Cracking the rye sourdough

Ever since the Virtuous Bread sourdough course I've been on a mission to crack the 100% rye sourdough. It's such a healthy loaf, but at the same time, is so tasty and feels like a real treat compared to the nasty pre-sliced, plastic-covered slabs of rye you get in health food shops and some supermarkets.

Also, it couldn't be much simpler compared to most bread recipes that require kneading, proofing, shaping and resting before getting anywhere near an oven.

So if all that kneading and shaping has been deterring you from making your own bread then I urge you to give this a go. You'll never think of rye bread in the same way again.

Lessons Learnt

Refreshing the starter - leave your starter to refresh in a warm spot, too cold and you'll find you won't get the bubbly froth you're looking for. (PS the bigger the batch, the better the result)

Water - use only lukewarm water (ie when you dip your finger in you can't really feel the temperature as it's the same as your blood). My loaves had been prone to dryness and I couldn't work out what I was doing wrong. Until I suddenly realised I'd been adding hotter and hotter water each time, thinking that this would help the sourdough work harder and faster to make a lovely risen loaf. Clearly I was wrong, having now devoured many bread books, I have discovered that the one key thing you can get wrong in bread making is to use water (or any liquid that you are using) that is too hot - this basically kills the yeast.

Consistency - you're looking for a sloppy not stiff dough, the wetter the better!

What you'll need

100% rye sourdough starter
Rye flour
Salt

Optional:
Treacle / honey / molasses
Spices / seeds / raisins / nuts

1lb loaf tin
Butter for greasing
Shower hat / plastic bag

My guide to the perfect 100% rye sourdough
(adapted from Virtuous Bread course notes)

The first step is to refresh your 100% rye starter.

Take 20g of starter, add 120g of lukewarm water and 60g of rye flour. Mix, don the bowl with a shower hat or somesuch, find a cosy warm spot and leave to brew overnight.

I put mine to bed with me as it's the warmest room in the flat. Upon waking, you can tell it's ready when it has developed a nice bubbly top as below.

This is your refreshed starter. You can top up your dormant starter in the fridge with 40g of this.

Then take the remaining 160g of your refreshed starter, add 100g of lukewarm water, followed by 40g of treacle, honey, molasses or whatever takes your fancy. (Or you can simply use 140g of water.)
My favourite so far is treacle - it gives a lovely colour to the loaf and a real depth of flavour - but I'm yet to try molasses which I think could top it.
Then add 240g of light or dark rye flour and 6g salt. My supermarket doesn't offer a choice so don't worry if the same applies to you, a standard wholegrain rye flour will do you fine.
Again you can then make it your own, by adding a tsp of your preferred ground spice or a big spoon of soaked seeds, whole spices, dried fruits or nuts.
My two favourites are ground cumin and seeds, and ground cinnamon and raisins.

If adding raisins or seeds, you can either soak these overnight in cold water or if you forget, simply soak them in hot water for 30 minutes before adding to the mix. This will stop them from soaking up moisture in the dough.

Now it's time to get your hands dirty, mix all the ingredients together giving them a big squelch between your fingers until they're well combined.

It shouldn't be too stiff, if it is, keep adding water until it's almost too sloppy to pick up.
I find I need to add up to 50g of additional lukewarm water to the mix to get it to the right consistency. 

Not much to look at I know. But stay confident, this sloppy, odd looking dough will provide you with the most beautiful bread I promise.

Grease your 1lb loaf tin with butter (not oil as this will form pools in the bottom and fry rather than bake your bread).




Then wet your hands and have a bowl of water handy. Scoop the mix up using your scraper to make sure you get every last bit and then pass it from one hand to the other shaping it into a sausage shape that will fit snugly in your tin. If the mix sticks to your hands, wet your hands again. The wetter the dough, the better your loaf will be!


Then simply plop it in your tin and don't touch it again!

No matter how tempting it is, don't flatten it or spread it into the corners, you should almost be able to see your handprint on the top, as on the left.

Leave as is and don it with the shower hat again. Then place back in a cosy warm place for between 3 - 5 hours.

You'll  know it's ready when the dough has risen to the top of the tin and small holes have started to form on the top.

When it's starting to look near ready, pre-heat your oven to 230 / 210 (fan).


Now you have another
choice on how to dress
the top of your loaf.

Here's a couple of examples of what you can do to make your loaf look even more tasty when it comes out of the oven.

Savoury spices / seeds - sprinkle wet mixed seeds on the top
Sweet spices / raisins - sieve flour on the top

When your dough is ready, take off the shower hat and add your topping of choice, then pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, drop the temperature down to 210 / 180 (fan) and bake for another 30 minutes.

To test your loaf is ready, slide it out of the tin and tap it on the bottom with your fingers - it should sound hollow - if  it produces more of a dull thud then simply pop it back in the oven for another couple of minutes.

When ready, take it out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, wrap in greaseproof paper or foil and store in an air-tight container.

And now for the hard part - if you can, wait at least two days before tucking into your rye sourdough bread. It will be edible before, but the crumb structure takes time to develop and the flavour of the spices really develops over a couple of days. Believe me, it's worth the wait. Your loaf will then last for a week, if you don't eat it up before then. It also freezes really well.

If this has inspired you to give it a go, do let me know how you get on. I'd love to see your pics and hear what flavour combinations you went for. If you'd like to find out more about the wonderful world of sourdough, you can book on the Virtuous Bread course here.