German Rye Sourdough (Saurteig) ALLOW 1 DAY TO ACTIVATE THE CULTURE; 2 TO 10 DAYS TO FEED THE CULTURE; 12 TO 24 HOURS TO REFRESH THE CULTURE
German rye sourdough is a thick, porridgelike mixture of spring water and stone ground rye flour that quickly becomes a hospitable environment for natural yeast. Of all the sourdoughs in this book, rye is the fastest to ferment and the sourest. German and Austrian bakers don't just use it for its sour flavor, however. Rye flour contains abundant amylases, enzymes that break down starches in the dough, which can result in bread with a dense, sticky crumb. The abundant acids in rye sourdough slow the breakdown of starches. Bread baked with rye sourdough is more elastic, rises higher, and has a more open, stable crumb. In short, if you use rye sourdough, you won't wind up with a rye bread doorstop. This recipe walks you through the process of creating a rye sourdough from scratch. It takes between 4 and 10 days to activate the culture but requires just a few minutes of your time each day. It's impossible to say exactly how long the recipe will take, because the speed of fermentation depends on a host of vari ables, including the composition of your flour and the climate in your kitchen. The most important thing you can do is pay attention to your culture-and be patient. Stir it, smell it, taste it. This is what bakers do every day, and it is the only sure way to determine the ripeness of your culture. When you first mix the water and rye flour together, the culture will be very thick and sludgy. Over the next few days, as you mix in more water and flour-and oxygen-it will become spongy and airy, thinner and easy to stir. You'll see it come alive, growing bubbly and developing a pungent, tangy smell. As with other sourdoughs, I recommend using spring water and organic stone ground flour to create the best environ ment for developing a culture. Tap water and highly processed flours may contain yeast- and bacteria-killing contaminants. Once you've established the rye sour- dough, you can store it in the refrigerator and keep it indefinitely by feeding it once a week with fresh water and flour. Equipment CLEAN, CLEAR 2-QUART CONTAINER Day 1 Spring water, tepid (70 to 78 degrees) 1/4 cup Organic, stone-ground rye flour, preferably finely ground 1/2 cup Day 2 Spring water, tepid (70 to 78 degrees) 1/4 cup Organic, stone-ground rye flour, preferably finely ground 1/2 cup ACTIVATE THE CULTURE. Pour the water into the container and stir in the rye flour until it is fairly smooth. It will be quite thick. Scrape down the sides cover the container with plastic wrap. Let it stand at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 24 hours. OBSERVE AND FEED THE CUL TURE. Uncover the culture and observe any changes. It's still early, but the culture may have risen slightly. It will have a sweet and musty smell and taste mildly tangy. Pour the water into the container and stir with a rubber spatula to loosen it slightly. Add the rye flour and and stir vigorously to oxygenate the culture and blend until it is smooth. It will be somewhat looser than on the previous day but still quite stiff, like oat meal. Scrape down the sides and cover the container with plastic wrap. Let the culture stand at room tem perature (70 to 75 degrees) for 24 hours. Day 3 Spring water, tepid (70 to 78 degrees) 1/4 cup Organic, stone-ground rye flour, preferably finely ground 1/2 cup OBSERVE AND FEED THE CULTURE. Today your culture will have risen up the sides of the container and may have already fallen. The surface will be bub bly, and if you hold up the container, you'll see bub bles on the sides and bottom. Smell its earthy, acidic aroma and taste the sour flavor. Pour the water into the container and stir to loosen the sourdough. You'll notice short strands of gluten floating through the water. Add the rye flour and stir vigorously to oxygenate the culture and blend the fresh flour into the sourdough. Scrape down the sides and cover the container with plastic wrap. Let it stand at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 24 hours. TEST THE CULTURE. Uncover the container and examine the culture to determine whether it is ripe enough to become a rye sourdough. By now it will have become a darker gray-brown and expanded dra matically, maybe doubling. It will be spongy-looking and filled with small bubbles all the way through. It will smell pungently sour and acidic, like a combina tion of overripe