100% Rye Loaves 8 and 9

Here's my attempts from last night and this morning - Rye Loaves 8 (back two loaves) and 9 (front two loaves) by my journals reckoning.

During the oven bake, Rye Loaf 9 used the tenting method suggested by Mini Oven in a comment on my previous blog entry, and has produced a nicely rounded loaf top, with no tearing save the score line across the top. Rye Loaf 8 is my previously method (ie. putting the pans in the oven, and nothing else), and is the more... erm... 'rustic' looking style. The loaves are the same size as previous attempts, so I expect the interior will be much the same. Rye Loaf 9 is a bit smaller, however I put that down to the dough fermenting right over the top of the mixing bowl, and into a generous puddle beside it!

I was absolutely dumbstruck by the differences between the two bakings - same dough, same temperature and baking time (about 75 minutes at 180C - 356F), same internal temperature at the end (200F - 93C). Both loaves looked totally unremarkable after proofing - neither showed great amounts of rising, nor had the scoring been pulled apart. In my eyes, the proofing time of about 2 hours had little visible effect on the loaves. Once in the oven though... that's when they took off.

Now that I have a better understanding of creating a less manic looking loaf, my next experiment... what kind of seeds (sesame, poppy, etc.) would go well on top of the loaf! Any suggestions are always appreciated.