German Dark Rye Bread

Introduce

Chef :

PaulN

German Dark Rye Bread

This is very good bread! Great for breakfast (toasted) or for a cheese, wine and bread dinner. I love to have some (or a lot) when it is is still warm, with good butter (Irish Kerrygold is my favorite) and red wine.

Ingredient

2 cups

water, heated to 100-115⁰

1/4 cup

brown sugar

pkgs active dry yeast

1/4 cup

molasses

3 1/2 cups

rye flour

3 Tbsp.

cocoa powder

2 Tbsp.

Hodgson Mill Vital Wheat Gluten

1 Tbsp.

caraway seeds

1/4 cup

melted butter

2 tsp.

salt

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Mix in 1 cup all-purpose or bread flour. Mix in enough of remaining 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups bread flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes.

* Step 2

Oil a large bowl and put in the kneaded dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

* Step 3

Divide dough into 2 pieces. Gently work the dough to eliminate air bubbles, shape into loaves, and place in oiled, parchment-lined bread pans. Place large bowl over the pans (not a damp towel, as the dough may rise and stick to it) and let rise 1 hour, until nearly doubled. Slash the tops of the loaves a couple of times with a very sharp knife. Pre-heat oven to 400⁰.

* Step 4

While pre-heating, for a chewy crust, place an empty metal baking pan on the lower rack of oven. When oven is up to temperature, put bread in oven; at the same time, add ¼ cup water and a couple of ice cubes to the lower empty metal baking pan and immediately close the oven door.