Does 100% rye sourdough bread always have a sticky crumb? How do I make it stick to the knife less?

Question

Every time I make a 100% rye sourdough, it sticks to the knife when I cut it even after letting it sit for a day before cutting. Is this normal? I have tried to vary the hydration ratio a bit, but it still behaves the same way. Is there some "additive" to make it less sticky? Is it a must to add wheat for that?

The sourdough starter I maintain is simple: 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water.

I dissolve malt syrup, molasses, salt, and spices in a warm .5-1 cup of water. Then I add starter, 4 cups of flour, mix it and transfer right away into loaf pan. AFAIK there is no need to fold 100% rye bread and it raises fast. I bake it at 350˚F for slightly over an hour. I sometimes use Nu Wave infrared oven (40 min), but the very bottom is not quite crispy.

The final bread looks and tastes good. But that stickiness on the knife and rolled "crumbs" are driving me crazy. Is there something I can do to minimize it?

I heard that an over-proofed starter can help lower pH; helping pentosans keep bread structure and making them absorb less water. I tried making the bread with a well proofed starter, but it made no difference. Do I have not enough starter for that amount of flour? Shall I move some flour there to prevent pH from raising much?

Here is the pic to get an idea. It is not the best one to show the issue. The bread is almost a week old and the issue is not as acute. For 1 day old bread, it sticks incredibly.

Answer 1

One cause of gumminess in 100% rye breads is excessive starch degradation related to amylase enzyme actions. Amylase action is slowed down by increasing acidity. You can increase the acidity by adding a small amount of lemon juice or cream of tartar to your dough as described here.

In his books "Whole Grain Breads" and "Crust and Crumb", Peter Reinhart comments that you can use ascorbic acid (1/8 tsp / 125 mg per loaf) to increase acidity and inhibit both amylase and protease activity.

Since rye bread doesn't have significant gluten for structure, but instead relies completely on starches and pentosans, it is imperative to let the loaf cool completely before cutting it so that the starches crystallize and the gums solidify.

Answer 2

Bake longer.

If the outside is getting overdone when you bake longer, bake longer at a lower temperature (usually first 10-15 minutes hottest for maximum spring, then turn down as needed so the inside is done without the outside being burnt.)

Perhaps 350F for 15 min and then 325 for an additional hour and 15 (90 total), if the top is as black as it seems to be in the picture from an hour at 350F (sugars in there, so that makes sense - can't be too hot for too long with molasses, malt, etc. in the dough.) That's a starting guess, adjust as needed depending on results.

Answer 3

There's no need to add malt, especially not diastatic malt. No molasses or any other sugar either. Because proper rye has an enormous amount of starch attacking enzymes, needs enough sourdough to inactivate them and sets free an abundance of sugar for the yeasts. So there's more than enough nutrition and yeast activity is higher than in wheat, the capability of holding trapped gas bubbles is lower. Any surplus of sugar leads to that gumminess! In a 100 % rye you should give in 35 % of all the flour into the levain build. If you are able to do a well made 3-stage sourdough it will be very mild and you can increase the amount of pre-fermented flour to 45 %. Another point: mixing! It's an old opinion to give the dough only a short mix. Recent developments in breadmaking showed only a long slow mixing will fully develop the doughs structure. If you have a machine give it a slow 35 minutes. If you do it by hand give it three times a good mixing, with a few minutes break in between. Good luck! (further reading: Hamelman, "Bread" and Kräling, "Brot")

Answer 4

Your bread looks good in the photo. Rye is notoriously sticky, and when cut goes gummy if not completely cool, but two things I find very helpful are:

• After turning off the heat, and removing it from the tin, leave it in the still warm oven to dry out for at least 12 hours, with the door open slightly so moisture can escape.
• Dip the knife into a jug of water between each slicing.

Answer 5

Preheat your oven Along with a covered Dutch oven, then bake in the covered Dutch oven for half of the recommended time and uncover for the latter half to crisp and color your bread.

Answer 6

Try steaming it instead of baking.