Eastern European Black Bread

(I'm hijacking my own blog for all my baker friends today. Lunch posts will resume next week after the chic's Fall break.)

I finally got up the nerve to try to make Eastern European Black Bread in my new-ish (after 6 loaves, it's not so new anymore) Pullman pan. What kinda intimidated me about it were all the soakers, starters, and sours. Take a look at the recipe and you'll see what I mean Easter European Black Bread Recipe I've used starters for bread a buncha times, but the soakers and sours were new territory for me. Plus I had to strategically time these things. The starter was a week ahead of baking, the soaker 24 hours ahead, and the sour 15 hours ahead. But, I decided to just go for it and see what happened.

(clockwise from top) sourdough starter, rye soaker, rye sour

I wish I would have taken a picture of the sour after it's resting time. It starts out looking like paste but ends up all puffed up and full of air bubbles. It was pretty cool. I gotta tell you though, that the soaker and the sour were stinky! I went back and re-read the directions to make sure that I wasn't supposed to put them in the fridge and still didn't believe it so I looked up a few more rye recipes. Nope - counter. Just a warning to anyone else that might decide to make the bread and then worry all night that you are poisoning your family. You're not! So after making sure that no one would die from my bread baking adventure, everything else went smoothly.

Ready for the oven

Once cooled, you're supposed to wait 24 hours before slicing it. After waiting for a week to make the bread and spending two days on prep, I wasn't waiting a minute more. I sliced into that sucker and tried a slice. And so what...they were right...I shoulda waited cause it really tore up the piece that I sliced, but it was still good. The Hubs, who normally dislikes all black, brown, rye breads actually liked it. I think it was the textural difference. The black bread I've bought in stores, and even at the bakery, had a drier, more fine crumb to it. But this was the opposite, soft and moist. I reminded me of the black bread I ate while in London when I first fell in love with it- almost like a steamed bread. Maybe that's what the lid helps with...steaming it a bit.

I let it cool completely and sliced off my impatient end and the rest of the bread sliced beautifully. So despite all the smelly ingredients and the week long prep work, it was a hit and I would definitely make it again!