Professor Butter Beard’s Black Pepper Rye Bread
1 large loaf
2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp active dry yeast (or 2 tsp, if not using sourdough starter)
3/4 cup of your sourdough starter
1/3 cup rye flour, toasted and cooled
3 cups bread flour (have additional on hand as needed on a humid day)
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1) In a quart-size glass measuring cup, whisk together the warm water, honey, yeast and starter. Let the mixture bloom for ten minutes.
2) Lightly toast the rye flour over medium heat, stirring constantly, until aromatic and honey colored. Set aside to cool.
3) In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together the two flours, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Switch to the dough hook and add the bloomed yeast mixture. Mix until a rough dough forms that “slaps” the side of the bowl. This is a very wet sticky dough.
4) Lightly grease a large glass bowl and scrape in the dough. Cover and let rise until doubled. This could be anywhere from 2-3 hours. Punch down the dough and let rise until doubled again.
5) Shape the dough into a round and place it into a proofing basket lightly dusted with flour. Cover and let rise again while the oven preheats.
6) Place your Dutch oven into your oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
7) When the oven is ready, flip the dough onto a 12” circle of parchment paper. Lightly dust the top of the loaf with flour (I prefer rice flour at this point). Decoratively score the top of the loaf.
8) Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Use the parchment paper to lower the dough into the pan. Replace the cover and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes until golden brown.
9) Use the parchment paper to lift the bread out of the pan. Transfer the bread to a wire rack, slip out the parchment paper, and allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing.
