A change of tack

I consulted Tom, an experienced baking friend, about my rye sourdough woes. Tom makes a dense and well-flavoured rye bread with a starter he has nurtured for years. He said that perhaps it was my oven – an electric fan oven – that was causing the problems, in which case there might not be much I could do about it.

We discussed putting a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven to keep the humidity up, and to stop the crust becoming too tough, but Tom was at a loss to explain the way the crumb sank and separated from the crust. It’s obviously never happened to him!

Tom’s practical suggestion was to try a wheat sourdough, as at least the gluten in the flour would overcome the rising problem. As for Andrew Whitley’s suggestion that rye sourdough was easier than wheat… not in Tom’s experience. So it looks like I will have to roll up my sleeves and get kneading.

~ by jobes on December 2, 2008.