Bread of the Week 35: New York Deli Rye and 100% Sourdough Rye

If you frequent my blog you know that I bake at least one loaf a week. That means I go through a lot of flour. Last week I bought 22.5 pounds of flour in one day. It was the first time I became concerned about my baking addiction. Sure, I could just use all purpose flour and add vital wheat gluten to make it bread flour or high gluten flour, but half of the time I decide to do that I forget to add the gluten.

This week I made two breads. The first one was 100% sourdough rye. 100% sourdough means no commercial yeast. I just used the barm I've been cultivating. I wasn't patient enough and ended up not letting it rise enough. The bread was still good, it was just more like cocktail rye than anything else.

I like dense breads for dips and soups. I think slices of this bread toasted would be perfect for dunking in soup.

I also made New York Deli Rye this week. For this bread you sauté onions in oil and then add them to a starter with barm, rye flour, and water. The recipe called for 2 medium onions (12 ounces). When I read other Bread Baker's Apprentice posts several people wondered where you would get onions that big. I had the opposite problem - my grocery store only sells mutant onions. One onion was too big.

Mutant onions aside, I love this bread. I was never a rye fan until I tried this. It's a soft bread; the texture is closer to potato bread than any other rye bread I've tried.

I think I may keep this recipe in my sandwich bread rotation. It would be great with some strong cheese.

I'm enjoying working my way though the sourdoughs more than I thought I would. When I finish them and return to commercial yeast breads I wonder if it will feel like cheating. I don't remember what it is like to make bread in one afternoon.