though, just a frustrating mix experience.
After 3 attempts of so-so to bad loaves (and a frustrated email to Breadtopia!) using this recipe, I finally had success today. Something was really off as I followed the recipeāwritten + Ericās great videoāto the letter (or gram) and the final product was a thick flat disc of rye, with zero oven spring. The main problem was that after the initial long proof of 12 hours, my dough was more like a thick batter than the sticky, shaggy mass Eric got. So, because this had happened consistently, I figured that despite my AC, the Houston heat and humidity (which is very high) must be to blame, so I simply added enough flour after the first proof to get it to become a manageable mass that would NOT move like lava across my work space. Yesterday and today were the first time using my new round Rƶmertopf baker (I have two other oblong ones, a small and a larger), and Iām thrilled with it. Thanks Eric! Iām learning a lot here. Hereās a pic of todayās loaf.
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@RayinHouston Yum! That looks beautiful and delicious. I love rye bread. I grew up on it! I use this recipe too and I ended up modifying it somewhat to resemble more of the NY style Jewish rye I grew up with. I bake it fairly often. Though I donāt have Houstonās humidity I have southwestern desert hot, HOT temperatures. Yeah, it gets a bit toasty out here which causes its own havoc on rising bread dough. Hereās to adapting recipes and techniques!
Baking blessings,
Leah
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Hi Leah! Indeed, I think adaptation is the name of the game. When it gets cool and drier here in Dec-Feb, bread recipes tend to work as theyāre written, but this is my first time baking regularly in the summer, which I never did pre-COVID. But since Iām home all the time now, Iāve decided to use this opportunity to hone my skills further, create a good starter and just bake as many different types of breads that appeal to me. Iāve spent a lot of time in Germany and France, so Iām very partial to those traditionsāI even have a dough knife from my French ex-gfās uncle who was a boulanger in Moulins-sur-Allier. And since I studied in Nordrhein-Westfalen, I ate a lot of pumpernickel, Vollkornbrot and other dense, whole grain varieties. Thanks for your words of encouragement! And now that I have this lovely rye, Iām going to make one of my faves for lunch: hot pastrami on rye! Have a great day, Leah!
Sincerely,
RG
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@RayinHouston Hot pastrami on rye! Be still my beating heart!! Iām salivating here!
All this talk about rye bread means Iāve got to bake one this week! See what youāve done, 
And to think I already have homemade sourdough loaves of my husbandās special cinnamon bread (medical issues so I bake this special for him. He loves it for breakfast), my favorite cranberry pecan, a nice āplainā sourdough loaf with hard white whole wheatā¦and now I want to bake a rye bread! I more than likely will! Just what my freezer needs, right? More sliced bread in it! 
Baking blessings,
Leah
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I know what you mean! - Spent 7 months in Bonn last year, and started baking when I got back. Just couldnāt live without that Vollkornbrot and GewĆ¼rztlaib. Iāve given up on American bread and now we eat only my sourdough - Iām so grateful for that time in Germany, and all the BƤckerei : )
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@susanzachos I hear you! Since I started baking sourdough bread in April 2018 I havenāt bought any bread in a store. We eat the bread I make.
Hereās to the wee beasties, our sourdough!
Leah
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This isnāt my rye, but I had to share the wonderful cell development I got in my recent batĆ¢rds. Itās a good feeling. And tasted even better 
Onward sourdough warriors!
Ray
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I make Volkornbrot as well. I havenāt heard of Gewurztlaib. What is it? I googled the name for a recipe, but nothing turned up. Iām intrigued.
āGewurztlaibā means, approximately. āspicy loaf.ā That is, a Vollkornbrot or Baurnbrot (Farmer Bread, approximately 3/4 rye and 1/4 wheat) with some combination of fennel, anise, coriander, caraway, and such, either whole seed or ground, or some each way.
So itās not the rye bread from this recipe, but this is a sourdough pumpernickel I did between yesterday and today and it came out beautifully and itās delicious. Had to share the image.
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Wow, I made this wonderful bread today and it turned out amazingly successful and delicious. My spouse doesnāt like caraway though, any idea what should work instead?
Thanks so much
@NirN Good morning! If your husband doesnāt like the taste of caraway seeds you can simply leave them out. Enjoying seeds in rye bread seems to have a mixed following. Some people donāt want any seeds in their rye bread. Others enjoy them. I have friends who love me making them rye bread. Some of them request seeds, but not all of them do. I enjoy rye bread both ways; with or without seeds. I just love a good rye!
Baking blessings,
Leah
