Light Rye Bread

This is a modified version of a recipe in 'The Best Bread Book' by Patricia Jacobs (Pan 1975).

This uses some of the sourdough starter (see earlier entry A well-bred loaf). The starter I used has been in my fridge for six or seven weeks now, being 'fed' every week. So to use it this time, I took it from the fridge, poured it into a clean bowl and stirred in 75g of wholemeal flour and 100ml of warm water. This just about doubled the volume of the starter to 400ml. After a good stir, and having made a good job of cleaning out the original storage jar (a large Branston pickle container has the right shape and size for me - it allows one to swirl the stuff around in between feeds, a bit like a conical flask from the chemistry lab!), put half of it back into that jar and set it back in the fridge until next time. The balance was kept to one side to allow it to warm up, and start to ferment.

So the ingredients are:

200ml of starter (known as poolish in some circles) as above
140g strong white flour
215g rye flour
10g of fresh (or 5g of dry) yeast
half dessertspoon salt
150ml warm water (approx.)
half dessertspoon molasses
half tablespoon caraway seeds (if liked)

Method:

Cream the yeast with a little of the water in a small container; leave for 10 minutes until it starts to froth. Mix together the two flours and salt in an appropriately-sized bowl. Warm the molasses (it makes it easier to manouver) and pour thinly over the flour and mix it in. Don't worry too much, you'll get the chance to blend it in while kneading.

Make a well in the middle of this mixture and add the yeast, the 200ml of starter and most of the water. If you like caraway, add that now. Mix in the bowl until you are reasonably sure you have added enough water - the dough should not be too wet or too dry. The water (to make it wetter) or flour (to dry it out) can be added during this mixing, or in the kneading stage, which comes next.

Knead on a floured, warmed board - I use the glass fold-down top on the cooker, which is itself warmed by the oven heating up below. You should need about 10 minutes for this. More flour can be added if the dough is sticking to the kneading surface. If it feels too dry, return the dough to the bowl and add a little water and knead it in while still in the bowl. When kneading is complete, put into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for one-and-a-half to two hours - the dough should easily double in this time - but sometimes rye flour rises slower than white flour.

An alternative is to put the dough into a closed polythene bag for the same amout of time (still in a warm place). To make it easier to get the dough out, before putting the dough into it, turn the bag inside out, spray lightly with oil, then turn the outside in.

When rising has finished, turn the dough onto that board again, knocking it down - deflating it from the gas trapped inside, but not completely. If you do, it will make the next stage longer than necessary. You can shape the resulting dough into a loaf shape, or place in a lightly greased 2-lb loaf tin. Brush the top of the dough with milk, then put it back into that warm place again for about 30-40 minutes to prove. It should increase in size by about 50% or more.

Bake at Gas Mark 5 (375 F / 190 C) for 40 minutes, or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

This was the first time I made this and it was great with the home-made soup we had for dinner, and the cheese that followed.