10/28/2010 - Sunflower Seed Rye

Sunflower seed rye concludes my foray into sourdough breads, at least for the time being. I probably wouldn't have quit on them so quickly, but in baking this bread I determined that my sourdough barm is definitely no longer able to raise bread. It still gives the sourdough flavor, but I suspect I have a barm colonized with plenty of bacteria and lacking a healthy yeast population. I do have some barm in the freezer, and I may try again with that sometime in the near future. I have a lot of pumpernickel flour left, and there's not much to do with it that doesn't involve sourdough.

The day before baking this bread, I made the soaker by combining some pumpernickel flour with water and leaving them at room temperature overnight. I also made a firm sourdough starter by combining some barm with flour and a little water. This was supposed to rise to at least double, but mine didn't rise at all. After five hours or so I gave up on it and put it in the fridge. Lucky for me, this bread is spiked with commercial yeast so it would still work. The next day I mixed the dough, kneaded in the sunflower seeds, and let it rise to double. I then shaped two couronnes from my dough and let them proof on a baking sheet. I then baked my loaves hearth style, and they turned out beautifully.

We enjoyed this bread. It's definitely a rye that I would make again, someday when I resurrect my sourdough barm.