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Хлеб Украинский

Ukrainian Rye Bread with Kefir (GOST Recipe)

A savory, lightly salty rye-wheat loaf made with kefir: fine even crumb, crackly crust, baked with steam to the old GOST standard.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rising and proofing 2 hours 50 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 1 loaf
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Home cooking
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g rye flour
  • 200 g wheat flour first-grade or all-purpose
  • 8 g salt
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 150 ml kefir warm
  • 150 ml water warm: 50 ml for the yeast + 100 ml for the dough

Method
 

  1. Activate the yeast: pour 50 ml of warm water over 1 tsp of dry yeast and let it stand for 10-15 minutes.
  2. Sift the rye and wheat flour into a bowl, add the salt, the warm kefir and the remaining 100 ml of warm water.
  3. Pour in the activated yeast and knead the dough. Dust in a little extra flour only if needed: the dough should stay tacky, but not glue-like.
  4. Gather the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl greased with vegetable oil, cover with plastic wrap and leave for 40 minutes.
  5. Punch the dough down, knead it for about 3 more minutes, then cover again and let it rise for another 40 minutes.
  6. Punch down and knead once more, shape into a ball, place on a flour-dusted baking sheet, cover with plastic and proof for 1.5 hours.
  7. Mentally divide the loaf into 4 segments and score one of them. This is mandatory: carbon dioxide escapes through the cut, otherwise the loaf will tear badly.
  8. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) with an empty tray on the bottom. Put the bread in, pour a cup of boiling water onto the tray and bake with steam for 5 minutes.
  9. Remove the tray and bake for another 20 minutes at 200-220°C (390-430°F). Cool the loaf on a rack before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

Don't overload the dough with flour - it should stay slightly tacky. Steam at the start of baking gives the crackly crust; the score keeps the loaf from tearing.