Does 100% rye sourdough bread always have a sticky crumb? How do I make it stick to the knife less?
Every time I make a 100% rye sourdough, it sticks to the knife when I cut it even after letting it sit for a day before cutting. Is this normal? I have tried to vary the hydration ratio a bit, but it still behaves the same way. Is there some "additive" to make it less sticky? Is it a must to add wheat for that?
The sourdough starter I maintain is simple: 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water.
I dissolve malt syrup, molasses, salt, and spices in a warm .5-1 cup of water. Then I add starter, 4 cups of flour, mix it and transfer right away into loaf pan. AFAIK there is no need to fold 100% rye bread and it raises fast. I bake it at 350˚F for slightly over an hour. I sometimes use Nu Wave infrared oven (40 min), but the very bottom is not quite crispy.
The final bread looks and tastes good. But that stickiness on the knife and rolled "crumbs" are driving me crazy. Is there something I can do to minimize it?
I heard that an over-proofed starter can help lower pH; helping pentosans keep bread structure and making them absorb less water. I tried making the bread with a well proofed starter, but it made no difference. Do I have not enough starter for that amount of flour? Shall I move some flour there to prevent pH from raising much?
Here is the pic to get an idea. It is not the best one to show the issue. The bread is almost a week old and the issue is not as acute. For 1 day old bread, it sticks incredibly.
Best Answer
One cause of gumminess in 100% rye breads is excessive starch degradation related to amylase enzyme actions. Amylase action is slowed down by increasing acidity. You can increase the acidity by adding a small amount of lemon juice or cream of tartar to your dough as described here.
In his books "Whole Grain Breads" and "Crust and Crumb", Peter Reinhart comments that you can use ascorbic acid (1/8 tsp / 125 mg per loaf) to increase acidity and inhibit both amylase and protease activity.
Since rye bread doesn't have significant gluten for structure, but instead relies completely on starches and pentosans, it is imperative to let the loaf cool completely before cutting it so that the starches crystallize and the gums solidify.
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How do you make sourdough bread less sticky?
How Do You 'Fix' Sticky Sourdough? The only thing you might need to 'fix' with your sourdough is its hydration. If you simply can't handle sourdough with medium-to-high hydration, it's better for you to either gradually knead in more flour or start off with less water in the first place.Why is my rye sourdough so sticky?
This dough is indeed very sticky because of the large amount of rye flour, the sticky molasses, and the water. The best ingredient to reduce if you'd like the dough to be more manageable is probably the water. Start by holding back 60g water or 1/4 cup. Sometimes stickiness comes from the dough being overproofed.Why is my sourdough bread crumb sticky?
When the bulk fermentation goes too long \u2014 often when the dough more than doubles or triples in volume \u2014 the dough can over ferment. You know the dough has over fermented if, when you turn it out to shape it, it is very slack \u2014 if it's like a wet puddle \u2014 and very sticky and lacking any strength and elasticity.Why is my rye bread gummy?
Too much gluten formation and the bread is tough, dense, and rubbery. Too little gluten formation and the bread is a sticky, gummy mess unable to trap air released by the yeast. Too much yeast and the bread rises too quickly, before good flavor can be developed.More answers regarding does 100% rye sourdough bread always have a sticky crumb? How do I make it stick to the knife less?
Answer 2
Bake longer.
If the outside is getting overdone when you bake longer, bake longer at a lower temperature (usually first 10-15 minutes hottest for maximum spring, then turn down as needed so the inside is done without the outside being burnt.)
Perhaps 350F for 15 min and then 325 for an additional hour and 15 (90 total), if the top is as black as it seems to be in the picture from an hour at 350F (sugars in there, so that makes sense - can't be too hot for too long with molasses, malt, etc. in the dough.) That's a starting guess, adjust as needed depending on results.
Answer 3
There's no need to add malt, especially not diastatic malt. No molasses or any other sugar either. Because proper rye has an enormous amount of starch attacking enzymes, needs enough sourdough to inactivate them and sets free an abundance of sugar for the yeasts. So there's more than enough nutrition and yeast activity is higher than in wheat, the capability of holding trapped gas bubbles is lower. Any surplus of sugar leads to that gumminess! In a 100 % rye you should give in 35 % of all the flour into the levain build. If you are able to do a well made 3-stage sourdough it will be very mild and you can increase the amount of pre-fermented flour to 45 %. Another point: mixing! It's an old opinion to give the dough only a short mix. Recent developments in breadmaking showed only a long slow mixing will fully develop the doughs structure. If you have a machine give it a slow 35 minutes. If you do it by hand give it three times a good mixing, with a few minutes break in between. Good luck! (further reading: Hamelman, "Bread" and Kräling, "Brot")
Answer 4
Preheat your oven Along with a covered Dutch oven, then bake in the covered Dutch oven for half of the recommended time and uncover for the latter half to crisp and color your bread.
Answer 5
Try steaming it instead of baking.
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