rye sourdough

A light rye sourdough bread with a soft crumb, that you can make at home with active sourdough starter.

Rustic Rye Sourdough Bread

active sourdough starter

slightly warmer than room temperature water

honey

fine rye flour

bread flour

whole wheat flour

salt

Before beginning, it will be helpful to watch...

Before beginning, it will be helpful to watch this SHORT VIDEO to see me make this bread, noticing that the dough will be stickier than normal because of the rye flour, but it will come together - you just have to trust!

Add starter, water, and honey to a bowl....

Add starter, water, and honey to a bowl. Whisk thoroughly until combined, with a fork. Add flours, and mix together first with the fork to start to incorporate, then with your hands until a shaggy dough is formed, and the bits of flour left just disappear. Sprinkle the salt on top and do not mix in, just leave it on top. Cover with a damp cloth.

Autolyse: let dough sit for one hour, covered...

Autolyse: let dough sit for one hour, covered and undisturbed.

Bulk ferment: Now you will knead the salt...

Bulk ferment: Now you will knead the salt that is sitting on top, into the dough for about 1 min 15 seconds. There is no precise way to do this, just think of working the dough through your hands and up against the bowl, push and pull. You will start to feel the dough relax a bit around 1 minute. Continue for about 15 or 30 seconds more. Then leave the dough alone, covered, for 30 minutes. This counts as what would be your first set of stretch and folds.

After those 30 minutes pass, perform a set...

After those 30 minutes pass, perform a set of stretch and folds. Repeat 2 more times.

Now you will let sit, undisturbed and covered...

Now you will let sit, undisturbed and covered with a damp cloth, for about 7ish hours at 70 degrees F. If the temperature in your home is above 70, this will take less time, vice versa. You will know it is finished with its bulk ferment when the dough has risen about double, is smooth and puffy on top, with a few bubbles. It will not be as jiggly as some sourdough you've made before.

At this point, lightly dust your work surface...

At this point, lightly dust your work surface with flour. Put dough onto the work surface, and pre-shape. This video will show you what that means. Let sit for 15 minutes on your work surface.

Then shape your dough, using this method as...

Then shape your dough, using this method as a guide.

Place dough into your flour dusted banneton, (or...

Place dough into your flour dusted banneton, (or flour dusted linen lined banneton) seam side up. (Optional, you can wait 15 minutes after placing it in banneton, and pinch the perimeters of the dough into the center to hold the shape even more, called stitching.) The dough will now go through its final rise. You can do this on the counter, which will take about 2 hours at 70 degrees F for the dough to puff up and be jiggly. It will not double. OR you can do the final rise overnight in the refrigerator, with the banneton covered in a plastic bag or with a very damp cloth. You need this for holding moisture in.

Time to bake. Preheat your oven to 500...

Time to bake. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F, with your dutch oven preheating inside the oven. When the oven is preheated, flip your dough out gently onto parchment paper and score your dough. If you did the final rise in the refrigerator, take it straight from fridge to scoring. You should score it cold, and DO NOT need to let it come to room temp.

Then put dough into the dutch oven on...

Then put dough into the dutch oven on the parchment, and put cover on. Turn oven down to 450 degrees F and slide dutch oven in. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove cover.

Turn heat down to 430 degrees F, and...

Turn heat down to 430 degrees F, and bake for 25 more minutes, until crust is golden brown and crackly. Remove from oven, and remove bread from dutch oven and place onto a cooling rack.

Wait AT LEAST one hour to cool otherwise,...

Wait AT LEAST one hour to cool otherwise, the interior will be gummy.

Use rye flour to make an easy sourdough starter with a deep molasses flavour. Once active, you can use it to make any type of sourdough bread

Rye sourdough starter

wholemeal rye flour

Day 1: To begin your starter, mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water in a jar or, better still, a plastic container. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, covered with a tea towel, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 2: Mix 25g flour with 25g tepid water and stir into yesterday’s mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, covered with a tea towel, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 3: Today you might see a few small bubbles forming and the mixture should smell grassy and a little acidic. Mix 25g flour with 25g tepid water and stir into yesterday’s mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, covered with a tea towel, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 4: More bubbles should have appeared today and the mixture should smell of yeasty beer. Mix 25g flour with 25g tepid water and stir into yesterday’s mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, covered with a tea towel, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 5: Fermentation should have set in now and the mixture might be ready to use. If a teaspoon of the starter floats in warm water, it’s ready. If not, mix 25g flour with 25g tepid water and stir into yesterday’s mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave covered, with a tea towel, at room temperature for 24 hrs.

Day 6: The mix should be really bubbly and be giving off a strong smell of alcohol. Test in the same way as yesterday. If it’s not ready, continue mixing 25g flour with 25g tepid water into the mixture daily until it becomes active. If your jar is becoming full, spoon half the mix out of the jar and continue. You now have rye starter, which is a malty flavoured base to sourdough bread. Keep it in the fridge (it will stay dormant) and 12 hrs before you want to use it, spoon half of it off and feed it with 100g flour and 100g water. Leave it at room temperature and it should become active again. The longer the starter has been dormant, the more times it will need to be refreshed – the process of pouring off half the starter and replacing it with new flour and water – to reactivate. Use the starter to make rye sourdough bread.

This is about making sourdough rye bread using a homemade sourdough starter and no dutch oven. Learn how to make a crusty and delicious sourdough rye bread which is a loaf with a lot of character. Expect a sharp smell and punchy sour aftertaste. 

Sourdough Rye Bread

sourdough starter

rye flour

+ 3 tbsp water (lukewarm)

olive oil

In a large bowl

In a large bowl combine all sourdough sponge ingredients. Mix, cover and leave it on the countertop overnight. The result should be thick, sticky and bubbly. Rye can sometimes bubble a little less than other flours. Smell the sourdough sponge: you should clearly smell the fermentation.

Sourdough Rye Sponge

In a large bowl,

In a large bowl, mix the sponge you created overnight with flour, oil and salt and mix to incorporate. Rye bread will resemble a mixture similar to cement. Grey and dull. Don't give up. If it's too firm and dry add a little more warm water. The point is to have a fairly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and start kneading for around 10 minutes.

Transfer to a lightly

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn it to coat with the oil. Cover and leave it to rise. Rye is notoriously slow at rising so expect at least 4+ hours to see it doubled in size.

Punch down the risen

Punch down the risen dough on a lightly floured surface. No need to overwork it or knead it again. Just punch it with your knuckles until fully deflated. Prepare a round proofing basket and dust it with flour. If you don't have a proofing basket, use a medium-sized bowl and dust it liberally with flour. Create a neat, round ball and add the dough to the proofing basket for another 2-3 hours until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to

Preheat the oven to 250C/500F. <br />
Place the baking sheet in the oven to warm up. Add a roasting tin at the bottom of the oven.

Carefully remove the hot

Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven, dust it with flour and place the rye sourdough bread on to it. You can score the dough if you want on one side or snip it with a pair of sharp scissors. Put the loaf in the oven and pour a cold glass of water in the roasting tin.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 200C/390F and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the rye sourdough is nicely browned. It's ready when you tap its base and can hear a hollow sound.

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Rustic Rye Sourdough Bread

Rye sourdough starter

Sourdough Rye Bread

Top 3 rye sourdough recipes from across the web

The most viewed rye sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Rustic Rye Sourdough Bread

Rye sourdough starter

Sourdough Rye Bread

The most viewed rye sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine