Rye Sourdough

Making homemade sourdough is macho enough, but I don't think you can get moreso than with rye sourdough. And I'm not the sort of bloke who can feel macho very often.

One of my first posts since I revamped this blog was about sourdough; I was in a fever of excitement about it after I entered (and lost) a competition to bake one. The rush of getting a sourdough loaf right is unparalleled in the kitchen. When I wrote the entry I tried to cover as much going wrong as possible in quite a scary, though methodical, troubleshooting list, a principle of which was recommending not to start off with sourdough until you've got a feel for regular, yeast risen bread. I wouldn't say that looking back- though it is true that sourdough is marginally harder to make than regular dough and it requires a lot more planning- what I would say is that the thing that will truly ensure your bread is a failure is if you go into this concerned and apprehensive and feeling like you will go wrong. Cooking picks up on worry and as in life, willing something to go wrong means it probably will. So go ahead with this in full confidence and faith (not in something flimsy like my writing of this, but in the bread and the yeast that's always in the air that allows this to rise). The bread baking instinct is in everyone.

Before you make this you will need to have procured a regular sourdough starter and from that a rye sourdough starter. The instructions are as follows, and I don't offer measurements here, because you don't need them. To make regular starter combine strong white bread flour with water by which I always mean cold tap water, in a large-ish jar and beat well to expel lumps. The consistency should be between a crepe batter and sponge mixture, or failing that slightly thicker than unwhipped double cream. Then just leave it, with the lid partially on for a night. The following morning tip out half the mixture then add a little more flour and water to get it to the same consistency. Leave it again. The next morning it should probably have started fizzing up a bit and will smell a little tart; again, tip out half and refresh, and leave again. By the following morning the starter should have definitely got going and its fizz should increase its volume by about 1 1/2 times, and it will have created a film of grey liquid- this is alcohol, a product of the yeast respiring. You can tap this off or mix it in; some claim it adds more complexity of flavour. If it hasn't, repeat the process again.

You may as well turn this into rye starter now- scoop out a good 2 tablespoons of starter into a separate jar with a lid and add water and strong rye flour until it reaches the same consistency as your regular sourdough. Leave this overnight by which time it should be fully active as the starter that this was based on was already active, and have increased in volume a lot. See below to turn this into bread.

To keep these starters it's too labour intensive to have them at room temperature so you must keep them in the fridge. This is technically called retarding, and to aid this slowing down of the bacteria have the starters really thick, as thick as cement with more flour (regular strong white flour for regular starter, and more rye for rye starter). Once in the fridge you only need to refresh them once every few weeks, and I find I often use regular flour to refresh the rye starter to save the more expensive rye flour. If you want to bake with them however, you can't use them straight from the fridge. I take them out the night before, but a few hours would be fine as long as they do come to room temperature. I also refresh the starter and dilute it as I take it out of the fridge which helps it combine into a bread dough more easily.

To bake your rye bread, this is how to do it:

70g rye sourdough starter

250g strong white bread flour 

250g strong rye flour 

350g water (it's often easier to weigh water though it is exactly the same in ml, and you have to be flexible with the amount anyway)

2 flat tsp table salt (or 1 dessertspoon if you still have one)

1 tbsp molasses or black treacle

3 tsp caraway seed (completely optional)
100g rye flakes, plus more to sprinkle, toasted (also completely optional)

Combine the flour, salt and caraway seeds together in a large mixing bowl, then incorporate the starter and water and molasses (it's useful to dip the measuring spoon in the water to help the viscous treacle slip off the spoon). The best tool for this is your hands. I find it best to have the dough mixed together fully in the bowl to clean the bowl a little and have it coated in a little flour before you start kneading, but by all means tip the runny mass straight onto the floured worktop if you wish. Once the dough's come together and is fairly sticky (it will absorb more flour as you knead) tip it onto a floured worktop (flour it with the white flour) and begin kneading. Due to the relative heaviness of rye this will never knead elastic, so you only have to pummel and stretch the dough for about 4 minutes. Use a scraper or palette knife to help remove stuck bits of dough from the worktop. Once the dough feels a bit smoother and taughter, oil it and place it back into its mixing bowl. This will have a slow overnight prove so to help prevent the dense dough from drying, spread a film of oil over the surface. Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove overnight at room temperature.

By the morning, and you don't need to get up at dawn, the dough should have slightly less than doubled in size. If it hasn't, pummel the dough and leave it for the rest of the day, and it should rise then. This happens. If there's still no activity, discard it, and try again at a later date- the starter may have been unready for use but don't be afraid of this happening- this is just a precautionary warning.

If you don't have time in the morning to do this, put the dough in the fridge until you get back in the afternoon to stop the dough overproving.

 Tip the dough out gently onto a lightly floured surface and don't knock it back. You're aiming to keep some of the air bubbles from its prove. To give it some surface tension flatten it slightly and pull the sides into the middle to create a seam. Keep redoing this gently until the dough's got some good tension and doesn't flop all over the place. To prove it again either dump it on a greased baking sheet and cover with clingfilm, or to give it a really good roundedness line a large bowl with a tea towel and flour it well. Place the dough in the centre of the bowl and turn the corners of the tea towel to cover the dough. 

Leave to prove for a few hours until roughly doubled again. Very gently tip the risen dough onto a greased baking sheet and take off the tea towel. Using a lame or a really sharp, thin knife, score a pattern on the dough. To give it a good crust, or at least a more emphatic crust, brush with water and optionally sprinkle more caraway seeds on top.

Bake in a preheated 170 degrees Celsius oven until when you rap the base it sounds hollow. If it's a little flat don't worry, it will taste wonderful and it's homemade- these things don't matter at home! They only matter if you make the ill decision to enter it in a competition.