Best 3 Authentic German Black Bread Schwarzbrot Recipes

BLACK FOREST BREAD - SCHWARZWAELDER KRUSTE

Steps:

• Mix the ingredients for the sourdough starter together by hand until it forms a ball.
• Cover the starter and leave at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. The starter can be fed on rye or white flour. The starter should have been recently fed, so if it has been in the refrigerator for a month, feed it once before starting this recipe.
• Mix the ingredients for the sponge together by hand. If you are using fresh yeast or non-instant yeast, dissolve the yeast in a little of the water before you add it.
• When the dough comes together to form a ball, let it sit for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 10 to 16 hours. You can also refrigerate both parts for up to 48 more hours if necessary.
• Mix the all of the sourdough and sponge with the rest of the dough ingredients in the mixer on low with a dough hook for about eight minutes.
• Turn the speed up a notch and continue mixing for 4 minutes.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times.
• Add flour if the dough is too soft. It should be supple, but not so soft that it loses shape immediately on the board when you let it go.
• Let it rise, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Punch it down and then let it rise for 15 minutes. This assumes a dough temperature of about 74 F. If your dough is colder, let it rise a bit longer. The dough will NOT double in bulk.
• Form two round loaves with the dough, pulling the dough around to form a "boule" and stretching the gluten "skin" around towards the bottom. Do not completely pinch the underside closed, as that will be the attractive top in the oven.
• Place the round of dough with the seam-side down in a rye-floured bread basket or flour-lined bowl.
• Let the bread rise for 60 minutes. You should see an appreciable rise, even if not doubled in bulk.
• Heat the oven with the bread stone for at least 30, better 60 minutes, to 475 F. The stone should be on the middle rack with a rack underneath it to hold the hot water pan.
• Unmold the bread (seam-side up) onto a cornmeal-strewn baker's peel or the back of a cookie sheet and transfer to the hot stone.
• After 2 minutes, open the oven door and add a cup of hot water to the hot water pan.
• Add steam by spraying the walls with water, if you can.
• After 10 minutes, turn oven temperature down to 400 F.
• Bake for 40 more minutes.
• Open oven a crack for the last 20 minutes to let out the rest of the steam. Bread should have an internal temperature of at least 190 F.
• Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing or freezing.

AUTHENTIC GERMAN BREAD (BAUERNBROT)

Steps:

• First, make the sourdough starter. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl. Whisk in 1 quart of warm water and 2 tablespoons of sugar until dissolved. The water should be just slightly warmer than body temperature. Gradually whisk in 4 cups of flour, continuing to mix until all lumps are gone. Cover with a dish towel, and let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
• After 24 hours, stir well, cover, and let stand another 24 hours. It will be a thin, light-colored sourdough which is then ready to use.
• In a large bowl, stir together the rye flour, remaining 4 cups of all-purpose flour, salt and sugar. Mix in the sourdough starter using a wooden spoon, then stir in 2 cups of warm water. I transfer the dough to a heavy-duty stand mixer to mix the first couple of minutes, then it can't handle the heavy dough and I start using my hands by turning the dough out onto a floured surface. A clean countertop works best. Knead the dough, adding a few tablespoons of water at a time if it is too stiff. Fold the dough over, pull it apart, whatever you can do to get it kneaded up good. Total kneading time should be 15 to 20 minutes to get a smooth dough. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 2 hours.
• When the dough has risen, scrape it out of the bowl and back onto a floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes. This is important to activate the gluten. Shape into 1 or 2 long loaves. Place on baking sheets, and let rise for about 1 hour, or until your finger leaves an impression when you poke the bread gently.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Bake the bread for about 45 minutes for 2 loaves, 1 1/2 hours if you made one big loaf. Don't worry if the crust is dark. The bread will be delicious and so will the crust. Cool completely before cutting. I always freeze half.

AUTHENTIC GERMAN BLACK BREAD (SCHWARZBROT)

Steps:

• Combine the water, sourdough starter, and one half of the cracked rye. Mixture will be soupy. Cover and allow to set at about 70° F for 8 to 10 hours.
• After 8 to 10 hours, the mixture will have absorbed water and be similar in consistency to porridge. Save 1 cup of this mixture for the next batch of bread, then add salt and the rest of the cracked rye.
• Allow the dough to ferment at about 70° F for 4 more hours. At the end of this time, work and squeeze the dough with your hands to develop its cohesiveness. The dough is nothing like wheat bread dough. It is very moist and slippery and cannot be kneaded. When a handful is squeezed, it will squirt out between your fingers.
• After working the dough for several minutes, pack it into bread forms, preferably glass. There's not much rising that goes on and too much air space in the bread would be detrimental to the texture. The moistness and acidity of the dough and the long baking time will strongly rust steel pans and etch aluminum ones. Pack the dough into the pan tightly and smooth the top with a spatula. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the top of the form and then cover tightly with aluminum foil. The aluminum foil keeps the bread from drying out and the parchment paper keeps the aluminum foil from dissolving into the bread. Bake at 225° F for 3½ hours.
• Turn the oven off but allow the bread to remain inside for a couple more hours. Carefully remove the bread from the pans and place on a rack to cool and dry. Ideally, you should wait a day or two until the bread becomes firmer before attempting to slice it.