March 2, 2019 - 10:11am
About rye berries/rye grain
jusy a quickie - do you have to cook rye berries/grain before using in bread or can you just soak overnight and throw into mix? Last time I used them I did cook them and even then they were a little chewy? Advice appreciated? I was going to make a rugbrot and need a lot of them so want to make sure I don’t break my tests on them. Thanks
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Use cracked rye? The Rye Baker adds the cracked rye into the final dough. I've seen others soak the cracked rye. Haven't seen anyone cook it. Do you have a coffee grinder? A few quick pulses in the the coffee grinder isn't a perfect substitute but it is the next best thing.
When the rye is cracked (i.e. literally just smashed into chunks, not made into flour), it cooks faster and easier than it does when whole. I too think that cracked rye is probably what you're after, and that's probably why the whole rye is cooking too slowly on you.
Plenty of rugbrod formulas call for whole rye berries (one is below from a former TFL star)...He cooks for 30 min then leaves them soak for a number of hours. I've had better luck boiling for 45-60 minutes. Rene's rye out of Tartine 3 is another reference using whole rye berries...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/30582/serendipitous-danish-inspired-rye
Even when I cooked berries until tender, the ones that ended up on the outside of the loaf turned into rocks...I use rye chops or cracked rye only now
Whole, uncooked, rye berries need water of some type to be used in bread. Time is insufficient in the mixing, fermenting, proofing and baking time of bread for the berries to become properly palatable, as far as teeth are concerned.
I soak wheat, spelt and rye berries over night. I start with boiling water, and pour the water over the berries, leaving 2 inches of excess water above the berries. They swell overnight and I use them in dough the next day. This is a minimum amount of processing. Boiling for 5 minutes, then letting them soak overnight would be an improvement in my view. Or a cooking time greater than 5 minutes, based on experience.
in my
cooker in a 4-hour cycle, which also germinates the berries before cooking
. Otherwise, I've found the berries too hard and worried that they might crack my teeth.
Yippee
Thanks for that - I cooked last time so think I’ll do so again and then soak for a good while before using