I have received a few packs of dough mixture for German black bread from a friend (Vollkornbrot, black rye bread). All I have available to make it is a bread maker and a microwave oven (probably known as microwave "grill" function, works with actual heat, not microwaves, but is still no real oven). The bread maker is much too weak to move the heavy dough around, so I have to knead it by hand. That's not a problem though, but I have had very little success actually baking the bread using either the bread maker or the microwave oven.
Even after baking the final product remains very heavy and grows very little. There remain some very doughy pockets, which seem only half baked to me. I'm turning the oven almost as high as it goes (around 240℃, according to display) and tried baking the bread for a longer time. I also tried to make smaller rolls instead, with the same result.
Is it possible to make such heavy bread using such weak equipment? If so, what can I change to make it work? Or is the ready-made dough mixture simply no good?
Best Answer
As you probably know, volkornbrot and similar breads are designed to bake at a lower temperature for a longer time. 240 C sounds way too high to me. 150-180 C should be about right, and leave the bread in for a long time (up to 3 hours), until the loaf starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Even after this baking process, because the bread batter is much wetter than a standard bread, you should not slice or eat the bread until it has had time to cool and "rest," about 24 hours. If you slice it right away, the heat and moisture escape and the inside is still doughy/raw. If you wait, the moisture will have time to distribute throughout the loaf and the inside will firm up. Just be patient! The benefit is that the loaf should last for a very long time wrapped in plastic, especially if you put the unused portion in the fridge.