SC - Russian Black Bread

[Decker, Terry D.]

	<clipped>
> The dark red brown crust did have some
> cracks. The bottom was not burned at all, but smooth and evenly baked.
> These
> breads were then cut in slices, just like rye bread. They were dark,
> malty,
> sweetish and moist. They were the best breads I have ever tasted."
	<clipped>
> I note that the label of the German pumpernickel bread (imported from
> Germany) that my supermarked carries says just rye, water, salt, yeast. No
> molasses, or cocoa, or coffee, or anything else. And it is very dark.
> 
> Nanna
> 
I've been able to reproduce the dark red brown ryes without much trouble
using a higher percentage of rye flour.

The pumpernickel bread I'm familiar with is so brown the loaves appear
black.  The recipes I can find, at a minimum use a dark sweetener, commonly
molasses, and often adulterants like coffee or cocoa which will increase the
darkness of the loaf.  These are obviously modern additions.

I'm also curious about rye varieties and the color of the grain.  For
example, wheat runs from very pale yellow to a deep red brown, depending on
the variety.  Hard red winter wheat is used to make strong bread flour and
regular whole wheat, while a high gluten pale is used to make white whole
wheat bread flour.  Low gluten pales with the germ removed are often used in
cake flours.  This thread has started me wondering about the varieties of
rye and their properties.

Most of the readily available rye flour in the US tends to be a light brown
and probably finer meal than is desirable for pumpernickel.  This means I
need to find a source for pumpernickel meal to experiment.  I'm wondering
how dark a loaf I can get without adulterants.  I suspect it will be a deep
brown rather than a black, but until I do it, I won't know.

Bear 

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