Attempt number two is a success (not unqualified, but a success for sure)

So, since a couple (OK, maybe three) people actually asked me how the bread turned out, I am updating.  Like I said in my earlier post, the results were more than encouraging, the salt SNAFU notwithstanding. 

I have refined the recipe some more this time, and tonight’s result (oh, and I made sure to add salt early in the process this time) is quite nice.  Still less of a rise, but I am sure it’s partially caused by the fact that I definitely let it rise too long (I was at the zoo with the kids all day instead of baking bread), so it had gotten a bit too moist and soggy (yeast ran out of stuff to “chew on”).  Still, it turned out really nice, which makes me feel good about the resilience of the recipe.

This time I used 1/3 cup of my whole rye starter, 2/3 cups whole rye flour, 1 teaspoon salt (original recipe calls for 1 1/4 teaspoons, but I don’t like salty bread, so it’s up to your palate), 2 cups bread flour and a total of 1.5 cups (approximate) of lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons (optional) of honey. 

The process I followed was to let the starter “wake up” at room temperature for about 45 minutes (it was in the refrigerator).  I added 2/3 cups of the rye flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water to the starter along with my salt, mixed well, set aside (covered) in a warm spot (in this case on my microwave, close to the stove and my always hot water pot) and let it rise for 3 hours.  You want to see nice bubbling action, the starter will start looking like a sponge.  I will try to edit with a photo next time I do this.  Sorry, didn’t think about it this time.

I added my 1 cup bread flour along with 1/2 cup water and the honey at this stage, mixed well and again, let the mixture (covered) rise for 4 hours in a warm spot.  At that point I added the last cup of flour, another 1/2 cup of water (you want that shaggy dough, just a tad wetter).  I let that rise overnight, and should have baked then and there, but didn’t…

I will post a photo once my husband (who took the car that has the diaper bag that has the camera in it…) comes back.

ETA… And here it is:

So, it’s not pretty, but it tasted great.  Marc had some and commented on the complexity of the flavor, it’s the sour dough, giving it that “zing”, I said.

My plan is to keep playing with staging and hydration to see if I can get more oven spring and whether I can simplify the recipe further, adding all the bread flour at once.  I think my starter is strong enough to handle this.

Next I want to try to make some wheat starter and attempt a mixed bread like that.  More ambitious plans involve finding some flour ground more the flour for Polish bread.