opinions on my first try at sourdough rye

[Kali]

Hi C and B People, a couple years ago you gave me some great advice on my first attempt at sourdough and now that my starter is going on three years old, I want to try rye bread for pattymelts.

my method is from the overnight sponge method in a King Arthur flour recipe - calls for 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of starter and 1.5 cup water, overnight in the fridge and then 2 cups more flour, 2.25 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp sugar.

I am thinking of doing 2 cups wheat and 1 rye for the sponge and then 1 each for the dough. I also ordered the rye enhancer product from KA and assume I would add that at the same time as the salt/sugar. Does that sound right?

Does sourdough rye have caraway seeds mixed in or only on the top? I finally picked those up last week.

[Warpy]

1. Some rye has caraway and some does not

They're a bit strong to leave sprinkled on the top, although I've seen them done like that with large crystals of salt. I prefer to have them incorporated into the dough. If you want everybody to say "rye bread," you need to use the caraway, although sourdough rye is perfectly good without it.

Baldwin Hill Bakeries in New England managed to produce a very dense 100% rye sourdough bread. That stuff had to be sliced and put into the freezer immediately because it would grow mold overnight. You might want to keep this in mind with your own bread, it might be in the nature of it to attract fungus.

[Kali]

2. thanks!

I haven't bought it very often so I couldn't remember if the seeds were in it or not. As for storage, I still have two grown sons at home and I haven't seen leftovers - much less mold - around here in years

[Lucinda]

3. I've made rye, but it's been a while so I have no suggestions.

I love caraway, but they give me trouble. If you don't, i'd add them in directly. The flavor is sooo good.

Can't wait to hear how yours turns out! And what you think about the enhancer. I've seen it, but never bought any...

[Kali]

4. it came out pretty darn good!

I don't have a lot of experience with rye bread (I mean at all, have hardly ever bought it or eaten it) but I really liked how it came out. I suspect the enhancer really helped - when I opened the package - that is when I smelled RYE BREAD, the pumpernickel flour didn't have any particular smell, even the caraway seeds were kind of bland smelling (I know I should have toasted them) but the enhancer product smelled so good. I am wondering how it will work with just the rye and carraway seeds. I am not real ennamoured of using "product" to get good bread, although I sure won't be wasting it, it does taste good. more experimenting next week. hee hee

[Lucinda]

5. I thought that it would be a good addition! Is your pumpernickle flour fresh?

I think it should have a rye "smell" to it, even if it is a coarser mill than regular rye flour.

Looking forward to hearing about the experiments!

[bif]

6. Good luck!

I've never had any luck with sourdough. I make the starter. It smells sour as hell. Then I make the bread and it tastes like, well, bread. Not sour at all.