Whole Grain Rye Bread

A friend of mine recommended the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. While the title is somewhat misleading it is still a really awesome book and I am in love with this rye bread. I have made two batches so far.

Each batch makes 4 loaves. Which a week before going to Seattle for vacation may seem slightly foolish to make, but I am feeding the missionaries this week and my dad will be staying with me, so I think it will get eaten and worse case scenario I can always take a loaf to work.

Here is what you need:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 3/4 cups rye flour
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs salt
2 Tbs caraway seeds
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
4 cups lukewarm water

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Slowly add in water until fully incorporated. Place dough in a non-airtight container and let dough rise 2 hours. At this point you can refrigerate dough to be used at a later date for up to one week, or you can divide into loaves to bake right away.

You will need to let refrigerated dough rise for 90 minutes before baking. Place dough on a pizza peel covered with cornstarch to rise. About one hour into your rise time, preheat oven with a baking stone on medium rack to 450 degrees. Place a broil pan on the bottom shelf of the oven. Before baking slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife and brush to paint the top of the loaf with water.
Transfer the dough from the pizza peel to the pre-heated stone and place 1 cup of hot water in a broil pan and close door. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove broil pan. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing.
If you don't have a stone you can bake the loaf on a silpat mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. If using this method you don't need the steam and the last 10 minutes of baking the bread should be baked directly on the rack.