no knead pumpernickel (Schwarzbrot)
IMPORTANT FIRST NOTE: This is a recipe for German pumpernickel or Schwarzbrot. This is *not* a recipe for whatever the heck sells under the same name (pumpernickel) in America. I recommend this recipe for anyone who has 2-3 days to kill, because it takes forever. (Actually, most of the time is waiting, not actively doing. If you count the time in the oven, there's a minimum of 17 hours of waiting in this recipe. The amount of real work is maybe 25min.)
NOTE 2: I made this the first time from a source recipe that talked about kneading. It also recommended using a kitchen scale. I did neither of those, and I ended up with a crumbly sort of dough very different from other bread doughs I've made. It was not kneadable, and I didn't even try. IMO this did not harm the texture of my bread at all. If you find me suspicious, follow the amazing source recipe from Ginger & Bread.
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, WHAT I REALLY REALLY WANT:
AN OVEN-SAFE DUTCH OVEN (important!)
1c rye berries
1/4-1/2c sourdough starter (rye preferred)
1c rye flour
3c rye chops / cracked rye / coarse rye meal*
1-2c sunflower seeds
1T sugar
1/2t salt
a ready supply of filtered water**
4, 16oz wide-mouth canning jars
your preferred grease for baking
aluminum foooiiillll
NOT EVERY DAY CAN BE THE FIRST DAY, BUT TODAY IS ONE OF THEM
For best results, do this right before bed.
1. In a small saucepan, combine the rye berries with 1c filtered water. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
2. In a large opaque mixing bowl, combine the sourdough starter with the 1c rye flour and 1c water. Cover with an opaque lid, and leave to develop overnight.
DAY TWO (2) PREP
For best results, start mixing the dough (step 6) 3-4 hours before you want to go to sleep.
3. Add 2c water to the soaked rye berries and bring them to a boil.
4. Simmer the rye berries for 30-45 minutes-- until tender like freshly cooked rice.
5. Drain and set aside to cool. Do not add hot rye berries to sourdough unless you want to experience regret.
6. Grab the sourdough mixture, and add the: rye meal, sunflower seeds, sugar, and salt.
7. Add water as you mix until the mixture sticks together enough to pick up cohesive clumps.
8. Cover with the same lid from before and set aside for 2-3 hours. I HOPE YOU LIKE WAITING or you really, really chose the wrong recipe.
DAY TWO (II) READY TO BAKE
For best results, you want the oven preheated about 1 hour before you want to go to sleep.
9. Preheat the oven to 300F. You'll probably need to move the racks all the way to the bottom to fit the dutch oven. Do it now while you don't need mitts. ;)
10. Grease your canning jars.
11. Give the dough some extra mixing to show it you still care.
12. Press the dough into the canning jars. Don't worry if it fills them. This is not a rising bread. :)
13. Cover the jars with foil and place inside the dutch oven.
14. Add 1-1.5" of water to the bottom.
15. Put the lid on your dutch oven, and carefully place it in the preheated oven.
16. After 60 miutes of baking at 300F, reduce the temperature to 212-215F.***
17. Go to sleep. Yes, with the oven on. You need to bake this bread for 13 hours at 212F. Set an alarm for that?
DAY THREE, THE HOME STRETCH
18. 13 hours after you reduced the temperature to 212F, you can finally turn off the oven. Or, if you have an oven like mine, it already shut off overnight because it has a failsafe. Thanks a lot, oven! What am I supposed to do now, you stupid jerk?****
19. Let the bread cool for 60 minutes in the oven.
20. You can finally open the dutch oven! Remove the foil from the jars and flip them upside down over a large plate or cutting board.
21. Give them a few knocks, like you're stopping by for a dinner party and there's a lot of guests inside talking. Make sure the jars can hear you knocking through the chatter!
22. If the loaf doesn't slip, come back every few minutes to try knocking again. Once they slip about half an inch, you can shake the jar to get the loaf the rest of the way out.
23. You can start eating the first loaf now, but it will be very moist and crumbly.
24. Put everything you don't want to crumble -- ie, the other three loaves and whatever you don't inhale of the first -- either back in the cold oven to continue drying or in a dark cool place -- not the fridge! -- to do the same. Within a couple days, you'll have a very sturdy & delicious loaf. :)
25. DON'T STORE THE LOAVES IN PLASTIC WRAP UNLESS YOU WANT MOLD APLENTY. This is a moist bread. Prefer containers that are not airtight-- like a paper bag, a bread box, or loose foil.
DAY FIVE, OFFICIALLY READY TO EAT
26. Your bread is officially done drying. IDK about you, but we had already finished the first loaf and a half by then. Patience is a virtue for the other loaves!
VARIATIONS
I am contemplating a lazier version of this where day 1 is just the leaven (created in step 2) and I use 4c of DIY rye meal after skipping steps 3-5. I will try two side by side half recipes the next time we run out of this bread to assess whether it ruins, improves, or doesn't even change the final texture.
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* = I use rye berries that I grind coarsely in my food processor for 45-60 seconds -- in 5 second bursts. I premix this rye meal with the other dry ingredients after I do this, because it's less to do later & step 6 becomes a very satisfying dump this one container into this other container.
** = I use filtered water because I cannot find concrete evidence that my municipal water supply does not contain chloramines. Regular chlorine is FINE for sourdough as long as it's at levels still drinkable for humans. However, the microflora are less tolerant of chloramines. The filters I use are about 4" of activated charcoal, which is not sufficient to remove >95% of chloramine. (That would require 10".) However, it still removes more than not using the filter at all. & Regardless to all the science, my starters seem to prefer the filtered water to the straight from the tap water, so filtered it is. Try a side by side test with your discard some time if you care as much as I obviously did. ;)
*** = We're aiming for the boiling point of water. If your oven doesn't support single degrees, aim high instead of low.
**** = No need to panic! It probably shut off after 8-12 hours. If the dutch oven is still warm to the touch, turn the oven back to 300F for 30 minutes, and then 212F for another 2-4 hours-- depending on how long you slept and how warm the dutch oven is. If it's not warm to the touch, go for the original 60 minutes at 300F and then do another 4-6 hours at 212F.
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original source: http://gingerandbread.com/2015/11/21/pumpernickel-german-rye-bread/
other link I care about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction