My first bread in this long journey, Hamelman’s light rye bread,  requires a sourdough rye starter.  So if you’re like me, and only have white flour starter, then you’ll need to feed it once or twice with rye flour to convert it into  rye.  Once your sourdough is actively bubbling, this bread will come together in minutes.  The final dough only contains 15% rye, so the flavor is mellow, just like our virtual group… 😉

I was pleased with the lightness of the crumb, which was more open than I expected for a rye bread.  That was from the high proportion of white flour in the formula (85%).  I made a silly mistake in shaping the bread:  I forgot to flour the countertop.  Yes, it’s hard to believe I was so absent-minded, but… it happens. To shorten a long story, I had to re-shape it, and the extra handling resulted in a bread that was a little too long and a little too flat. Still, it didn’t  compromise the internal structure or the taste, and a recipe that withstands  my boo-boos is a recipe worth keeping!

Similarly to what happened in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, we will not post the recipes for this group project. The Light Rye Bread can be found on page 197 of Hamelman’s BREAD. It is also available online.