Hi
This is a first for me - both on the forum and making a sourdough.
I have my two starters looking pretty good. One is a white and the other is a rye with both 100% hydration.
The rye is really looking ready to make into a bread as it has doubled in size and looking beautifully bubbly BUT I am now unsure if a whole rye bread would be a good idea for a beginner as I have read that it can be a bit tricky.
Can anyone enlighten me on this as I am trying to get rid of the 'white' flour in my diet (the white sourdough starter is for pancakes etc for the family) and I do really want to use my rye.
Should it be only 50% hydration (as read in wildyeasts blog) when I use it??
Can I just chose any white and rye bread and use my rye starter?? Will this affect the outcome??
Should I just use my white starter (which actually is now in conversion from rye/white to just white and has slowed down a bit but I know that is because it is being starved from the rye - poor thing!) once it is ready and just practice with this for a while until I get the hang of it??
Do I need a 'couche' to rise the shaped bread in or can I just pop it into a pan or shape it into a round/oval??
Sorry about all the questions ;o)
Cheers
Ms Monny
Replies
Hi there, don't be scared of rye - it is simple - even simpler than wheat!
Things to consider:
1. Rye has a completely different gluten structure from wheat or spelt so it requires no kneading (that's good!)
2. Rye is actually a lot livelier than wheat or spelt so it rises more quickly (that's good!)
3. If you use dark rye to make/refresh your starter and then use light rye to make you bread it will be no heavier than wheat or spelt (that's good!)
4. Rye is so comparatively "damp" that it really stays pretty fresh for 5-6 days (that's good!)
The only thing you have to do is use more refreshed sour dough to make your bread than you would do if you were using wheat or spelt. Remember, there are many ways to skin a cat so don't get tied up into knots about the perfect way. You are (I would guess) trying to make bread, not win prizes. To give you an example, I take 10 grams of my sour dough culture and mix it with 300 grams of dark rye, 350 grams of water and leave it over night. Then I mix that with 350 more grams of water, 700 grams of flour and 20 grams of salt to make 4 loaves that are about 500 grams each. You may do it in a completely different way but that is ok.
Once you have mixed together your ingredients (remember, don't bother to knead - no point) your dough should have the consistency of a mud pie or clay.
At that point you can do one of two things:
1. Shape it into a block and slide it gently into a baking tin (don't squash it down, it will find it's own level) and cover it and leave it for 2-6 hour depending on how warm the kitchen is and then bake it
2. Let is rest for 30 mins or so and then scoop it up, roll it in plenty of dark rye flour and plop it in a well floured rising basked for 2-6 hours depending on warmth of kitchen and then bake it
It is difficult to bake a rye sour dough completely free form because it should be really really wet when it is set to rise or else it will be leaden and dreadful.
Well, you make it sound very very simple! I love that.
I actually did bake a bread but after leaving the sponge overnight, I set up my ingredients and realised that it had fresh yeast in the recipe as well. I didn't want that, so I just left it out. The amount of flour certainly didn't seem enough as it was really really wet, so I kneaded (yep, didn't know that I don't) it in more flour and then left it aside to rise. Well, it didn't really and after 4 or so hours I put it in the oven because I couldn't wait much longer.
It didn't rise and it tasted extremely sour! Not edible either!
So, I will now try your above recipe and see how I go. I will post my results soon. Wish me luck!! :o)
cheers
MM
Good luck! I am sure it will be great! Just follow your own particular recipe regarding the proportion of refreshed dough to flour, water, and salt and follow the technique laid out above. Here is another tip: if you would like to put in seeds or dried fruit, soak them overnight and then drain them and add them to the dough when you mix it together. That way they do not take any moisture out of the dough and it retains its lovely, moist texture. Jane