German Vollkornbrot with Rye and Spelt
Vollkornbrot is a German whole grain bread with complex fermentation flavors and plenty of nutrients and texture. This version has spelt and rye flours, a cracked rye soaker, and sunflower seeds, which all combine to give the bread a tasty fruity-and-nutty flavor that pairs well with cheese and butter.
- Prep time
- 45 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 10 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- Soaker
- 225 g cracked rye berries (1 3/4 cups)
- 315 g water (1 1/3 cups)
- Sponge
- 320 g rye whole grain flour (2 1/2 cups)
- 320 g water (1 1/3 cups)
- 20 g sourdough starter (1 Tbsp)
- Final Dough
- All of the Soaker
- All of the Sponge
- 170 g spelt whole grain flour (1 1/3 cups)
- 14 g salt (2 1/2 tsp)
- 75 g sunflower seeds, unsalted (2/3 cup)
Instructions
- 1
Soaker (night before)
- 2
With your mill stones set relatively wide, about 20 ticks from "stones lightly knocking" position, crack the 225 grams of rye berries. There will be some flour-powder among the rye pieces, which is fine. If you don't have a grain mill, you can use a spice/coffee grinder to chop the rye berries.
- 3
Combine the cracked rye with the 315 grams water, cover and let sit overnight.
- 4
Sponge (night before)
- 5
Mix the sponge ingredients in a bowl or straightwalled container, cover and let ripen overnight. This is essentially a very large rye levain or pre-ferment.
- 6
Final Dough (in the morning)
- 7
Mix the dough ingredients (including the soaker and the sponge) in a large bowl. A Danish dough whisk is a helpful tool for doing this. You shouldn't need any additional water for the dough unless with thorough mixing you still have dry flour.
- 8
Butter a small Pullman pan and transfer the dough to the pan. Smooth the top of the dough with a spatula or damp fingertips. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour or additional seeds.
- 9
Cover and let the dough rise until it almost reaches the top of the pan in the center and is about 1 cm from the top on the edges. This could be 1.5-3 hours depending on the ambient temperature.
- 10
Baking (late morning)
- 11
Before the final proof is complete, begin preheating the oven to 450°F.
- 12
For easy steam creation, cover the Pullman pan with its lid or a foil tent.
- 13
Place the pan in the oven on a mid-low shelf and bake as follows:
- 14
450°F for 15 minutes, covered
- 15
425°F for 45 minutes, uncovered
- 16
425°F for 5-10 minutes, out of the pan directly on the rack
- 17
Let the bread cool and set for at least 24 hours before slicing. Once cool, you can leave it covered at room temperature for several days. After that it will begin to harden but still be tasty. Or you can wrap it in plastic or beeswax wrap and refrigerate it for about a month.