February 23, 2007 - 6:54am
Rye meal question
Just read up on what rye meal is, so that took care of one question. I have ordered some rye flakes that should arrive soon. Can I whizz the flakes in my mini food processor and sub for rye meal in a Multigrain Bread recipe? The recipe calls for 1 cup rye meal and has bread flour, rye flour, whole wheat flour, cracked wheat, millet, flax seeds, and cooked whole wheat berries also.
Thanks for your help.
Teresa
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Teresa,
I have one book on bread that recommends soaking grain meals for 4 hours in water first when using the short rise method for making breads, but it doesn't address what to do with rye flakes.
I use rye flakes in my rye bread (got a batch rising right now), but I use the slow rise method. I bake the rye flakes for 10-12 minutes at 350° F. first. Let them cool and then add them to the mix. That works just beautifully for me; however, as I don't use the short rise method I don't know how it would work there. I'm assuming that during the long rise method that the rye flakes absorb some of the water and that they wouldn't have that great an opportunity to absorb water during a short rise. As the flakes are steam treated and then crushed, perhaps you could try soaking them for an hour to see how that works.
I've used the rye flakes without baking them first too. I'm at a loss to say which I prefer. I haven't noticed that much of a difference. I'll have to bake two loaves using toasted rye flakes in one and regular rye flakes in the other and then do a taste comparison test to see if baking them is a worthwhile step. I only started roasting them about 2 weeks ago when I read that it gives a "nuttier" flavor to them, according to the author...
Good luck, and keep us posted as to what you do and how it turns out.
Cliff. Johnston
"May the best you've ever seen,
Be the worst you'll ever see;"
from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay