Rye-Style Wheat Bread

 

I wanted rye bread for corned beef sandwiches.  Orowheat was $5.49 a loaf.  The other option at Pavilions was $3.99 for a smaller loaf from a local kosher bakery.  Sprouts didn't have any, and only slightly better prices for rye flour.

When I read the ingredients on the two loaves, the kosher one didn't even include rye flour.  This makes perverse sense.  People associate rye with caraway seeds.  At work, I'm constantly explaining to customers that none of our products contain rye, but some contain caraway, or "rye seeds" as they call them.  Fine, 5lbs of whole wheat flour was $4.99, and only because flour has gotten expensive in the pandemic.  Soured up with some of the powdered buttermilk and sweetened with molasses, the loaf would taste close enough to actual rye to work with my corned beef because of the caraway.

I discovered that you can buy canned corned beef from the prepper videos I've been sucked into.  It's one of the new items I'm trying.  You can also get roast beef in a can.  I wouldn't serve either as a main meal, but they could be good for camping or a power outage, which is why they are on the prepper sites.  I browned up my tin's meat and made Reuben sandwiches with the homemade bread.  Pickles I canned over the summer as a side meant that I didn't have to go on any new grocery trips for this meal.  It was all items I had stocked up on in September.

1 C whole wheat flour
~2 C all purpose flour
*1 Tb caraway seeds
1 C buttermilk
1 Tb oil of choice
*2 Tb molasses
*1 generous teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 tsp kosher salt
*2 Tb cornmeal

1.  Warm buttermilk, oil, and molasses to 100ºF.  Stir in yeast and allow to sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2.  In stand mixer with the paddle, stir caraway seeds into whole wheat flour.  Add milk mixture and beat into a stringy batter on medium, 2 minutes.  It's going to be dark from the molasses.  Don't worry, it will get lighter.

3.  Add 1 C white flour and the salt.  Stir to combine, then beat 2 minutes into a soft dough.

4.  Pour out dough onto a generously floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding more flour if too sticky.  The dough can be a little more solid than I normally recommend, since it's going to be a free-standing loaf.  Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides.  Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

5.  Punch down dough, transfer to a work surface, and let rest 10 minutes.  Scatter cornmeal on a baking sheet.  Roll dough out into a 12" wide rectangle.  Roll into a log and lightly tuck under ends.  Place in the middle of the sheet and let rise again in a warm place 45 minutes.

6.  Preheat oven to 350º.  When oven is ready, brush loaf with either melted butter or water.  I used a spray bottle of water so it wouldn't collapse.  Place in oven immediately and bake for 25-30 minutes, until loaf sounds hollow when thumped. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 loaf, about 12 servings

Difficulty rating  :-0