OT: question for bread bakers

Never Summer

Hey bread lovers,

After reading a few posts about Egret's pumpernickel bread I tried it today and the taste was wonderful. However, I'm looking for a firmer texture, more like a traditional German pumpernickel - any suggestions as to what changes to make? Here's the recipe:

Pumpernickel Bread

Ingredients :

1 - 1/2 cups Pumpernickel Flour (or, 1 cup dark rye flour, 1/2 cup oat bran)
1/4 cup Sugar
3/4 tsp. Salt
1 - 1/2 Tb. unsweetened Cocoa
2 tsp. minced dried Onion
1 tsp. instant Coffee
2 tsp. Caraway Seeds
1 pinch ground Fennel
1 Tbls. dry Yeast
1 - 1/4 cups Water (110 degrees)
2 Tbls. Vegetable Oil
2 tsp. Molasses
2 tsp. Vinegar
2 - 1/2 to 3 cups Bread Flour

Preparation :

Place pumpernickel flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, dried onion, coffee, caraway
seeds, ground fennel, and yeast in mixing bowl of kitchen-aid mixer and mix well.
Add water, vegetable oil, molasses, and vinegar and mix well.
Attach dough hook., and with machine running, work in bread flour and knead until dough is fairly stiff and no longer sticky.
Remove from bowl and knead by hand for about 1 minute.
Place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in bulk.
Punch down and knead by hand for about 1 minute.
Form into desired shape and place on a piece of parchment paper.
Cover with a towel and let rise until about tripled in size, 1 - 1/2 to 2 hours.
Stabilize BGE at 375-400 degrees dome temperature with plate setter (legs down), ceramic feet, and pizza stone on ceramic feet.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until done.

I followed it exactly except that I made the dough a bit moister since I live at 8500 feet and was told that adding a bit of extra moisture is the key to baking at altitude - I also used 1/4 tsp less yeast for the same reason and used half the sugar because I don't like my bread sweet. Who knows, maybe my changes are part of my problem? :unsure:

I'm thinking about omitting the oil, but beyond that I'm not sure. I love the bread, but want a firmer interior texture.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Patty

Fidel

I did it today myself and the texture was very good.

If you want it more dense I would recommend you knead it for 5-10 minutes after the first rise. This will allow the rye hull to cut the glutens in the flour and lead to less of a second rise and a more dense dough.

Never Summer

Thanks,Fidel

I was wondering how much to knead it after the first rise - I just kneaded it a few times and shaped the loaf. I'll try it again next weekend and knead it more.

It's always amazed me the number of different variables that can affect a finished loaf!

Patty

Fidel

Typically with whole grain breads you want to just knead long enough to pull it together.

I would let it rise once, then when you punch it down toss it back in the mixer for 5-10 minutes.

If you want it even more dense then don't let it triple in size before you bake it. The more you let it rise the more gas the yeast have created and the more air pockets you will have in the final product.

Never Summer

I never thought of that - thanks for the suggestion - I'll let you know how it turns out.

Patty

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead

Please do....Let us know.
I'm all for a heavy bread and haven't ben able to pull one off, that I like yet.