This is a bread that I have been making since the 70s! The recipe was in one of my first bread books - Bernard Clayton Jr.'s The Complete Book Of Breads. The original recipe has AP flour, since bread flour wasn't readily available, back then, but I have increased the rye, changed some white to WW, and switched AP to bread flour. This time, I only used an overnight sponge, but usually I do a 3 day sponge, which was an option in the original recipe, which gives it a powerful, delicious, yeasty flavor. This time, I did the short sponge, because I wanted to give some friends a loaf today.
Rye sponge, ready to rise overnight. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Baked Old Milwaukee rye bread. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

So what is the deal with a three day sponge? Do you beat or add anything periodically?

Those look really good, PH. Nice and light, which is hard to find among rye breads sometimes. Would you mind sharing the recipe? I'd love to try it. It's hard to find rye bread at the groceries around here and if you do it's expensive for small loaves. Lack of rye bread might be a southern thang!

Bower wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:05 pm So what is the deal with a three day sponge? Do you beat or add anything periodically?

I would think you would just let it do it's thing and not bother the colony.

worth1 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:16 pm

Bower wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:05 pm So what is the deal with a three day sponge? Do you beat or add anything periodically?

I would think you would just let it do it's thing and not bother the colony.

That's it - cover it, and forget about it!

Here's my updated recipe:

Old Milwaukee Rye Bread

2 3/4 cup(s) water
2 1/2 tsp yeast, instant
3 tb oil
2 tb caraway seeds
1/4 cup(s) blackstrap molasses
1 large egg
1 tb salt
4 cup(s) dark rye flour
4 1/2 cup(s) bread flour

A. Up to three days before bake day, combine 1 1/2 c water, 1 tsp yeast, 2 c rye flour, and 1 tb caraway; mix well, cover, and let rise at room temp. to sour.

B. On bake day: stir in the remaining yeast, rye flour, caraway, and water, along with the molasses, egg, oil, and salt. Stir in 2c bread flour, and set aside 15 min. Mix in remaining bread flour, 1 c at a time, saving last 1/2 c if needed. Knead 6-7 min with dough hook. Place dough in a large oiled bowl, and roll around to coat. Let rise 1 1/2-2 hrs., or until doubled. Punch down and let rest while greasing three 8 1/2"x4 1/2" pans, or two 9"x5" pans. Divide evenly and place in pans, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 min. May be made into free-standing loaves, as well. Slash 3-4 times with these, and brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds, or more caraway seeds, if desired. 15 min before rise is finished, preheat oven to 375º, 325º in a convection oven.

C. Bake 45-50 min., 40-45 min. in the convection oven. Cool on a wire rack.

Variation: I often use some WW flour in place of some of the bread flour, reducing the flour some, as it absorbs more.

Thank you! And I happen to have the blackstrap molasses but no dark rye flour, just the lighter rye. I might have to use that as I can't recall ever seeing the dark rye flour on sale around here. That's more of a northern thing.

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 5:01 pm Thank you! And I happen to have the blackstrap molasses but no dark rye flour, just the lighter rye. I might have to use that as I can't recall ever seeing the dark rye flour on sale around here. That's more of a northern thing.

Just add cocoa powder, this is how pumpernickel is made.

So there is no Milwaukee's Best beer involved????

Actually, the pumpernickel here is a term for the 100% rye flour, though many online, labeled dark rye, is also 100%. The medium rye has had much, but not all, of the bran removed, like the white rye has. Most pumpernickel in stores has little rye in it - just colorings. I have made many with a small amount of cocoa, or a couple of tsp of caramel powder, to darken it more. But the main flavor is from the flour.

Maybe the Milwaukee name comes from that long, 3 day fermentation! I have made many breads with leftover beer - I used to drain the foam out of almost empty kegs, back in college, when I started baking bread.

Those loaves look great. Lately, it's pretty hard to find rye flour here.

I love rye bread.
One of my favorites but it is the caraway I really like.
Mostly on corned beef sandwichs.

worth1 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:26 am I love rye bread.
One of my favorites but it is the caraway I really like.
Mostly on corned beef sandwichs.

