brother from another mother...rye sour dough

I must admit to gloating.  I've been gloating where ever I can about my attempts at sourdough bread making.  I'm riding high on the thrill of bread coming out of my oven.  I've gotten the bug and been bitten hard.  Months ago, when I started my bread making, I persevered and perfected the 5 minute no knead bread so when I was given the first chance of making sour dough I secretly thought I'd ditch it, it would be too hard, too onerous, but then came the rye sourdough starter and all that changed.  I'm still making the white sourdough and lovingly feeding her each week when she's starving, but this rye mother is less needy.  It is not as time consuming nor do you need to be checking your schedule and clearing it for days in advance, not that my dance card is that full, mind. 

 When I was given these starters it was with the words ringing in my ear "stick to the recipe, to the letter" well I'm afraid that's where I fall down, a bread rebel without a cause....serves me right for getting too cocky. I've killed my first rye mother and I'm devastated....but it was worth it, let me just say.  I've already put the call out for another.  For any of you who want to try her out, here is the recipe, step by step.

Compared to the original sourdough I was kindly given, this mum is sloppier and bubblier, probably more what you might expect from a starter.  I still don't like that you throw out a large portion, but if you live near me and want to start I'll happily hook you up.

To feed the rye starter

take your starter from the fridge and weigh out:

30g starter

60 tepid filtered water

45g rye flour

Mix into a batter, ditching the left over starter or making 2 of these feed starters to give to a friend.  If you are wanting to bake with it from here, leave it out on the bench until it has doubled in size, around 12-24 hours.  If you are just feeding and leaving for another day, keep her out for an hour and then pop back into the fridge.

Step 1  To make bread

weigh out

50g starter

75g tepid filtered water

75g rye flour

Mix into a paste in a bowl and cover with glad wrap and leave at room temperature for 8-12 hours or over night basically

Step 2  Bread dough

weigh out

200g starter (from what has been sitting out overnight)

350g tepid filtered water

350g plain flour

150g rye flour

10g salt

I actually mixed this up with my mixer with the dough hook attachment as it is very sticky and you are trying to avoid adding more flour, it came up a treat.

Stir the 200g of starter with a spatula to break it up and then add all the other ingredients and knead for 10 minutes.  I also made a double batch which worked equally as well.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl large enough to allow for it to rise to 1 1/2 times its original volume which will take approximately 2-2 1/2 hours at room temperature.

Ok, this is where I changed the rules and rebelled....

Step 3  Shaping the dough

The original instructions said to line a colander with a tea towel and dust heavily with rye flour.

Lightly dust your bench with flour and scrape your dough out and shape a rough ball, fold towards the centre.  Place round dough smooth side down into the colinder and cover with glad wrap and allow to prove for 1 1/2-2hrs.

1 hour prior to baking, heat oven to 200c and after 30 minutes add a baking tray to put ice into to create steam.  Uncover dough and gently palce onto a baking tray making cuts on top and throw ice into skillet and bread in to bake for 40-50 minutes.

My Step 3  

What I did instead was just let the dough prove for an extra 2 hours in the original bowl in step 2, no colander used.  After that 1 1/2 hours I turned the oven on to it's highest setting and sat my camp oven in it to heat for 30 minutes.  I then floured the bench, and made a ball, folding towards the centre and let it sit for 15 minutes and then added it to the campoven, with the lid put back on for 30 minutes, then oven turned down to 200c with the lid kept off for a further 30 minutes.  This method/time is the same for a single or a double batch.

Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes if you can stand it.

As I don't eat alot of bread, I love to have 3 or sometimes 4 different toppings on one large slice.  Here is, left to right, my homemade tomato chutney, a friends gorgeous apricot jam and some bartered local honeycomb....mmmmmm  

Ciao, Jan