Sourdough Rye Bread

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Recipe's preparation

Create the starter





The starter takes at least 7 days to make.

Day 1: In a clean, plastic or glass, 1 Litre container, mix 1 tablespoon of wholeground rye flour with 1 tablespoon of unsweetened pineapple juice. (You can use the juice from a tin of unsweetened pineapple) Stir well and leave for 2 days covered with a tea towel in the pantry so it can breathe. This allows the natural yeasts in the air to ferment the mixture.

Day 3: Add 2 tablespoons of wholeground rye flour and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened pineapple juice. Mix well and leave for 2 more days as before.

Day 5: Add 4 tablespoons of wholeground rye flour and 4 tablespoons of unsweetened pineapple juice. Mix well and leave for two days as before.

The pineapple juice helps to inhibit harmful bacteria and promotes the good bacteria. At the end of 7 days you will have the beginnings of a good sourdough starter, which will improve as the weeks go by.

Keep feeding the starter with equal quantities of the rye flour and plain filtered water. No need to add any more pineapple juice. I usually add 1/4 cup each of water and flour every week. Stir well and store it in the fridge with a lid on until you're ready to use it. If you have too much for the container, just discard some of the starter before you feed it.

The day before you make the bread, feed the starter and leave it in the pantry to warm up for 24 hours. It should come alive and be bubbly. The older your starter, the more robust it will become.

 

 

 

 

Make the dough





You will need a 1 Kg size Banneton bread basket, a baking stone (I use the stone base from my microwave oven), and a water sprayer. It you don't use a Banneton basket, during the proofing process, your bread will flatten out as it's a fairly sticky dough and needs to be in a container to keep its shape.

1. Warm the water: Add 250 grams filtered water to Thermomix bowl. Time 2 mins, Temp 37° Speed 1.

2. Add the sourdough starter and the white bread flour. Time 10 mins, Speed: Knead function. In the last two minutes, add the salt through the measuring cup hole. We add the salt later so as not to inhibit the yeast.

3. Oil a large glass bowl and tip the dough into it. Cover with cling wrap and leave for 1/2 hour to rest.

4. Tip the dough out onto the work bench and shape as follows: Stretch the dough out into a long rectangle, about double the size of your tin or Banneton basket, then fold each outer third inwards. Knuckle down a seam at the bottom of the dough, nearest to you, then roll the dough towards you from the opposite side, using your thumbs to tuck it under. Try not to punch out the air pockets you have created from the folding. The seam should still be on top.

5. Scatter some flour or semolina into the Banneton basket and with the seam uppermost, place the dough into the basket. Cover with a showercap to create room on top of the bread for it to rise. Leave for between 4 and 8 hours until it is above the top of the basket. In Winter my bread only needs 6 hours to rise.

6. Half an hour before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 220°C with a baking stone resting on the oven shelf. Carefully turn out the dough onto the hot stone. Spray the oven and bread liberally with filtered water and bake for 30 mins until golden.

Resist the urge to cut the bread when it's still hot. Leave for at least an hour or more.

Sourdough bread keeps at room temperature for much longer than bread made with commercial yeast.