Reubens!

worth1 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:26 am I love rye bread.
One of my favorites but it is the caraway I really like.
Mostly on corned beef sandwichs.

I have always loved caraway. I remember, when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old, someone "messed up" and got a loaf of seedless rye, and I thought someone had forgotten to put the rye in it! lol That was when I was told what caraway is. I usually double the amount of caraway in recipes, though this recipe had 2 tb, so I didn't have to. I also have a small, wooden mortar and pestle, that I got in those early days, and use it for lightly crushing things like caraway and fennel, to release the aromas.

I used almost the last of my caraway in this bread, so the next day, I ordered another pound from Amazon. Couldn't be without it!

Ginger2778 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:19 am Those loaves look great. Lately, it's pretty hard to find rye flour here.

You'll have to do what I did, and order a 25 lb bag of rye berries! It lasts forever, or until used up, I should say, though you do need something to grind it. I have a Vitamix, which I've been using to grind small amounts of various grains, legumes, and other things, since I got it, but I also have a Nutrimill - something that had collected dust, since I got that Vitamix, but I cleaned it off recently, and used it for some rye, WW flour, and some wheat sprout flour; I also looked to see if I wanted anything else ground up that day, since it is sort of messy to clean up, and I also ground some sorghum - a grain used in a lot of Indian flatbreads. I'll have to try it in some other breads.

That's a beautiful recipe, and makes perfect sense to me. Tx!!

Have you considered a grain mill?
Im getting one probably this weekend.
Hand crank.

I'll have to try out the recipe but use sourdough starter instead of yeast.

I made some rye bread today, sort of based on the OMR, since it started with a yeast sponge. I only thought of it after I was adding the flours on baking day, but next time I'll do the sponge with some of the barley flour (not in the original recipe) - it may taste even more like beer then! I had to make less than usual, since my new freezer doesn't come until next Tuesday, so I just made a large, 36 oz. loaf. I started a rye sponge a few days ago, and made this loaf with all whole grain flour - rye, barley, and hard white wheat, plus a little vital wheat gluten, since I only used about 1/3 wheat flour.
A 2 1/2 day old rye sponge. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rye bread, just before baking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished rye bread. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That dark bread looks really good.
I was just reading about barley bread the other day. I've never had it.
I'm going to try growing barley again this year. Couple types of spring wheat too, and spelt to plant in the fall.
Have you grown grains at all? I'd definitely love to grow enough to mill a few whole grain flours for the bread.

The last time I bought spelt flour it was about $7 for a kilo. Now they have a different brand and it's $22 !!! I forget what I payed for the rye, it is a bigger bag anyway and will last awhile, but for sure it wasn't cheap. It could definitely be worthwhile to grow a few kilos of grain.

[mention]Bower[/mention] I don't have enough space to grow grains. But I do get deals on large amounts of whole grains, and grind my own flour - cheaper that way, and better flour. For smaller amounts, I use the Vitamix, but larger amounts I grind in the Nutramill. Most rye flour is not whole grain - even "dark" rye has had some of the grain removed, but not much. Whole spelt, and other grains, are cheaper than buying the flour, plus they keep longer than when ground into flour.

Oven meal tonight and the potatoes, sweet potatoes and acorn squash were all from my garden. Parsley was from my potted plant. The chicken is coated in cornflake crumbs, seasoned bread crumbs and parmesan. It is one of our favorite ways to eat chicken.


Parmesan Cornflake Chicken by Brownrexx, on Flickr

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:10 pm Those look really good, PH. Nice and light, which is hard to find among rye breads sometimes. Would you mind sharing the recipe? I'd love to try it. It's hard to find rye bread at the groceries around here and if you do it's expensive for small loaves. Lack of rye bread might be a southern thang!

I don't think it's as popular as it once was. I grew up on it but when I visited parents many years later, even they had given it up. I can buy 1/2 loaves of 'Chicago' rye bread that I like ( at almost $5). It disappeared from store shelves for about two years when the bakery changed hands.