My supply of wheat berries was getting low, so I decided to bake a 100% rye recipe (see below) I had but never tried. It looked easy enough. All seemed fine and it looked beautiful when I took it out of the oven. The crust was a bit soft so I did what I often do: after removing it from the pan, I put it back in the turned-off oven with the door ajar. I came back two hours later to what you see in the picture. Devastating!
I THINK I know what happened, but would love to hear what others have to say. I followed the recipe exactly, and each step looked exactly as the recipe described. The one thing I didn’t do (because I didn’t look at the recipe at that point; I thought I knew what to do… lesson learned) was to mix the dough before pouring it into the pan. Before the final proof, I gently poured it in and it stayed somewhat bubbly. So, in effect, it never was “punched down”. The author does say overproofing would make it collapse while baking, but mine did not do that; it collapsed AFTER baking.
While I’d like to try again, I don’t think I have it in me, at least not now. We’re low on bread and I need to make something I can count on!
Thanks for any thoughts on this!
BTW, the picture shows just the end cut off; more towards the center, it is pure paste!
Starter dough:
50 g rye sourdough starter
350 g water
150 g whole ground rye flour
Main dough:
All starter dough
230 g water
200 g whole ground rye flour
100 g sprouted rye flour (if not available, use rye flour)
15 g cacao powder
40 g molasses
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
Instructions
Make starter dough sponge:
In a large glass bowl, whisk rye sourdough starter with water until dissolved and frothy.
Add flour and mix with a spoon until no dry bits remain. The mixture will be sloppy.
Cover tightly, and leave at room temperature until it becomes bubbly and ‘soft’ looking (bubbles are easier to see under the surface, that’s why glass bowl is convenient). This can take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours, depending on the temperature. Start late in the evening and make the main dough early morning.
Make main dough:
Mix starter dough with the main dough ingredients until combined and uniform in color.
Cover, and leave at room temperature for 4-10 hours. Here you want to watch the dough more than the time, look for it to soften and puff up (it won’t rise much), then drop slightly. If you don’t have a chance to watch, just go with 6 hours.
With a spoon or a stiff spatula, mix the dough well, and transfer to a bread pan lined with parchment paper (don’t skip the paper even with non-stick pans). Smooth the top with a wet hand.
Let it rest in the pan no longer than 30 minutes, if you allow it to rise in the pan too long, it will collapse during baking, which will make the crumb brick-dense and gooey.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350ºF (180ºC) for 45-50 minutes.
It’s best to wait for 24 hours before cutting into it.