Ugly Whole Wheat Sourdough Rye

I tried a new recipe, Whole Wheat Sourdough Rye. I love rye bread, especially toasted rye for breakfast. So this recipe spoke to me.

With great hopes I checked my spice rack to find cardamom, caraway seeds and fennel (anise) all of which I had. I also had rye flour and whole wheat flour that I bought to try another rye bread recipe.

My friend Tony was coming to help me install a plantation shutter in the master bath which made me rush to get the dough put together. So time became an issue.

When I started I had full intention to kneed the dough and put it in the oven to proof but as I started to put everything together Tony called to say he was on the way, so it was a rush to mix the dough.

When I got back to the dough, after installing a beautiful plantation shutter, I kneeled the dough adding more flour, etc. I then placed it into two loaf pans. It still felt very wet.

The second rise was the killer! The dough overflowed the loaf pans making a mess on my baking stone. So while the oven came to baking temp, I cleaned the stone and loaf pans. The risen dough certainly looked funny but "waste not want not" so into the 400* oven it went.

As the bread cooked, I notice very little bread cooking odor. Even Joanne commented on not being able to smell the bread cooking. But alas, when I opened the door to check the hollowness of the bread, the odor wafted out of the oven hitting me in the nose, Rye Bread.

The end product is two ugly loaves of bread. The taste test showed that the taste is good, not great. Nice rye and sourdough flavor. Good texture and a soft crust great for sandwiches.

So would I try the recipe again? Yes this time paying attention to the kneed and first rise. Also I need a larger bowl or bucket for the rise as my big bowl was to small and I would use three loaf pans instead of two, or make one loaf a baguette. Either way I love the flour and texture so it will appear again in the future.