Simple Sourdough Rye Bread
Dear Sourdoughmaniacs,
My dear SourdoughManiacs,
A while back I posted about the traditional sourdough Rye Bread made in Koroška – the region of Slovenia where I’m from – so many of you SourdoughManiacs asked me to share the recipe and make a post dedicated to it. And today is the day.
PREPPING THE RYE LEVAIN:
- 20 g bubbly, active starter
- 50 g water
- 50 g rye flour
Or 120 g of your active starter. Mix all the ingredients together and leave them at RT to bubble and double in size. Approximately 6-8 hours.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE MAIN DOUGH:
- 350 g rye flour
- approximately 330-350 g water
- 10 g salt
- the doubled rye levain
MAKING THE DOUGH:
Mix all the ingredients together with a (wooden) spoon first, then start kneading. The mixture will resemble soft clay.
SHAPING & PROOFING:
Spread it in the well-greased tin, use a wet spatula.
Flour the top with rye flour.
You’ll know the rye bread is ready to bake once its surface cracks and you can see the dough underneath clearly. But sometimes it doesn’t 🙂 so check the increase in size about 80-90%.
It could take between 3-6 hours, depending on your room temperature.
BAKING:
You don’t need to score rye bread before baking, as it already has plenty of cracks for air to escape through.
Bake the rye bread in a preheated oven with added steam at 240°C or 464°F for the first 15 minutes. Then remove the source of steam, lower the temperature to 200°C or 392°F and bake for approximately 45 more minutes.
SERVING THE BREAD:
Leave the rye bread on a rack to cool and rest for AT LEAST 12 hours before cutting and eating it … if you can wait that long that is. This will allow the bread’s taste to develop fully and make the crust easier to cut through.
This recipe is so near and dear to my heart as it has kept the tradition of sourdough baking alive and well in Koroška where I grew up, even after the invention of baker’s or commercial yeast. It is part of the reason why I remembered that this ancient art of baking bread even existed when I first started searching for yeast alternatives. So I hope you give it a try and that you enjoy it.
This bread has helped bake my world a better place a thousand times over, so I hope it does the same for you.
Yours truly fermented,
Anita
p.s. Please tag when you make the recipe on Instagram @sourdough_mania or on Facebook Anita Šumer – sourdoughmania. So I can share your sourtastic creations.
FOTO: Nik Jarh
