Rye Bread - Caraway - Soft - KA*

By mariannefeldman

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/caraway-rye-bread-recipe
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Good

Ingredients

• cornstarch wash:
• 227 g lukewarm water
• 106 g white rye, medium rye, or pumpernickel flour
• 14 g sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 113 g sour cream (low-fat is fine; please don't use nonfat)
• 7 g to 14g caraway seeds, to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 280 g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or First Clear Flour
• 25 g vital wheat gluten or King Arthur Rye Bread Improver, optional, for best rise
• from new artisan breads in 5 mins a day:
• using fork blend 1/2 tsp cornstarch w a small amt of water to form a paste
• Add 1/2 cup water & whisk w fork
• Microwave or boil til the mixture appears glassy, abt 30 - 60 seconds on high
• It will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks
• Volume measure:
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 cup white rye, medium rye, or pumpernickel flour
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat is fine; please don't use nonfat)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons caraway seeds, to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or First Clear Flour
• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten or King Arthur Rye Bread Improver, optional, for best rise

Details

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

Note: Thanks to reader feedback, as of February 22, 2013, changes have been made to this recipe to create a less sticky dough, one easier to work with and shape; and to ensure the bread doesn't sink in the center after baking. The amount of water has been reduced from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup; and the amount of rye flour has been decreased from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup, with the amount of all-purpose flour increasing from 2 cups to 2 1/3 cups. In addition, the sugar has been decreased by 2 teaspoons. Thanks, as always, for your good feedback.
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In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the water, sugar, rye flour and yeast, mixing to form a soft batter.
Let the mixture rest for 20 minutes; this allows the rye flour to absorb some of the liquid, making the dough easier to knead.
Add the remaining ingredients, and mix; Fold dough over on itself by hand to make dough easier to knead, and knead the dough together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — until it's fairly smooth.
The nature of rye dough is to be sticky, so don't be tempted to add too much flour.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl or large (8-cup) measure, cover, and let it rise until noticeably puffy, 60 to 90 minutes. (I refrigerated it overnight at this point, let dough come to room temp 30 mins, dusted w flour & cloaked as in artisan bread 5 mins a day & then shaped, let rise as below)
Gently deflate the dough,fold over on itself several times to make it easier to knead-dough is very sticky, may have to finish kneading by hand- knead it briefly, and shape it into two smooth oval or round loaves; or one long oval loaf. Place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet (or in cloche if using)
Cover the loaves, and let them rise until they're noticeably puffy, about 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Used cornstarch wash (see above) instead of water:
Just before they go into the oven, spritz the loaves with water, and slash them about 1/2" deep. The oval loaves look good with one long, vertical slash; the rounds, with two or three shorter slashes across the top.
Used cloche w/o cover-@350-40 mins-brushed w water & sprinkled w seeds
Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 205°F to 210°F. The single, larger loaf will bake for 45 to 50 minutes. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it lightly with foil after 25 minutes of baking.

Remove the loaves from the oven, and transfer them to a rack or try letting bread cool in cloche - do not put hot cloche on a cold surface
While still warm, brush them with melted butter, if desired; this will keep their crust soft.

**Wizard of Clay instructions for closed cloche:
Lightly grease inside walls & bottom of the cloche bottom piece w cooking spray. Sprinkle w cornmeal
Bake undisturbed for 45 mins @ 425 degrees in preheated oven
Wizard of clay Yummy Bread recipe for full recipe inc w cloche