This Country Rye Sourdough Bread is packed with flavors. The recipe consists of 3 simple ingredients: Flour, water and salt. Even though the ingredients are simple, it may take you a couple of tries to get it right. However, I think it’s worth it, so no matter what do not give up. And even if it might not look as good the the first couple of times, it will still taste good.
For this recipe, you’ll need your sourdough starter. Take it out of the fridge and feed it to see how active it is. If it has doubled or even tripled in size after 12 hours, you are good to go. If not, keep feeding your starter every 12 hours until ready. The more you use your starter, the quicker you’ll get a good sense of when to start feeding your sourdough starter.
You can make the dough the same day you want to bake the bread. To do so, I suggest you start early in the morning, that way the bread is done by dinnertime. Alternatively, you can let the dough proof in the fridge overnight to bake the next morning.
Tools & Equipment
- 2 bannetons
- 2 large bowls
- Bench scraper
- Digital thermometer
- Dutch oven
- Kitchen towel
- Medium jar with lid
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Silicone spatula
- Scoring knife or razor blade
- Wire rack
Recipe Tips
Dough Quantity: This recipe is enough for 2 loaves. If you only want to bake 1 loaf halve the amounts or if you want to bake 4 loaves double the amounts. Keep in mind that the amount of dough will affect the speed of the bulk fermentation and you will need to adjust it depending on the amount of dough.
Room Temperature: The best temperature for the dough is about 25-27°C/77-80°F. If your room temperature is rather cool, you should plan more time for the bulk fermentation, mix the dough with warmer water or increase the temperature of the dough to speed up the fermentation by placing the container in a turned-off oven with the control light on. Time is always just an indicator, pay more attention to the dough itself to decide if the bulk fermentation is done.
Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, I took my sourdough starter out of the fridge the night before. I prepared the levain and let the mixture sit overnight at room temperature so it had enough time to double in size.
Ingredients for Country Rye Sourdough Bread
Step by Step Guide – How to Make Country Rye Sourdough Bread
Make the Levain
Place the sourdough starter, water and flour in a medium jar and stir until fully incorporated. Put the levain in a warm place, preferably at about 25-27°C/77-80°F, until it has doubled/tripled in size.
Make the Main Dough/Autolyse
Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl, add the levain and stir until evenly distributed. Add the rye flour and bread flour. Knead thoroughly, until there are no dry bits of flour. Let the dough rest for 40-60 minutes.
Add the salt and incorporate it by squeezing the dough between your fingers. Fold the dough on itself until the salt is fully incorporated, transfer the dough to a clean large bowl and cover.
Bulk Fermentation
After a 30 minutes rest, perform 3 sets of stretch-and-folds, every 30 minutes. After that, turn the dough more gently to avoid pressing gas out of the dough. By the end of the 3rd hour, the dough will feel more aerated and soft.
Shaping the Dough
Transfer the dough to an unfloured work surface. Lightly dust the dough with flour and cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. Flip it over with the bench scraper so that the floured side lies on the work surface. At this point, incorporate as little flour as possible into the dough.
Fold the cut side of dough over on itself so that the flour on the surface of the dough is sealed to the outside of the loaf. Work each piece into a round shape. After this initial shaping, let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes, cover with a kitchen towel. To shape the final loaves, lightly flour the tops of the dough rounds.
Lift the dough off the work surface and turn the round over so that the floured side is now on the work surface. The former underside is now facing up. First, fold the 3rd of the dough closest to you up and over the middle 3rd of the loaf. Stretch the dough horizontally to the right and fold this right 3rd over the center.
Then stretch the dough to the left and fold this 3rd over the previous fold. Stretch the 3rd farthest from you and fold this flap toward you. Grab the dough closest to you and wrap it as you roll the whole package away from you, so that the smooth bottom of the loaf is now the top. Cup the dough with your hands and pull it toward you, pressing it against the work surface and stretch the outside to close the seam. Let the shaped loaf rest for 1 minute.
Proofing Stage
Prepare a 50/50 mixture of rice flour and whole wheat flour. Dust the banneton and the top of the loaf with the flour mixture. Lift the loaf from the work surface and place it in the banneton with the smooth side facing down.
There are two options at this point:
- You can let the dough rise at room temperature (25-27°C/77-80°F) for about 2-4 hours before baking.
- If you do not want to bake immediately, you can place the dough in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
Baking
Preheat the oven to 260°C/500°F and place a dutch oven with lid in the oven. Dust the top of the loaf with rice flour and carefully invert it from the banneton onto a sheet of parchment. Score the loaf to allow it to fully develop in the oven.
When the oven reaches 260°C/500°F, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven. Place the loaf in the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Return to the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 230°C/450°F. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the lid. Continue baking until the crust has a deep caramel color, for about 20-25 minutes. It is done when the core temperature reaches 95°C/200°F. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack.
Storage: Simple paper bags and kitchen towels are very good to protect bread from drying out too much. You can keep it at room temperature for 3-5 days. Do not store bread in the fridge. If you do, it will get stale faster compared to keeping it at room temperature.
Freezing: This is a good option for long-term storage. Let the bread cool completely and either freeze whole or cut into slices in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months.
My Summary for Country Rye Sourdough Bread
Difficulty: Intermediate.
Taste: This rye sourdough bread has a sour taste, but not too overpowering. Simply perfect.
Texture: The bread has a crunchy crust with a slightly chewy crumb and holes which are distributed nice and evenly.
Time: For levain and autolyse you need about 2 hours, the bulk fermentation took me 4 1/2 hours (it depends on the temperature in your environment, in my kitchen it was about 25°C/77°F). Shaping is done quickly in 10 minutes and for the final proofing I placed the loaf in the fridge overnight (2-4 hours at room temperature is a faster option). Baking takes another 40 minutes or so.
More “SOURDOUGH” Recipes
Bread made with Discard Starter
