Sourdough Rye Bread Recipe: Making a Rye Sourdough Starter
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Apr 7, 2024 • 3 min read
Sourdough rye bread uses a rye sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast. Like other sourdough recipes, the process for baking this type of bread is long, but the resulting sourdough loaf makes good sandwich bread.
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What Is Sourdough Rye Bread?
Sourdough rye has a thin or thick crust and a soft, chewy interior with a slightly sour taste. This bread combines elements of both classic rye bread recipes and sourdough bread. As an alternative to wheat flour, all-purpose flour, bread flour, or whole wheat flour, sourdough rye uses rye flour in both the sourdough starter and the bread dough.
Rye flour is a common ingredient in sourdough starters, regardless of whether or not the final bread will be rye bread. For a traditional version, try making Poilâne bakery CEO Apollonia Poilâne’s homemade sourdough starter recipe.
Tips for Making Sourdough Rye Bread
A sourdough rye bread recipe differs from other bread recipes in that it requires you to begin with a sourdough starter. Here are tips for making a tangy and chewy rye sourdough:
- Feed the sourdough starter with rye flour. If your original sourdough starter used white flour or wheat flour, feed the starter with rye flour before making rye sourdough bread to impart the rye flavor.
- Proof the dough in a banneton. A proofing basket, a banneton is typical in sourdough baking and allows the boule (dough ball) to mold to the basket without sticking. It is possible to proof the dough in a well-greased bowl, but for beginners, using a banneton simplifies the proofing step.
- Use a combination of different flours. Rye flour provides good flavor but lacks the structure sourdough bread needs since it’s a whole-grain flour that doesn’t contain much gluten. Combine bread flour, all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour), and rye flavor for optimal taste and structure. Additionally, using a flour blend also prevents the creation of a dense rye bread.
Sourdough Rye Bread Recipe
makes
1 bouleprep time
15 mintotal time
50 mincook time
35 minIngredients
For the levain:
For the dough:
Make the levain:
- 1
Feed a sourdough starter according to your regular routine but use twice as much water as flour.
- 2
Let the starter activate at room temperature overnight or 8–10 hours.
- 3
After the activation time period, combine the active starter and warm water in a mixing bowl.
Make the dough:
- 1
In the bowl of a stand mixer you’ve fitted with the dough hook, combine the rye flour, bread flour, all-purpose flour, honey, and salt.
- 2
Add the active starter and water mixture slowly.
- 3
Knead the dough until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
- 4
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl.
- 5
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
- 6
Leave the dough to ferment at room temperature until it’s doubled in size, about 4 hours. Every 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough toward the middle of the dough ball.
- 7
After the 4-hour bulk fermentation, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
- 8
Using a bench scraper, form a tight dough ball, gently dragging the dough on the work surface to create tension.
- 9
Dust a banneton with rice flour.
- 10
Set the dough ball into the banneton with the seam side up.
- 11
Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight or 8–10 hours for the last fermentation.
Bake the bread:
- 1
The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
- 2
Place a Dutch oven in the oven.
- 3
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
- 4
Place a piece of parchment paper on a work surface.
- 5
Invert the dough from the banneton onto the parchment paper so that the seam side is down.
- 6
With a sharp knife or bread lame, cut a long slit into the dough.
- 7
Gently lower the dough ball into the preheated Dutch oven.
- 8
Cover the dough and bake it for 20 minutes.
- 9
Uncover the dough and bake it for 15 more minutes.
- 10
Transfer the baked bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
We’ve got you covered. All you knead (see what we did there?) is The MasterClass Annual Membership, some water, flour, salt, and yeast, and our exclusive lessons from Apollonia Poilâne—Paris’s premiere bread maker and one of the earliest architects of the artisanal bread movement. Roll up your sleeves and get baking.