Sourdough sandwich bread with rye and oats

Sandwich bread is a sad story here in Sweden.
The cheapest ones are close to useless. But even if you pay some extra for a loaf of bread, you will probably be disappointed.
Some producers claim that they are baking with sourdough.
That is, of course, not true. They only add sourdough to get at least some taste to the bread.
The fermentation process is dependent on baker’s yeast.
And it’s a fast process.
I have read somewhere that ordinary sandwich bread is not allowed proof for more than 15 minutes.
I don’t know if it’s true. Hopefully not, but if it is, it’s depressing.

Now, this is not a crusade against baker’s yeast. I use it myself now and then, especially if I’m in a hurry.
But even if I put in a minimal amount of effort, I can still produce much better sandwich bread than what you can buy in the supermarket.
The only secret ingredient is some extra proofing time, perhaps 1.5 -2 hours ( and maybe a dollop of butter).

Proofing time is vital, and that goes for baker’s yeast, just as well as for sourdough.

In this recipe for sourdough sandwich bread with rye, we will use a sourdough starter for fermentation and proofing. That requires much more time, of course. But our reward will be a loaf of bread with a complex and superior taste.
We will also add a small amount of rye and rolled oats to enhance the taste even more.

ABOUT FLOUR AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

FLOUR	PROTEIN CONT. %	WEIGHT GRAM	BAKER’S%
Wheat flour(bread flour)	13	400	87
Whole rye flour	8	60	13
LEVAIN/SOURDOUGH STARTER		120	26
ROLLED OATS		40	15
SALT		9	2
WATER		320	69

The sourdough starter / Levain has a hydration of 100%

The hydration of the final dough is 73%.

EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE STARTER

Without a strong sourdough starter, there will be no sourdough bread.
At least nothing to write home about.
So we refresh our starter in good time before it’s time to bake.
I discard most of the starter before refreshing, saving only 1-2 tablespoons. After that, I add the required amount of flour and water to the recipe, in this case, 120 grams.
For this recipe, that will be 60 grams of water + 60 grams of flour. My starter always has a hydration of 100%.

You can also make a levain by mixing one part sourdough starter with two parts flour and water.
That means 30 grams of starter + 60 grams of water + 60 grams of flour for this recipe.
That means 150 grams of levain. We only need 120 grams for this recipe, but you can return the excess part to the starter.
If you feel that you have more than enough of your starter, you can make sourdough crackers. They are a real crowd-pleaser, I promise.

I usually mix the levain or refresh my starter before I go to bed. In the morning, it has at least doubled in size.
It’s ready for baking.

MIXING THE DOUGH

So we start by mixing flour and water and let it autolyse for an hour.
There are many benefits to the autolyse process, but I’m not going to delve into that subject in this article.
If you want to learn more, I encourage you to read my article “The importance of Autolyse” instead.

After the autolyse, it is time to add the sourdough starter and salt. I use to fold the dough over the salt and starter and knead it until it feels like the starter has been incorporated into the dough.
That can take 5-10 minutes.
And yes, it is sticky in the beginning. But after a while, it will transform into a nice, smooth dough.

1st RISE

Now it’s time to let the dough rest again, this time for about 30 minutes.
After all that kneading, the dough has become quite stiff and needs to relax a bit.

After the rest, it’s time for the first set of stretch and fold. It’s also time to add the oats.
Grab one side of the dough, stretch it a bit, and fold it over the rest of the dough. You can do it in the bowl where you are fermenting the dough. Repeat the process 3 or 4 times or until the dough doesn’t feel slack anymore.
Repeat the stretch and fold process two times with 30 minutes of resting time in between.

After the last stretch and fold, it’s time to leave the dough to ferment untouched.
How long that will take depends on many things, But it should increase 50-70% in volume. For the dough on the pictures, it took about 3 hours after the last stretch and fold.
The temperature was about 80-82°F/27-28°C.

FINAL RISE

Dump out the dough on a lightly floured working surface. Shape the dough into a round and let it rest for 15-30 minutes. We want to let the dough relax a bit before it’s time for the final shape.
Stretch the dough and fold it from two sides, and roll it into a tubular shape.
This video shows the whole shaping process. It’s from another recipe, but the approach is the same.

Place the dough into a lightly greased bread form. The one I used measured 25x11x7 cm, about 10×4,5×3 inches.
Now it’s time for the final rise.
I use to place the dough into a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out on the surface.

The time required can vary a lot depending on ambient temperature and the strength of the proofing process. The dough on the picture below was proofed for 1,5 hours at room temperature, about 71-73°F/22-23°C.
When the dough reaches the upper edge of the form, it’s ready.

BAKING

Preheat the oven in good time. I use to turn it on at least 30 minutes before it’s time to bake.
For this sourdough sandwich bread with rye, we start at 480°F/250°C.
Place the form into the oven and bake it for 35-40 minutes.
You may have to reduce the temperature at the end to prevent the upper surface from getting burnt.

Let the bread cool for a while when you have taken it out from the oven.
Release the bread from the form carefully when you can handle it without burning your hands.
Let it cool for an additional hour.

FINAL WORDS ABOUT SOURDOUGH SANDWICH BREAD WITH RYE AND OATS

This bread quickly became a favorite in my family, and I understand why.
It has a soft crust, making it ideal for toasting. The crumb is tight, but not dense, and loaded with flavor.
You don’t have to add much rye flour to get bread with character.
The notes of nuttiness from the oats are there in the background.
If you want more of that, just add some more oats. I think you can easily double the amount.
Bake a couple of loaves. Slice and freeze them. Take out one or two slices in the morning and put them in the toaster.
A great way to start the day.