Sourdough Rye Bread
I bake most of my own bread at home. I usually use a recipe along the lines of the Life-Changing Loaf of Bread. I like things that are dense and nourishing and really fill me up. But when I want a chewier loaf, this is what I make. A blend of dark rye flour, white flour, and some oats.
If you feel daunted by the prospect of sourdough baking, rye bread is the perfect place to start. In terms of enzymes and “food” for your starter, rye flour has a lot more going on than white flour; i.e., a rye starter is harder to kill than a white starter, plus it’s better for you.
(Tangent: I feed my starter every day and use the discard to make pancakes! When I have enough, I add some sliced spring onions, toasted sesame seeds, and simply fry it off in a pan. It makes a nice savoury breakfast with a fried egg and some veggies on top. Once I discovered these, I found I was a lot more motivated to maintain my starter).
I like to bake this loaf in a tin for uniform slices, which feels much more practical for everyday use than a round loaf.
(I make this bread quite often, and adapted it for Hodmedod’s British grains and pulses, who I develop recipes for. For them, I used a blend of dark rye flour, wholemeal YQ flour, and their 4-grain muesli mix. I was sceptical that it would be unpleasantly dense without any white flour, but it turned out great, so I have listed their products in brackets).
Makes 1 loaf
200g active starter*
325g water
250g dark rye flour
200g strong white flour (or Hodmedod’s wholemeal YQ)
50g jumbo oats (or Hodmedod’s 4-grain muesli mix)
1/2 tablespoon fine salt
50g water
For brushing the tin
Parchment paper
Olive oil
Semolina
(*8 hours before you want to start making this, feed your starter. Feed it with
100g of filtered water and 100g of dark rye flour. Cover, and set aside to
ferment overnight. It should be bubbly and have doubled in size when it’s
ready to use).
Pour the water into a large mixing bowl, then pour in your starter. It should float on the surface - even if only briefly. Use a whisk to incorporate, making sure the starter has fully broken up.
Add the rye flour, strong white flour, and oats, and combine, using your hands. Continue to knead for about 5 minutes. During this time you should observe the dough slightly changing in texture. It should go from being rough and shaggy to somewhat elastic.Wash your hands. Cover the bowl with either a clean tea towel, large plate, or cling film. Set aside to autolyse for 2 hours. (This period allows the water to fully hydrate the flour, improving gluten development and therefore texture without excessive kneading).
Mix the salt with the additional 50g of water (This makes mixing it in a lot easier). Pour this saltwater over the dough and incorporate using your hands, then knead for another 5 minutes.
Cover the bowl again. Leave the dough to rest at room temperature for 4-5 hours, until it has nearly doubled in sized.
Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface. Gently shape into a ball. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Lightly brush this with olive oil and sprinkle with semolina.
Shape the dough into a longer oval. Gently place this into the prepared loaf tin. (If desired, lightly spritz the surface of the dough with water and sprinkle with some more oats).
Cover with a shower cap or loose plastic bag. Put into the fridge overnight.
The next morning, preheat your oven to 250°C.
Use a sharp knife to gently score a line down the centre of the loaf. (I use a small serrated knife from Victoriknox).
Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Then turn the heat down to 220°C and bake for a further 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing.
