Sourdough ryebread

Beautiful November weather in Switzerland on the 18th

 
I have been a lazy baker in the last times. Normally I like to bake bread more of less regularly but recently it has been a forgotten business. So it was time to get my hands dirty one again.

I love ryebread made with sourdough as does preatty much every Finn. One of the best breads ever is made with only water, sourdough, ryeflour and salt. That is the traditional Finnish ryebread best baked in a old fashioned stone oven called leivinuuni in Finnish.

My ryebread often has many other things in it as well like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, oats, flaxseeds etc. These components keep the bread moist longer and I can eat from the same bread for about one week. This is good because my Hubby is not a friend of ryebread and thus I always end up eating it alone. One possibility is, of course, to freeze the bread. I always slice the bread before freezing it. This way I can take out only the amount of bread I'm planning to eat during the day.

If I think I'll bake often I keep the sourgdough in the fridge otherwise I dry it. As dried it will stay good pretty much for ever. The only negative thing is that it will need a longer time to be activated so you need to plan the baking some time a head...not a fast food thing ;)

Dry sourdough

The way I prepare the ryebread is super easy. You don't need to do any kneading so you won't even get you fingers dirty. Here's some sort of a recipe but you can always change the component. If you for example prefer sunflower seeds to pumkin seed aou can just leave them away and add some more those sunflower seed instead.

Sourdough ryebread with all drum und dran :D

Step 1:

500 ml water

c. 15 g dried ryesourdough

Sourdough soaking in the water

Let the dried dough soak in water for some time and then add

300 g rye flour (not the fine but whole grain)

I always use the organic Roggenschrotmehl of Coop. Mix the flour, water sourdough mixture well, cover the bowl and place in a warm place. I put it in the corner of our bathroom because there is a floor heating. Now you basically just have to wait that the dough gets sour. You can mix it couple of times a day. When I do the bread with a dry sourdough I need about two days. The time will depend from the place and the warmth. If I use the fresh sourdough it usually let bowl stand over one night. The dough is ready for the second step when it's producing big bubbles and both smells and tastes sour.

In the middle is malt. I actually prefer the one which isn't so finely grinded. This malt in the picture I have brought from Finland. Clockwise from the top: sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds and wheat bran

Step 2:

20 g wheat bran (Weizenkleie)

60 g sunflower seeds

60 g pumpkin seeds

60 g flaxseeds

140 g wheatflour

60 g malt

8 g salt

2 tbsp sunflower or canola oil

Add all ingredients in the dough and mix well. You don't need to knead but just make sure the dough is well mixed. This dough is anyway too wet to be kneaded. I don't always use malt. You can also leave it out and add for example some oats. I either by malt when I visit Finland or order it from internet in Switzerland. In Finland it's available in every store. I often buy Rantasen leipä- ja mämmimallas or in Switzerland at Sios Roggenmalz auf wunsch geschrottet.

Bread form filled with the dough...as you can see the dough is quite moist.

Step 3:

 Butter a bread form well and fill with the dough. Cover with a kitchen cloth and let the bread rise for some hours...sometimes my sourdough has been a bit week (didn't give it enough time in the bathroom :D ) and then I have let the bread to rise over one night or day.

Step 4.

Bake the bread in about 190 C for about one hour. Let slightly cool and remove from the form.

The ready ryebread with all drum and dran :D

To compare: this is wheat bread made with wheat sourdough. I have had this sourdough wheat bread project going on for the last weeks. I had to create the sourdough from the start: the first one didn't turn out good because my bread wasn't rising. The second sourdough molded for what ever reason and now finally my third try is successful...must be that organig flour I used for the final try :D

Autumn colours on the 18th of November