First I started making white bread using dry yeast, and this does a lot of the work because it greatly facilitates the proofing of the bread and does it very quickly, in an hour or a little less you achieve a beautiful proofing for your bread, obviously it is a chemically treated product that helps a lot in this part of the process, which is generally the one that gives the most headaches, since the use of yeast makes it easier for this phase to be done in a more homogeneous and balanced way, aesthetically speaking.
After I somehow felt that I had mastered this type of bread, making it mostly in a sandwich presentation, and after having watched several informative programs on the subject, I thought about trying to make breads with rye flour since it is a product that I really like, so I located here in Mexico City a place where I could buy this flour as pure as possible, and I found a health food store that has the rye in grain and grinds it on the spot to sell you the amount of flour that you want, so it is my ideal place where I also get other seeds and cereals to integrate the bread, when I want to vary the preparation.
Reading several things about homemade bread, I came across a recipe for rye sourdough from an Argentine baker from whom I have learned many tips, so I tried making it and after two failed attempts, I managed to have the right texture and consistency for it to work! I can tell you that it is a trial and error that requires time and patience until the process goes well. I wanted to use sourdough instead of chemical yeast, because although when the leavening process is much slower, the result of flavor and benefits is much higher, sourdough breads, when starting from this natural organic mixture, facilitate digestion and affect your digestive system less, while chemical yeast, as it quickly inflates your bread with air and gas, also tends to inflame your stomach with this accelerated process of chemical combinations that intervene in the leavening of the dough.
So once I had my rye sourdough I started making bread and the result was wonderful, a process that is made more comforting by knowing that you can prepare your own food, knowing how to do it and also preparing something the way you like, with only flour, salt, water and a little sugar, plus the sourdough you have a delicious bread, of course the two-step rising process can take between 3 hours or a day to ensure that the fermentation is adequate. Rye flour has very little gluten, which makes the dough dense and heavy and does not rise as much as white wheat flour. Sometimes I mix rye flour with whole wheat flour to give the bread more softness and elasticity, although I like the consistency of sour, lean bread better.
I also prepare these breads with pumpkin seeds, raisins or oats, I like to combine them with cereal, I have also used black sesame that gives the bread a very rich flavor, my favorite is orange bread with sesame, and I have also made them with oregano and mustard seeds, or with coconut zest, I have tried several things because I feel that the natural bitter flavor of rye goes very well with various types of flavors. If you combine this bread with some type of jam, the mezcal of flavors is indescribably rich.
I recommend venturing into the world of homemade bread if you can and have the time, and if it is within your means, do it with sourdough, the result is wonderful and I think you will not want to buy more commercial bread after that, just as it happened to me. Here are some photos taken by me! I love making bread.
