Sauerkraut Rye Bread

My cousin who lives near Chicago recently sent me a recipe that has been used by her mum for Polish sauerkraut rye bread.

The recipe was from a bakery in Chicago and was printed in the Chicago Tribune on 2 March 1989.

Well of course I had to try this out!

 

The recipe is in cups, which except for liquids, I find hard to work with for consistency – so I  did some conversions into grams.

Note -The amount of sauerkraut was  3/4 of a cup – I measured out a loosely filled cup and weighed it.

This recipe makes one very large loaf – you can use it to make two loaves.

There is a large amount of flour – I mixed it by hand which was quite hard work but after the first rise it was a good dough to work with.

Ingredients

• 880g plain flour (650g & 250g)
• 170g rye flour
• 40g butter
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
• 100g sauerkraut
• 500ml warm water
• Cornmeal or semolina for the baking tray
• 1 egg yolk & 1 tablespoon of milk to glaze
• 2 teaspoons of caraway for topping.

Method

• Into a large bowl add 650g of plain flour and rye flour.
• Rub in the butter.
• Add the salt, sugar and yeast.
• Chop the sauerkraut with a sharp knife into small pieces.
• Add the sauerkraut to the flour and mix together.
• Slowly add the water and bring the mixture together.
• Slowly add the rest of the flour (you may not need it all) until the dough does not stick to the sides and start to gather it together into a ball.
•  Knead the dough for around 5 minutes.

 

 

• Cover the dough with a cloth or clingfilm.
• Leave it to rise until it is double in size.
• Punch the dough down and knead it again for a few minutes.
• Allow the dough to double in size again
• Punch the dough down again and knead it again lightly.
• (You can divide it into two here if you want to make two loaves)
• Put the dough onto a board and flatten it into a rectangle.
• Shape into an oval.
• Cover a baking tray with cornmeal or semolina.
• Place the dough onto the baking tray.
• Cover and let the dough rise until it is double in size.

 

• Pre-heat the oven to GM 6  – 200°C.
• Brush the glaze onto the loaf
• Sprinkle with caraway seeds note – I would cover the seeds with glaze again as well next time.
• Using a sharp knife make 4 or 5 diagonal cuts in the top of the loaf.
• Bake for 20 minutes
• Turn the oven down to GM4  – 180°C.
• Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

 

It was delicious with a great texture!

I sliced up some of the loaf and froze it  – that worked well.

I might just add some more caraway seeds to the dough itself next time.