October 28, 2013 - 9:32am
100% Rye Bread and Storing
So I know that we "cure" this loaf for 24-48 hours before slicing and I can certainly freeze sections of the loaf wrapped well but what is the best way to keep at room temp? Just keep in the tea towel? Or should it be wrapped in plastic at this point? Or in a paper bag? All comments/suggestions are welcome. My guess is wrapped in plastic but lets see what you all have to say. And on a further note how long can I expect a 100% whole rye made with rye sour and no commercial yeast to last at room temp? This is a lean bread with no fat at all. Salt is roughly 2% and the only additions are currants and sunflower seeds.
Thanks
Josh
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At least that is what I do. Usually while the bread is pretty fresh it can still have some sharp corners of crust, so two plastic bags would be good, the inner one just gets ripped more often than not.
The bread will keep for longer than it'll take you to eat it! It's hard to say exactly, but two-three weeks is the bare minimum in my opinion. If the bread has scald in it you can keep it for even longer.
Josh,
In my experience, these breads will last a couple weeks - especially if the hydration is high which I suspect it is in your bread. My problem has not been staling but mold growth before I've finished the loaf. I used to wrap in aluminum foil and leave on my counter and still had mold problems. Finally emailed Jeffrey Hamelman who said that with a high percentage, high hydration rye, you could actually store it wrapped up (plastic or foil) in the refrigerator.
Yeah, I know: never store bread in the fridge. But this is one exception to the rule.
Lovely looking cocktail rye you have pictured there.
Good luck and good baking,
Larry
I've been saying for a while that a high percentage rye can be kept in the refrigerator with little to no ill effects, but nobody would believe me, but I'd say Hamelman knows what he's talking about :)
You are correct about the mold as well. Sometimes I even get some mold after a week or so, if the bread is kept in a cupboard, but that was more of an issue of having a loaf, albeit wrapped, mold in there some time before and the minute amounts of fungus still remaining from that time.
I was about to post a question on this matter, and I am glad I spent a little extra time searching for this info and to have found this old post!
For years, I'd been making two weekly loaves of 100% rye high hydration sourdough (94%, I think) following a formula from "Bread Matters" (A. Whitley), and I had always been fighting mold, even after a few days.
I initially would wrap it in plastic wrap as per Whitley's recommendation to allow the development of flavour for a day before eating, but at times I'd spot mold a few days later. I tried to switch to towels, but that dried the bread too much for my taste. I later switched to beeswax paper (less waste), and even leave the paper open to allow some of the moisture out, and even wipe some moisture with a paper towel (when one is desperate...), but that never helped much.
I understand that ambient temperature is the biggest factor for the development of that fungus (on top of the moisture found in this kind of bread), but even in colder temps in my apartment, that was never enough to guarantee a mold free bread by the end of the week.
My partner recently (and shyly) admitted to me that she had kept the loafs I make for her in her fridge--knowing my position on putting bread in the fridge... =P I decided to do the same, despite me not liking the idea of cold bread, and I am really happy to have found this post for some validation in the approach to store this kind of bread.
Thanks everyone for sharing.