So, C told me she had a bread recipe that requires no kneading; as though kneading weren't the fun part.
This is a German style whole grain bread, into which I integrated the nine cereal mix from the Nove Cereali,
and covered with sesame. As a Weizenmischbrot, it is composed of about two thirds whole grain wheat,
one third rye flours.
The crumb is a bit finer than it should be, but - to paraphrase Rumsfeld -
you go to the oven with the flour you have.
It is my first sourdough bread. The sourdough starter is a week old, made of whole wheat -
though I am now feeding it with rye, and I intend to keep it balanced between wheat and rye. Instead of using
the sourdough plus commerical yeast, I took my chances and prepared a poolish the evening before baking,
to develop the yeast culture in the sourdough - and was successful.
When C claimed that it didn't need kneading, I was skeptical, and it was hard to resist. But though the crumb
is fairly dense and crumbly, it is no more so than other Vollkornbrote, in fact it seems a little on the fluffy side.
Of course without kneading, the gluten does not get developed, so that there is little internal cohesion from the wheat.
But the acid in the sourdough activates the rye's cohesive properties, so that the bread doesn't fall apart.
The result is a nice bread with a complex flavor. I look forward to tasting a future instantiation, once the
sourdough has aged and matured.
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