German (Faux-)Sourdough Rye

I'm still learning how to work with rye flour. I struggle to get good structure, even with rye-wheat blends. I feel like I did fairly decently with this mixed wheat-rye sourdough. It sitll wasn't perfect, but it was much better than my previous ventures into rye breads.

I will note that this isn't a "true" sourdough. It does use sourdough starter to add some flavour and acidity, but it also relies on commercial yeast for much of the leavening power.

German Sourdough Rye

Slightly adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

Basic Sour

• 1/3 c. ripe/fed sourdough starter
• 60g whole rye flour
• 70g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• ~1/4 c. water

Full Sour

• basic sour (see above)
• 1 c. water + 2-4 Tbsp. water, divided
• 255g whole rye flour

Dough

• 4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 1 1/2 c. warm water
• full sour (see above)
• 385g whole rye flour
• 450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 3 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
• up to 1 1/2 c. water

Directions

Basic Sour

1. Combine the starter, flours, and enough water to make a stiff dough.
2. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for ~12 hours.

Full Sour

1. Soften the basic sour in the water.
2. Work in the flour to make a very stiff, clay-like dough. You may need to add a little bit of extra water, but the dough should remain quite stiff.
3. Knead the dough a little bit, working in another 2-4 Tbsp. of water to soften it slightly. Do not add so much water that the dough becomes sticky.
4. Cover and let stand for ~4 hours.

Dough

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
2. Combine the yeast mixture with the full sour, rye flour, wheat flour, salt, and caraway seeds to make a stiff dough.
3. Begin kneading the dough, working in up to another 1 1/2 c. of water to make a soft dough. Do not add so much water or knead for so long that the dough becomes sticky. (Rye doughs can become sticky or slimy if overworked.)
4. Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
5. Divide dough into two equal portions and shape into loaves. (Round/freeform is preferable for this bread.) Use lots of water during shaping to prevent the dough from tearing.
6. If desired, you may transfer the shaped loaves to well-floured bannetons at this point. If not using bannetons, let the dough rise in greased bowls instead.
7. Cover and let rise until dough becomes soft. (This will likely only take 30 minutes for a warm rise or up to an hour for a room temperature rise. You may also choose to do a cold rise in the fridge. This will likely take 4-8 hours depending on the dough and its treatment up to this point.)
8. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F) and prepare a baking sheet and/or Dutch oven. (I recommend using parchment paper in the Dutch oven. On the baking sheet greasing and dusting with cornmeal works well.)
9. Carefully transfer a loaf to the baking sheet or Dutch oven.
10. Bake with steam (by adding water to the Dutch oven and covering it, adding ice cubes to the baking sheet, or placing a pan of boiling water below the baking bread) for 15-20 minutes.
11. After 20 minutes reduce the temperature to 190°C (375°F). At this point you can remove the source of steam/uncover the Dutch oven. Continue baking for 45-60 minutes.