One of my most visited blog posts is the recipe for Easy sourdough rye bread. It’s also one of the most discussed. Some love this recipe, others are not that enthusiastic. I guess it depends on the result they get.

Baking with lots of rye flour is different than with wheat only.
The elasticity of the dough decreases noticeably even with quite modest amounts of rye.
It’s hard, if not impossible, to get an open crumb, and with higher amounts of rye, the bread will be dense as a brick.
The dough is sticky, even if it feels stiff.

But that’s ok.
Because when it comes to taste, rye bred delivers.
A lot.

But that doesn’t help that much when you are struggling with a dough that feels like playdough.
Perhaps it’s time to take one step back.

I decided to write a new recipe, this time with a lower rye content.
In this recipe, there is only about 30% rye flour, compared to almost 60% in the old recipe.
The dough will be easier to handle, but it will still result in a bread with lots of taste and character.

ABOUT INGREDIENTS FOR ONE THIRD RYE SOURDOUGH

MIXING THE LEVAIN

For this recipe, I mixed a rye levain with a ratio of 1:2:2.
That means 20 grams sourdough starter + 40 grams rye flour + 40 grams water.
I got 100 grams of levain with 100% hydration.
I only need 80 grams, but I always mix some extra, just in case.

If you have never baked with rye flour before, don’t be surprised if the levain feels a bit stiff.
Nothing is wrong.
Rye flour is quite thirsty compared to wheat flour and absorbs more water.

I mixed the levain before I went to bed, and 8 hours later, it had tripled in volume and was ready to use. The surrounding temperature was 70-72/21-22°C.

MIXING THE DOUGH AND AUTOLYSE

Autumn has arrived here in Sweden, and my kitchen starts to be cooler in the morning.
Heating the water a bit before mixing it to the flour helps to improve the fermentation process.
If the temperature in my kitchen is 70-72/21-22°C, I use to heat the water to 102-104°F/39-40°C. Most of the time I will end up with a final dough temperature around 80°F/27°C.

I know. This method is VERY rough, and I admit that it has no scientific foundation, whatsoever.
But it works surprisingly well for me.

I have seen formulas on how to calculate the water temperature, King Arthur has written about one.
But being an engineer, I realize that they are very rough as well.

For the autolyse, I mixed the flour and water and let it rest for one hour.
I have written an article about Autolyse if you are not familiar with this method. You can find it here.
In short, it will improve the fermentation and the structure of the dough.

BULK FERMENTATION

Even if it’s not the most thrilling part of bread baking, it is for sure one of the most important.

If you mess up, the result will inevitably be a failure.

With that said, I urge you not to be afraid of failing.
Failures are a part of bread baking. Everybody fails now and then, especially when you are a beginner.
You will probably learn more from your failures than from any blog about bread baking, this one included.
Besides, most failures taste quite good anyway.

However, there are a few things that are good to know so you can avoid the most unnecessary pitfalls.
And one of the most common mistakes beginners do is to follow the recipe instructions you have found by the letter, especially when it comes to time.

You have to learn to be flexible when it comes to time because it’s impossible to give a specific time frame when the dough is ready fermented. Especially when it comes to baking with sourdough.
The time required depends on so many things.
Temperature, the strength of the starter, flour quality are just a few parameters.

Observe the dough and don’t pay too much attention to the clock.

When the dough is ready, it should have increased by about 50% in volume.
It should have a slightly domed surface, preferably with some gas bubbles on top, and the dough should jiggle a bit if you shake it.

The dough in this recipe met all those criteria after 4,5 hours at a temperature of about 80°F/27°C.

But before that, I added salt and the levain and kneaded the dough in the bowl for about 5 minutes.
After a 15 minutes rest, I performed the first set of stretch and fold, followed by two more spaced out by 30 minutes.
The dough felt a bit stiff, so I decided that was enough.

SHAPING AND BENCH REST

Shaping this dough feels a bit different. Even if there is only 30% rye flour, you will notice that there is less elasticity.
I used the same technique as usual. First, I shaped the dough into a round and let it rest for 15 minutes, allowing it to relax a bit.
After that, I shaped it into a Batard.

I have made a video, showing the whole shaping process. You can find it here.
I’m a newbie when it comes to shooting videos, so don’t expect too much.
But it will show you my approach to the shaping process.

FINAL RISE

I have tried to let this dough proof in both room temperature and in the refrigerator.
Both methods resulted in a great result.
In the refrigerator, I let it proof for about 8 hours, and at room temperature, 71-73°F/22-23°C, 1 hour.
Again, it’s more important to observe the dough than to look at the clock.
The finger poke test is one way to determine if the dough is ready for the oven. This method is not 100% reliable, but it’s the best I know of.

BAKING

As usual, I preheated the oven to 480°F/250°C together with my combo cooker. If you don’t have a combo cooker or a dutch oven, a baking stone, or even an oven plate is ok. A clay cooker also gives good results.

I baked the bread for 45 minutes, lifting off the upper part of the cooker after 15 minutes. I also lowered the heat to 430°F/220°C after 20 minutes.

CONCLUSION

Rye flour has a fantastic taste. Even if most of the flour in this recipe is wheat flour, the taste of rye is profound. Rye flour has a fruitiness that I found unique when it comes to flour. If you don’t believe me, try to taste the levain in this recipe. You will be surprised.

The crumb in this rye sourdough bread is very tight, as you can see in the pictures. But I can assure you it’s not dense. It’s surprisingly soft and light.

I have tried to add sunflower seeds with a good result, and I also think fennel can be an interesting combination.

I hope I have made you more curious about baking with rye flour with this recipe. As said before, it’s only 30% rye, but the taste is big. When you have baked this bread a couple of times you may want to try my rye bread with 100% rye. A bred for Vikings.