Sourdough Rye Bread (Rukkileib)

 

Sourdough Rye Bread (Rukkileib in Estonian)

Day 1

Ingredients:

• 50 g starter
• 200 g lukewarm tap water
• 100 g rye flour

Utensils:

• Kitchen scale
• Medium-sized bowl
• Water jug
• Wooden spoon
• Kitchen towel

Procedure:

1. It's easiest to do this using a scale. Place a bowl on the scale and reset it to zero (so the weight with the bowl is 0 g).
2. Add the starter and pour in the water. Dissolve the starter in the water, stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Mix in the flour until you have a mixture with the consistency of sour cream or buttermilk. This mixture will be more liquid than a typical fed starter.
4. Cover the bowl with a towel or lid, but ensure air can still get in. Do not seal it tightly. Leave the bowl in a warm place (>= 23-24ºC) for about 12 hours to rise and mature. By the next day, it should have risen significantly and be quite bubbly.

Day 2

Ingredients:

• 300 g starter from the previous day
• 400 g lukewarm tap water
• 350-370 g whole grain rye flour
• 10 g or 2 tsp fine salt
• 10 g or 2 tsp caraway seeds
• 10 g or 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp malt flour
• 2 - 4 tbsp or a handful of flaxseeds
• 3 - 5 tbsp or 2 handfuls of shelled sunflower seeds
• 3 - 5 tbsp or 2 handfuls of pumpkin seeds
• 0.5 - 1 tbsp butter

Note: Adjust the amounts of seeds and coriander to taste. You can omit them or add other ingredients, such as dried ground garlic or onion flakes. Optionally, you can lightly roast the seeds in a pan beforehand. Roasted pumpkin seeds are especially delicious! Malt flour will darken the bread. The butter is for greasing the bread pan.

Utensils:

• Kitchen scale
• Dough mixer or strong hands
• Wooden spoon
• Water jug
• Dough scraper
• Bread pan
• Kitchen towel
• Oven

Procedure:

1. Firstly, set aside a little of the fed starter from the previous day for future bread baking. Each baker might have a different process for maintaining their starter, but the recipe's author typically feeds a new batch the previous day and stores it in a clean jar. But the latest you should do this is now. Don't forget!
2. It's easiest to mix the ingredients on a kitchen scale. If using a dough mixer, place the mixer bowl on the scale and reset it to zero.
3. Pour the bubbly starter from the previous day into the bowl. Add water and stir lightly with a wooden spoon. Then add seeds, caraway, coriander, and malt flour. Finally, add the salt (salt goes last because it can slow down the starter).
4. If using a dough mixer, attach the bowl and set the mixer to a slow speed. Gradually add the flour (rye flour can be dusty), being cautious around the moving parts.
5. After mixing, the result should be roughly 1.1 kg of bread dough, which will yield about the same amount of bread.
6. Prepare the bread pan. The author uses aluminum bread pans like this one. They heat up quickly and conduct heat well. Grease the inside of the pan with butter. This doesn't need to be done meticulously, just ensure every part is slightly coated with butter. Then, pour or scoop the dough into the pan. The given amount should fit the mentioned pan almost perfectly. Smooth out the top of the dough with a scraper and press two to three "rising holes" along the length of the loaf using a wet finger.
7. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for 2-4 hours. Check occasionally, and when the dough has risen slightly out of the pan and the holes are mostly filled, it's time to bake.
8. Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Before placing the bread in the oven, spray it with olive oil or brush with melted butter. Bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 170ºC and bake for another 60-70 minutes. You can use a convection setting for a darker and crispier crust.
9. Once done, turn off the oven, mist the bread with water, and place a damp towel on top of the bread still inside its pan. Let it cool in the oven for around 30 minutes. Then, remove the bread from the oven, take it out of the pan, and place it on a cooling rack. Cover with a damp towel.
10. Slice and eat once the bread has cooled down slightly.