Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I like rye bread.
Unfortunately when I make it myself, the cost of a little sack of flour which is priced such that the only thing I gain from home baking is strictly the therapeutic activity. The cost of the results thereof presents minor incentive to practice the hobby/craft of baking. Even less incentive when RISK of failure that is unrecoverable when compared to just buying a loaf.

So I inquire unto the Board:
Are there local stores that offer better deal for rye flour for home bakers? --OR-- must one reach into the virtual WWW beyond and strike a baking distributor for a 50 pound sack with my VISA card?

I can spot a few places that offer 50 pounds for about $55. Not bad, but still not cheap compared to A/P flour.

Rye flour is available in Richmond at nearly all supermarkets, and in 1 pound bags. Also at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and health food stores in bulk or packaged.

Pretty much any natural foods store will stock Rye flour.

I thought you were in the Bay Area, no?

San Jose, a 'burb of SF.
I can find rye flour around the corner, my question is; where are the best deals?

Tunaroe,

Well, in SJ, I'm not sure. In SF or Berkeley, the best deals are natural food stores like Rainbow Grocery or Berkeley Bowl where you can buy the rye flour from bulk bins.

www.honeyvillegrain.com sells a 50lb bag of Rye Flour (Medium and Dark) and no matter how much you order, the shipping is only $4.49. There is a discount code available for 15% off, so it looks like it would cost you about $47.00 or $49.00 for the bag depending on which one you buy

If you like rye bread, you should try Dave's recipe. It's spectacular.

Amy

Yum, I shall check it out.

Meanwhile I'm still experimenting . . . today's loaf is this:


The results are:


I wonder about my slashes this time, it's like stroking a paint brush -- practice.
I've gotten into the HABIT of checking doneness with the temp probe.

BTW, the recipe is something I've seen a couple times, different places.
It appears in THIS book:
http://books.google.com/books/about/How_to_bake.html?id=pn27GwAACAAJ
and on the bread-bakers.com down load site (verbatim).

For Anyone Interested, from an earlier Amy post:

Dave's Rye Bread...........................thanks Dave

The day before, or three days before:

1 tsp instant yeast
2 c dark rye flour
1 1/2 c water (80-90º)
1 tb caraway seed (optional, but necessary to me)

Combine in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Let rise overnight or (better) up to 3 days.

Bake day:

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 c water (70º)
1 egg, lighlty beaten
1/4 c blackstrap molasses
1 tb caraway seed (optional)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tb oil
2 c dark rye flour
4 c bread or clear flour (approx.)

When ready to bake, stir the yeast, water, egg, caraway, molasses, oil, and salt into the sponge, along with the rye flour. Add 2 c bread flour, mix well, and set aside 15 or 20 min. to let the rye absorb it's quota of water(this will prevent it from becoming dry later on). Add the remaining bread flour 1 c at a time, and knead 6 or 7 min., or until smooth and elastic. This dough won't be as sticky as some ryes, due to the higher ratio of white to rye. When ready, drop the dough into a large oiled bowl and roll around to coat with the oil. Cover and let rise at room temp. 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. Punch down and let rest while greasing three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. pans. Divide into thirds, shape into loaves, and place in pans. Spray with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 45 min., or longer - until more than double, and about 1/2 in. above edge of pan. (May also be made free standing-slash loaves 3 or 4 times each if free standing).

About 15 min. before loaves are ready, preheat oven to 375º. Bake 40 - 45 min. and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

P.S. I did an experiment one time with this recipe to compare bread flour, reg. unbleached, and first clear flour (the KIng Arthur type). The bread and clear definately did better, with both rising higher and staying there, with the clear doing just a little better in the final tasting, with a slightly better texture. Maybe not worth the quadruple price, but it was interesting to try once.

Tunaroe,

Wow, another beautiful loaf! Now I know what I want you to bring to the meetup!