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Local Foods: Rainbows and Rye Bread

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Rainbows and Rye Bread

By Monica Wiitanen –Small Potatoes Farm and Bakery – Lamborn Mesa, Paonia

The oven temperature (in the outdoor brick oven) needed checking one early morning and before I got to the oven my eye caught a piece of brilliant rainbow. The oven could wait a moment. I got into a better spot from which I could see the entire half circle of the rainbow. One end appeared to be down in the valley along the river, and the other on Lamborn Mesa closer to the mountain. There was a second, fainter, rainbow above the main one. My eyes went back to the large one — there were three bands of red. Three contiguous rainbows with red on top of each made up the wide rainbow. Back to the second rainbow I saw that yes, the red band was at the bottom of that one. The image was captivating and I let it soak in before turning back to the oven.
Exploring sourdough rye breads has been really fun. From 15% rye to 25%, to 65% and 80%, and even 100%, the variety of flavors and textures is amazing. The rye flour is generally pre-processed overnight in sourdoughs and soakers, cracked rye and whole rye berries are soaked and/or pre-cooked, seeds may be roasted or soaked, or in the case of caraway, just added to the final mix. A couple of recipes call for a loaf of rye bread (from the freezer) cubed and soaked overnight which adds a “bass note” to the final flavor of the new bread.
Rye does have gluten, but also pentosans, gums that require different approaches to mixing and baking. Most rye breads begin baking in a hot oven and finish in a slightly cooler one. That’s perfect for a wood fired oven since 15 to 20 pounds of dough will naturally reduce the oven temperature a bit. I’ve made a 100% Rye Sourdough for many years and it usually came out fine, but I really didn’t know why it was better sometimes than others. Not long ago, I tried Korn Bread. It is 100% Rye with cracked rye and whole rye berries in it. As I read the recipe there were several steps where I thought “well, I don’t know” but I decided to follow the recipe at least once. The result was good flavor, good aroma, but texture “well, I don’t know”. Actually I did know, and it wasn’t what I was looking for. The recipe says to start it in a 400°F. oven, immediately turn it down to 300°, and leave it for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The loaves were not cooked enough. That initial trial was in a kitchen oven. I made it again in the brick oven. To approximate the recommended temperatures, I loaded the Korn Bread into the back of the oven when it was a bit above 400°, let those loaves soak up the heat for 15 minutes, then loaded a different bread, Pumpernickel, into the front. I was hoping that the new bread would absorb enough heat to drop the oven temperature to a reasonable range. It worked! The Pumpernickel baked well, and when it came out, the Korn Bread was brought forward to finish in the cooler part of the oven.
My source for rye information is Jeffrey Hamelmann’s “Bread”. His 100% Rye recipe, Vollkornbrot, has the loaves loaded into a 470°F. oven and the temperature reduced to 380° after 15 minutes. Everything about this recipe made me think “this will work”, if only the oven could lose 90° in 15 minutes. One Bake Day, the rye sourdough, the soaker, and the dry ingredients were ready to be mixed. I had planned to get the dough ready to be baked after the four large loaves of Miche, but just before mixing it I realized that if the Vollkornbrot was loaded at that time, there wouldn’t be enough heat (or room) for the muffins and cookies that were also planned. If the oven were re-fired, the surface heat would be too intense for the treats. But a-hah! If the re-firing were done after the treats the surface could be brought up to 500° with a quick bright fire of sticks. The mass would still be around 375° and would only slowly decline. When everything else was done, the dough was mixed and the fire lit. When the loaves were ready to bake, the coals and ashes were scraped out and the temperature was 500°! The bread was loaded into the oven. In 15 minutes the temperature was 400°. I had noted the time the loaves went in, the temperatures were within the desired range, and I had the wit this time to check the smallest loaf first. 94°C. The next two loaves were 93°C, and the big ones were in the high 80’s. 93°C is done for these heavy breads, so the smaller loaves were put on a rack to cool, and the large loaves were left in until they, too, registered 93°. The next day when we cut into the smallest loaf, it was clear this strategy had worked. Aroma, taste, texture—success!
The two 2015 Cottage Foods laws will soon be in effect. The Acts give the date of August 5th, though the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says August 15th. Flour, tortillas, and fruit empanadas will be eligible items, the cap one can earn per eligible item will be raised from $5,000 to $10,000 net, and a producer must conspicuously display a placard, sign, or card at the point of sale with the following disclaimer: “This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection. This product is not intended for resale.” Pickled vegetables are NOT allowed until the rule making process has been completed.

7.15 Paonia Farm and Home-Canning.indd

5.14  Bross - wine.indd


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