"Will" > wrote in message =
news:mailman.60.1109707850.30360.rec.food.sourdoug ...=


> > http://www.prettycolors.com/bread%5F...kel/index.html

> In short, I am saying/speculating: the temp cycle used in the long, =
slow
> bake skews to amylase-sugar activity, not yeast-gas activity.

In Try 3 there was a 2 hr. rise as well as some time for the crock pot
to warm.

> it might be to get to the traditional "brownness", you need to add=20
> malted barley and raise the amylase content to a more traditional=20
> "rye-like" base.

Ain't got none of that, but could try some diastatic malt. Actually, I
do not see how it could get much browner. It could be sweeter,
though.

> I suspect that the bread also needs a period of higher heat to fully
> caramelize the residual sugar.

I don't think we are talking about caramelization here. That starts
at quite higher temperatures, certainly above boiling. The temperature
I measure in the subject loaves is 175 degrees F. So it is probably
Maillard processes which produce the browning, and some flavor
as well. It should be clear that the interior temperature of bread
loaves during baking/cooking cannot exceed boiling temperature.

I could guess that the lighter color of the loaf of Try 2 was due to=20
inhibition of amylases by the excessive amount of acid generated in
the rye sour by the long incubation at relatively high temperature
(85 - 90 degrees F. cf. 70 degrees F. for Try 3 and Try 1).
(Reducing sugars and amino acids are needed for the Maillard
reactions).

> I have been raising the temp on my trusty countertop roaster=20
> for about 2 hours at the end ... The interior appears to be=20
> browner for doing so.

The idea of using a countertop roaster for cooking/baking bread
seems a very good one, particularly since its compactness and
insulation renders it energy conservative. The fancy-oven jocks
might take notice of that, but I guess they won't. Anyway, I do=20
not think that higher temperature would accelerate the sugar=20
formation and browning in pumpernickel-type breads. But I
will try it.

I wonder if overclocking a countertop roaster could make it
function as cloche for bread baking.=20

> The bread certainly looks good in the pictures.

Well, of course, pictures can be fixed. I could fool you. But
I wouldn't! They are from a 1.3 MPixel camera. Even those
images are too big for my screen, so have to be made smaller
with a photo editor.

--
DickA