Marbled Rye Bread

I am happy to be professionally collaborating with Red Star Yeast in 2012. I will be documenting my baking adventures and hopefully sharing some useful information on baking with yeast in this series. As you know, from the multiple challahs, babka and yeast doughnuts on my site, I love baking anything with yeast. It's addictive, therapeutic and delicious.

As I was looking through Red Star Yeast's recipes online and contemplating which bread to feature first, I came across the Shelf Life and Storage: Dry Yeast in the Tips and Troubleshooting section. I realized then, I don't let the dry yeast stored in the refrigerator come to room temperature, prior to using, as advised. That might explain one of the reasons why sometimes, not often, my breads in the past failed to rise. Luckily most of the yeast I store is in the pantry but some packets somehow make it into the fridge.

Rye bread to inaugurate the series was a natural choice. I got more curious and dived into the baking books I have in my collection for comparison, additional techniques and methods of shaping marbled rye bread. In Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, there are a few methods of shaping bread, one is called, 'bull's eye method.'

I brushed up on rye bread history in the course of daydreaming about pastrami on Jewish rye at Katz's deli in NYC.Traditionally in the United States, Jewish rye is a light rye bread. The Jewish rye is a descendant of the Eastern European rye, which traditionally is dark. Rye breads, widespread throughout Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Germany, were brought by the Saxons and Danes to Britain in 500AD.

A common saying in Alaska is "eggs on rye," an expression to describe something delicious. Speaking of delicious, I got to have rye seeds in my slices, but that is my personal inclination and preference. :)

I was surprised and delighted at how authentic the results were. My son said 'mom you could open a deli.' I will share a couple of ways I served this rye to my guys in a separate post aside from this series.

Important baker's notes:
I used only 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt instead of 2 teaspoons. I also found that when adding the last 1 cup of bread flour, I only needed 3/4 cup. A total of 1 3/4 cups bread flour and 1 1/3 cups rye flour. Make sure to pinch the seam of the dough and tuck it securely at the bottom of the loaf. It took my loaves only 40 minutes to bake, but ovens vary. I didn't use bread loaf pans. I baked free formed on parchment paper lined cookie sheets but it's riskier. The loaf pans will keep the tucked away seam in its place at the bottom. Slice only after bread is cooled, if only I would listen to my own advice! My crust came out super crispy, so when I took the loaves out of oven, I covered them immediately with kitchen towels. The consistency was perfect crispiness outside and beautiful softness inside! You have to think on your feet, lots of factors affect baking bread, level of humidity, temperature and more. I happened to bake on our very first super cold day this winter.

Marbled Rye Bread 

(slightly adjusted from Red Star Yeast's site)

makes 2 loaves

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Ingredients: Light Rye Dough

1 1/4 cups water

4 1/2 tsps vegetable Oil

1 3/4 cups bread Flour

1 1/3 cups rye flour

2 tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

2 tsps caraway seeds

1 packet/2 1/4 tsps Active Dry Yeast (1/4 oz)

Dark Rye Dough

1 1/4 cups water

4 1/2 tsps vegetable Oil

1 3/4 cups bread Flour

1 1/3 cups rye flour

2 tbl sugar

1 3/4 tsps salt

2 tbls cocoa 2 tsps caraway seeds 1 packet/2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (1/4 oz)  For the light rye dough, combine yeast, 1 cup bread flour, salt, sugar and caraway seeds: mix well. Heat water and oil to 120° to 130°F; add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Gradually stir in rye flour and enough of the remaining bread flour to make a firm dough. Knead on lightly floured surface 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume or when you press with the fingers lightly, the indentation will stay in. Repeat the process to make the dark rye dough, adding the cocoa to the flour mixture. On lightly floured surface, divide each light and dark dough in half. Roll or pat each half to a 14 x 7-inch rectangle. For a dark crust, place a light rye piece on top of a dark rye. For a light crust, place a dark rye piece on top of a light rye. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Working from the center of the loaf to the ends, gently roll the loaf back and forth to form a baguette shape approximately 14 inches long. Place on a greased baking pan. Repeat for second loaf. Cover loaves; let rise in a warm spot until indentation remains when lightly touched. Bake in a 375°F preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on a rack and slice only after loaves are cooled. For bread machine method, tricks to creating perfect warm dough rising environment, nutritional value and more check out original recipe.