Bread is a huge thing in Germany, in case you didn’t know. The one thing Germans miss the most when living abroad is bread. We do love bread. My grandpa always says bread is very precious to him. When I spent a year in Canda after highschool, I started to bake my own bread after a while. I hated the squishy Canadian bread. I wanted something with whole wheat and rye, something which filled me up and kept me going for a long time.
Even though I love bread and made the farmer’s bread you see in the pictures, my husband actually has become a much better breadmaker than me. We like to eat homemade bread, which he usually bakes every week. He only allowed me to bake this loaf because I was on holiday and had more time than him. The bread is called farmer’s bread. It is rich and surprisingly light in color. It has a nice crunchy crust and a soft center.
I found the recipe in Lust auf Genuss, a German food magazine, which can be found in grocery stores such as Rewe and Sky. I tried to find the recipe on their website, but they apparently don’t share them anywhere but in the magazine. The bread can be found in the first edition of 2014 on page 37.
Credit: Lust auf Genuss Magazine (German), first edition of 2014 on page 37
Use half of the fresh yeast or use one package of yeast and sprinkle into 150ml of lukewarm water in a small bowl. Add about 100 grams of whole wheat flour and let sit covered with a kitchen towel in a warm place for 15 minutes. Meanwhile look for a really gigantic bowl (I mean as big as you have, you have more than 1 kilogram of flour here!). Sprinkle the second half of the yeast into it, add 300 milliliters of lukewarm water, 700 grams of whole wheat flour, 300 grams of rye flour, the sour dough, the molasses, and salt. Add your yeast/water mix to it. First work the dough with a wooden spoon and then your hands. It is rather hard to work with. If you feel it is too hard, add some more lukewarm water. I usually need more water. Knead the dough for five minutes once you managed to create a big ball. After that put the ball back into the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let it rise for 1 hour or until it has at least doubled in size. Divide the dough into two equal parts and knead both again. Form into desired shapes and sprinkle generously with the remaining 100 grams of whole wheat flour. Let rise a second time, at least for half an hour to an hour. Cover again with kitchen towel. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Celsius. Put some flat container on the ground with a capacity of 500 milliliters of water. Fill container with water. Bake both loaves at 250 for 15 minutes. Then take out the container with water, reduce the temperature to 220 and let bake for 30-35 minutes. Once loaves are done (if you bang the breads with a wooden spoon, they should sound hollow, keep them in the turned-off oven for another five minutes, allowing for the hot air to get out. I usually put a wooden spoon into the door, some oven doors can simply be opened a few centimeters. Don’t be afraid of yeast. Yeast simply likes it warm. Think of it as a living thing (which it actually is) and make sure it feels cozy in your apartment. Don't let a cold breeze come in, but have it warm all the time.
Since you are dealing with yeast, it may take longer or shorter for your dough to rise. Check on the dough once in a while.
Never turn on the circulating air in your oven (convection oven). Bread hates air being moved and will become dry. Instead the heat should be to the maximum and humid. That’s where the water container comes in.
You can also brush the bread with water before putting it in the oven. The crust will get even crunshier.Farmer's Bread
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Have a wonderful day with a slice of bread with some homemade jam (the one you see on the picture is from my mom),
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