There are three most used types of scalds used in rye baking: simple, malted and self saccharinified. This post will guide you step by step through the process of creating a malted scald. This post only describes the technology behind the process, the exact ingredients and their ratios and weights will depend on a specific bread recipe.

If you want to know more about scalding, different types of scalds and why they’re used in baking, check out Scalding - what is it?.

Scald. Choux. Tangzhong. Mashing. Gelatinised starch. There are many strange words followed by many different process recipes. What are they? Why do we need them to bake a loaf? And why so many techniques? I will try to answer these questions in this post.

I believe English speaking baking communities got introduced to flour scalding through Japanese Hokkaido milk bread, but gelatinisation of different kinds is used all over the world: most of Latvian rye breads are scalded, French chefs are making choux pastry and the whole beer brewing process starts with mashing everywhere in the world. It is a very common process in grain preparation and cooking.

Let’s start with a chemical process common to all methods. This process is called starch gelatinisation.

Oh, and by the way, this post is HUGE!

Rīgas Rudzu Maize (Riga Rye Bread) is a common variant of rye bread in Latvia, it’s even got into Soviet GOST standards during Soviet times. But common doesn’t mean simple to make. It is a four stage bread (sourdough, scald, sour scald, final dough) which requires quite a lot of time to make, higher temperatures than usual, a special coating at the end of the process and a resting period of at least 12 hours. The reward for all of that is a loaf of a truly amazing bread, which is hard to find outside of Northern Europe.

If you’ve never tried a proper rye before in countries like Latvia, Russia or Finland, I would definitely recommend trying to bake this one. 90% rye content and scalding process make this bread completely different from what most of people in English speaking countries think about rye breads.