Sourdough Toasted Oat Bread

There are many things I love to rant about, but few so much as bread. When I was kid, most of my school sandwiches were made with whole wheat "sandwich bread" from the grocery store- maybe that's what sparked my lifelong loathing. It was too sweet, too squishy and pasty, and invariably tasted stale. Chances are whatever preservatives tided over the regular loaves for their ridiculous shelf lives just couldn't keep the oils in the whole wheat bran from going rancid. I'm convinced that a lot of people think they dislike whole grain products because they're so used to these rancid flavours- trust me, a real whole grain bread tastes nothing like the miserable grocery store stuff.

Ever since, I've dreamed of becoming a sort of bread missionary, spreading the kind of bread that I want to see beyond central Europe. The first time I went to a German bakery was probably the tipping point- imagine wooden shelves stacked high with all manner of grainy, dense and light breads alike, enhanced with everything from grated carrots to yogurt. In the GTA, there's a few common brands that sell reasonable bread in a fix (Rudolph's and Dimpflmeier's come to mind) as well as the light, sandwich-ready rye loaves of the Starsky supermarket chain. Apart from that, I'm pretty much on my own if I want to recreate the really, really good breads I remember from Europe.

These type of breads almost always require a sourdough starter, which helps give them structure and lightness despite containing heavier, low-gluten flours like rye and whole wheat. The acidity of a sourdough also helps to limit the breakdown of starches that give the bread structure- something that rye flours inherently do if left unchecked. That's why if you find a recipe for rye bread without sourdough, chances are that another souring agent will be used. This particular recipe only features rye flour as the base of the sourdough starter, but this effect is much more important in more rye-intensive breads. Though there are many good tutorials on creating a sourdough starter from scratch already online, I'll eventually dig up the formula that I used and write a bit on how to culture and maintain a starter.

One more thing- you'll need a kitchen scale. I give the measurements that I got from the original recipe, and while you can use a conversion site to reasonably estimate the amounts in cups, it's a lot more reliable and accurate if you get a simple scale for twenty dollars or so. I use this thirty dollar model, which has served me reliably for at least four years. It's a very worthy investment if you like to bake.

I modified the recipe a bit from the original, adding oat flour and a bit of extra vital wheat gluten to add elasticity (and make up for that gluten free oat flour). I also added some golden flax seeds, both because they look pretty and because they taste exceptionally good with oats. You can also use regular flax seeds, or omit them entirely.

A "crumb shot" for the density and porousness of the bread- it's
sandwich-suitable!

Sourdough Toasted Oat Bread
Source: Moje Wypieki
My modifications and choices are in italics on the side.

For the sourdough:
55 g. Whole rye flour
55 g. Distilled water
10 g. Sourdough starter

Mix together and leave at room temperature around 12-16 hours.

For the bread:
450 g. Bread flour
150 g. Whole wheat flour (I used 100 g. oat flour and 50 g. whole wheat, plus about 10 g. vital wheat gluten.)
15 g. Fresh yeast, or 7 g. active dry yeast (I used dry yeast)
2 Tsp. Golden syrup or honey (I used honey)
450 g. Water
1 TBSP Salt
40 g. Rolled oats, non-instant
1-2 TBSP Golden flaxseeds (optional)

Toast the oats over medium heat in a frying pan until just beginning to become golden and fragrant. Transfer immediately to a cool plate to stop cooking.

Mix the flours, yeast, syrup/honey and water with the sourdough prepared beforehand. Either knead by hand until smooth or use a dough hook in a mixer on medium speed for about 7-8 minutes, then let rest covered for 10 minutes. Add the oats, salt and flaxseed (if using). Knead until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Leave the dough covered for about 2 hours. Knead briefly on a floured surface and shape into a loaf (or two smaller ones, though I made one large one), then sprinkle with additional oats and flaxseed (if desired). You can place it into a  Leave for another 1-2 hours, until doubled in bulk. (you can use a bread form/Garkorb, but I didn't.)

Preheat the oven to 250 ℃. Place a heatproof pan on the bottom rack of the oven. When putting the loaf into the oven, fill this pan with a cup of boiling water to add steam. Immediately lower the temperature to 225 ℃ (I used 230 ℃) and bake for 30-35 minutes, then another 10-20 minutes at 220 ℃, or until 190 ℉ inside.

Let cool completely before cutting!