I've made a 90% rye before, but it was exactly like the failure you
described with numerous dense spots throughout the loaf.

That can be rye properties or lack of sourness. If you look at my web
site where I did the rye baking tests, it shows what lack of sourness
does - exactly that. My thinking is that it is more a starter (sourness)
issue, when this happens. But, lacking exposure/experience with
different US obtainable rye flours, I cannot say for sure.

I grind my own rye with an impact mill, so, though it's as fresh as can be, it's also fairly fine and always whole flour. I guess I could try sifting out some of the bran, but I don't think I have a strainer that's got a small enough mesh.

In any case, I'm pretty sure the problem was a lack of sourness. I was trying to do the D-3 process, but must have made mistakes. The starter didn't seem ripe when I used it, but I went ahead anyway. Should have waited a little longer.

For the 66%, I just refreshed my rye starter a couple of times at a 1-10-10 ratio, following Hamelman's example in "Bread." It took about 16 hours at room temperature (70 degrees F) to ripen. I then followed his recipe, except I used whole rye instead of medium rye, upped the hydration to 78% to account for the higher absorption of the whole rye, and then omitted the yeast.

I was very pleased with the result.

Thanks again -- when I finally get around to making that pumpernickel sometime this week, I'll be basing it quite a bit on the pumpernickel on your page.


--
Jeff