Polish Starter:
Strong Flour: 100g; Water: 100g; Yeast: 1g.
Main Dough Ingredients:
Bread Flour: 400g; Dark Rye Flour: 100g; Whole Wheat Flour: 100g; Caster Sugar: 20g; German Dark Beer: ±420ml; Yeast: 2g; Salt: 8g; Old Dough: 100g.
Flavor: Other; Technique: Baking; Time: Several hours; Difficulty: Easy.
Detailed Steps for Making Dark Rye Beer Bread
Prepare all the necessary ingredients.
Prepare the Polish starter a day in advance by mixing all the Polish starter ingredients, letting it sit at room temperature for 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate for about 17 hours for fermentation.
Place the Polish starter and main dough ingredients in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, knead the dough on low speed until it comes together, then switch to medium speed to knead the dough.
Due to the high content of dark rye flour and whole wheat flour in the ingredients, knead the dough until it is smooth, elastic, and has good extensibility.
Shape the dough into a round ball, place it in a container, cover, and refrigerate for about 2 hours for fermentation.
After about 1 hour of fermentation, flip the dough once.
Spray a little water on the surface of the dough, cover, and continue fermenting in the refrigerator.
Dust the work surface with flour, take out the fermented dough, divide it into 2 equal parts, deflate, shape into rounds, cover, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Shape the rested dough into rounds again, place them with the seam side up in a proofing basket dusted with flour.
Place the proofing basket in a container, then refrigerate overnight at around 2-5 degrees Celsius.
Allow the dough to come to room temperature for about 60 minutes. Meanwhile, place a baking stone in the lower part of a preheated smart oven set to 270 degrees in top and bottom heat mode for about 45 minutes.
Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, score the top with a “cross” pattern, then steam the dough in the smart oven by adding water through the steam vent, quickly placing the dough on the baking stone, closing the door, and steaming again.
Bake for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 220 degrees, remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the bread, and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
Once baked, remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
