These are pictures of the process beginning after mixing. I made Jeffrey Hammelman’s Light Rye Bread from his book BREAD, A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes (page 197)albeit a slightly modified version. I would have to say that this recipe is wonderful and very easy to make. His recipe ingredients consist of 2 parts. (1) SOURDOUGH, (2) FINAL DOUGH. He makes what I would call a sponge, which he calls “Sourdough” as the first step in his recipe. This takes 14-16 hours to ferment. Then he mixes the SOURDOUGH with the FINAL DOUGH ingredients. That’s it! The 5 basic steps of the process consists of:
SOURDOUGH: (sponge/levain)
MIXING: 7-10 minutes
BULK FERMENTATION: 1 hour
DIVIDING AND SHAPING: 5-10 minutes
FINAL FERMENTATION: 50-60 minutes at 78-80 deg. F
BAKING: 35-40 minutes
I made a couple of minor changes to his recipe: For his SOURDOUGH (sponge) he calls for Medium Rye Flour. Instead I used K.A. First Clear Flour. I did this because K.A. says it works well with sourdough starters. After 16 hours I had a terrific sponge.
In his FINAL DOUGH, He does use some yeast (1 ½ tsp.) For the flour I incorporated 4.8 ounces of medium rye flour (called for in the sponge) with the high gluten flour. I used K.A. Bread Flour with Arrowhead Mills rye flour and added 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten.
Caraway Seeds: He calls for 2 ½ tablespoons. I recently purchased a bottle of McCormack which smelled very fresh and pungent. At first I thought maybe they were a bit too strong. But after my second bite I think they’re fine. My wife really likes this bread very, very much and she’s a very tough critic. Anyway, there you have it, and here are the photos.
![Mixed Dough Photo No. 1 Mixed Dough Photo No. 1](/files/images/DSC01472%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%201.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Mixed Dough Photo No. 1
![Folding Photo No. 2 Folding Photo No. 2](/files/images/DSC01473%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%202.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Folding Photo No. 2
![Folding - Photo No. 3 Folding - Photo No. 3](/files/images/DSC01474%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%203.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Folding - Photo No. 3
![Bulk Fermentation - Photo No. 4 Bulk Fermentation - Photo No. 4](/files/images/DSC01476%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%204.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Bulk Fermentation - Photo No. 4
![Ready for Final Fermentation - Photo No. 5 Ready for Final Fermentation - Photo No. 5](/files/images/DSC01477%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%205.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Ready for Final Fermentation - Photo No. 5
![Final Fermentation Complete - Photo No. 6 Final Fermentation Complete - Photo No. 6](/files/images/DSC01478%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%206.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Final Fermentation Complete - Photo No. 6
![Ready for scoring - Photo No. 7 Ready for scoring - Photo No. 7](/files/images/DSC01479%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%207.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Ready for scoring - Photo No. 7
![Scoring complete - Photo No. 8 Scoring complete - Photo No. 8](/files/images/DSC01480%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%208.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Scoring complete - Photo No. 8
![Light Rye Loaves - Photo No. 9 Light Rye Loaves - Photo No. 9](/files/images/DSC01483%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%209.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Light Rye Loaves - Photo No. 9
![Light Rye Crumb Photo No. 10 Light Rye Crumb Photo No. 10](/files/images/DSC01486%20-%20Hammelmans%20Light%20Rye%20-%20No.%2010_0.preview.jpg)
Jeffery Hamelman's Light Rye Bread: Light Rye Crumb Photo No. 10