Whole grain sour dough breads are not just full of flavor, they are also more nutritious and easier to digest than breads baked with regular yeast!

I baked this super simple whole-grain RYE bread this week, inspired by Lutz Geissler (https://www.ploetzblog.de) who helped me kick off my sour-dough baking career a few years ago:  It is super simple as you only have to briefly mix the four ingredients, fill them into your baking form, wait 1 day, bake and enjoy. 

Photo credits: Lutz Geissler www.ploetzblog.de

Nutrition facts: sour dough breads’ are easier to digest due to the prebiotic content and probiotic-like properties, believed to be even tolerable for some people suffering from celiac disease. Also it is more nutritious, as the absorption of nutrients, especially minerals, is higher due to the reduced content of anti-nutrients (phytates). Sourdough bread also seems less likely to spike your blood sugar levels, which makes it an option for those monitoring their blood sugar.

RECIPE:

1kg whole grain rye flour

950g water (warm)

22g salt (about 2 level Tbsp.)

7g sour-dough starter (see how to make your own starter below)

METHOD:

1.Briefly mix all ingredients in a bowl with your hands.

2.Fill the dough into two rectangular (baking paper lined) baking forms (30x10cm) and cover with a baking tray to protect from drying out.

3.Let it rest for 18-24h ideally at 26-30° temp. They should have approx. doubled in size.

4.Preheat oven to 230°C top and bottom heat and bake your breads for about 60mins.

5.Let the bread cool off on a grid.

SOUR DOUGH STARTER:

If you are lucky you can get your starter from a kind neighbor or friend who is already baking with sour-dough. Or you have to kick-start it yourself. This “birth will take about 8 days. After that you can keep the starter in the fridge for a life time, you just have to “feed “ it about once a week. And don’t forget to name it (how about Donald?)  and you will not forget to look after it. 

When making a sour dough starter you are simply mixing water and flour and let it “ferment”, which means that Microorganisms (wild yeast and yoghurt type bacteria) are growing. The following days you are feeding those Microorganisms with a new flour/water mixture. The goal is to achieve a fruity-sour smelling dough with lots of bubbles.

Sour dough starter - feeding schedule (see also table below):

Day 1 :  Mix flour (50g) and water (50g)  in a clean weck glas. Consistency should be like mortar. Let it rest for 24h covered with lid.

Day 2: put 100g of sour-dough from day 1 into a clean weck glas and mix with 50g whole grain ray flour and 50g warm water

Day 3: 100g of sour-dough from day 2 and mix with 25g whole grain ray flour and 25g warm water

Day 4-8: 25g of sour dough from day 3 and mix with 50g whole grain ray flour and 50g warm water.

Sour dough starter Day 3/4

Tips:

- Smell Test: the dough has to smell nice: sour-fruity; if it is moldy or smells off, throw it away and start from scratch.

- Feeding*: Ideally you feed the starter before the surface 'collapses'. As long as there is enough food for the microorganisms, the starter grows. When the food is all used up, the surface of the starter collapses.

-Storage: after day 8 use it for baking and store the rest of the starter in the fridge and feed it about every week once. But even if you forget to feed it for longer, it will most likely survive. You might have to feed it a few days in a row to revive it.

-Baking: after storing the starter in the fridge, you have to feed it a day (or min, 6 hours) before baking  (à la day 4-8). Using an old starter will result in a more sour tasting and denser bread.

-Bread is too sour: best to let the bread dough proof at a warm temperature (about 26-30°C) as the bread will raise faster and be thus be less sour. Check your starter and try and feed it twice or three times before baking bread.

Enjoy!