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Old Milwaukee Rye Bread

"Phyllis Tesch" <patesch@execpc.com>
Sun, 28 May 2000 12:21:08 -0500
v100.n045.14
This is the recipe for Old Milwaukee Rye Bread from "New Complete Book of
Breads" by Bernard Clayton, Jr. Someone asked that I post it.  I include the
introductory paragraph because I find it interesting.

"Old Milwaukee Rye bread has become a delicious classic in my kitchen.  It
was one of the first loaves of bread to come from my oven when I started
baking, and it had been a favorite ever since.  Over the years, it has
become a classic (and a favorite) in other kitchens as well.

"It begins with a sponge (or sour) rising and falling in a bowl under a taut
plastic wrap that will bubble to its maximum goodness in about three days,
give or take a few hours.  After a day or so, a whiff of the fermented
sponge will make manifest the historic relationship between the baker and
the brewer.

"I have baked hundreds of loaves of Old Milwaukee Rye, and each time I have
done so, I have had a warm thought for Bernadine Landsberg of Milwaukee, who
sent me the recipe a long time ago.

"The dough can be fashioned into 2 large round loaves - good for husky
sandwiches - or 3 or 4 long slender loaves, ideal for slicing thin to serve
at a buffet or brunch.

"Note:  this is a large amount of heavy dough for food processors.  I
suggest doing just half of the recipe for that method."

Ingredients
Sponge:
2 cups of medium rye flour
1 package of dry yeast
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds.
1 1/2 cups of warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

dough:
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons caraway seeds (divided)
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups rye flour
4 cups bread or all-purpose flour, approximately
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 egg, beaten, mixed with 1 tablespoon milk.

Baking sheet
1 baking sheet greased, Teflon, or sprinkled with cornmeal, or 2 baguette
pans, greased.
(note from PAT:  I use 2 hearth rye bread pans from King Arthur.)

Preparation:  1 - 3 days
To make the sponge, in a large bowl, measure the rye flour, yeast, seeds,
and water.  Blend well with 25 strokes of a wood spoon. Cover the bowl
snuggly with plastic wrap so the sponge loses none of its moisture, which
will condense on the plastic and fall back into the mixture.  The dark brown
pastelike batter will rise and fall as it develops flavor and a delicious
aroma.  Stir once each day.
(Note from PAT:  although I have made this several times, the sponge has
never been dark brown.  Both at this point and with the finished loaves, I
get light to medium brown.)

The sponge, which will resemble a wet mash that's too thick to pour and too
thin to knead, may be used anytime after 6 hours although the longer the
better - up to 3 days, when it will have ceased fermentation.  If it fails
to bubble up after falling back anytime during the 3-day period, don't think
it is dead.  It's not.  It's just resting but gaining flavor all the time.

By hand or mixer 20 minutes
To make the dough, on bake day, uncover the bowl and add the water,
molasses, 1 tablespoon caraway seed, salt, rye flour, and about 2 cups white
flour.  Beat until smooth, about 100 strokes or 3 minutes with the mixer
flat beater.  Add the shortening.

Stir in the balance of the white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, first with the
spoon and they by hand or with the mixer dough hook.  The dough should clean
the sides of the bowl but it will be somewhat sticky, thanks to the perverse
nature of rye flour.

Kneading 8 minutes.
Turn the dough out into a floured work surface and knead by hand (with the
help of a dough blade) or under the mixer dough hook.  If by hand, knead
with a strong push-turn-fold rhythm until the dough is smooth.  Add
sprinkles of white flour if necessary to control stickiness.

By processor 5 minutes
Prepare the sponge, as above.

Attach the plastic blade.  Reduce this size of this recipe  because the
dough is do heavy.

Pour the sponge into the processor work bowl and add the hot water,
molasses, 1 tablespoon caraway seeds, salt.  Pulse to blend into a light
batter like dough.  Add all of the rye flour.  Pulse.  Add the shortening.

With the machine on, measure in the white flour, 1/4 cup at a time.  Add the
last portion with care - no more than necessary to create a ball of dough
that will ride the blade around the work bowl, cleaning it as it whirls.

Kneading 45 seconds.
Leave the machine running and knead for 45 seconds.

The dough will be some what sticky when it comes from the work bowl but a
few sprinkles of white flour will make it easy to shape into a ball.

First Rising 1 hour
Place the dough in a greased bowl and place plastic wrap over the top of the
bowl.  Leave at room temperature until the dough has doubled in bulk, about
1 hour.

(If prepared with a new fast-rising yeast at the recommended higher
temperatures, reduce the rising times by half.)

Punch down 10 minutes
Punch down and let rise for an additional 10 minutes.

Shaping 6 minutes
Divide the dough.  For 2 round loaves, mold each into a smooth ball and
place on the baking sheet.  Flatten the tops slightly.  For a long slender
loaf, roll the piece under the fingers and palms so that it stretches
lengthwise to become a baton, a French word that graphically describes the
shape.  Place the pieces side by side on the baking sheet or in the special
twin pans made primarily for French baguettes.

Second rising 40 minutes.
Cover the loaves with wax paper.  Leave until loaves have doubled in bulk,
about 40 minutes.

Preheat.
Preheat the oven to 375F 20 minutes before baking.

Baking 375F 40 minutes.
Rye loaves should have the traditional design cut with a sharp knife or
razor blade.  Carefully slash 3 or 4 diagonal cuts across the tope of each
long loaf.  For the found loaves, cut a tic-tac-toe design or 3 or 4
parallel cuts across the top of the loaves.

Brush the tops with the egg-milk wash for a shiny crust (or water for an
unglazed one).  Sprinkle the moist glaze with 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
(which will stick better on the egg glaze).

Bake the loaves for about 40 minutes or until they test done - tapping the
bottom crust yields a hard hallow sound.  The loaves will be dark brown,
almost blank.  If the loaves appear to be browning too quickly, cover with a
piece of foil or sack paper.

(if using a convection over, reduce heat by 40F.)

Final step
Removed from the oven and allow to cool on metal racks.

This bread keeps for at least a week or more in a plastic bag, and freezes
for months at 0F.