apples and moist fall leaves. When you taste it, the acid will sparkle on your tongue. If your culture doesn't show this much activity, don't worry. Repeat the steps for day 3 every 24 hours for up to 6 more days. Use warm (85 to 95 degrees) water in place of tepid water, and be sure to keep the container in a warm (75 to 80 degrees), draft-free place. You may need to transfer it to a larger container. After these additional feedings, if your culture does not look active, the flour may have been old, the water may have been too chlorinated, or the container may not have been spotlessly clean. If your culture does look ready, repeat the recipe from day 3, but check the culture after only 12 hours. Scrape down the sides and cover the container with plastic wrap. With masking tape, mark the spot on the container that the sourdough will reach when it has doubled in volume. Let it stand at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 12 hours. You'll know you have a strong, healthy sourdough when it almost doubles and is spongy and filled with large and small bubbles after 12 hours. It will smell pungent and taste tangy. Refresh the sourdough (see below) before proceeding with the rye bread recipe of your choice. When you have successfully cultivated a rye sour dough, you must add water and rye flour to it on a regular basis to keep it in shape for bread baking. The yeast and bacteria that provide leavening power and great flavor need periodic nourishment. I recom mend that you refresh your rye sourdough at least once a week and store it in the refrigerator when you're not baking. In the cold, it will slowly ferment. The 12- to 24-hour time range gives you flexibility to bake either in the morning or in the evening. Just be aware that the longer the sourdough ferments after refreshment, the more sour it and the bread you bake with it will be. Day 4 Spring water, tepid (70 to 78 degrees) 1/4 cup Organic, stone-ground rye flour, preferably finely ground 1/2 cup REFRESH THE SOURDOUGH. Measure 1/4 cup (1.8 ounces/so grams) of your culture into a clean i-quart container and discard the rest. (After you've been baking with your sourdough consistently, the exact amount is not critical; just make sure there is room in the container for the sourdough to expand.) Stir in the water and rye flour vigorously with a rubber spatula until the culture is fairly but not perfectly smooth. Scrape down the sides and cover the con tainer with plastic wrap. If you plan to bake, mark the container with mask ing tape to indicate the level the sourdough will reach when it doubles in volume. Let it stand at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours. It is ready when it has expanded to twice its original size and tastes very tangy. It may already have deflated. If you do not plan to bake within 24 hours, leave the sourdough at room temperature for 1 hour and then refrigerate it. MAINTAIN THE SOURDOUGH. If your sourdough has been in the refrigerator for a week, it is time to refresh it again, whether or not you plan on baking. Weeldy refreshment will keep it alive and healthy, so that when you do bake, it will be capable of raising your dough. Just repeat the steps for refreshment and refrigerate it again for up to 1 week. PREPARE THE SOURDOUGH FOR BAKING. Whether or not you have refreshed your sourdough recently, you must refresh it 12 to 24 hours before you want to bake to ensure that it is in optimum shape for raising and flavoring bread. Follow the refreshment steps described above. After the sour dough has fermented at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours, measure out what you will need for your recipe. Then place 1/4 cup (1.8 ounces/so grams) of what is left over in a clean con tainer, refresh this portion, and refrigerate for up to 1 week for use in the future. Variation: Spelt Sourdough Spelt bread, made with an ancient variety of wheat, can be found in bakeries throughout Ger many. Some German bakers simply use rye sourdough as the foundation for their spelt breads, but some, who want to produce 100 percent spelt loaves, use a similar starter made with spelt. To make a spelt sourdough, simply substitute whole spelt flour wherever rye flour is called for in the above recipe. The color will be different, more brownish than gray. It will rise more than a rye sour because spelt contains gluten to create pockets for trapping gases. But otherwise, spelt sour dough will work in exactly the same way as a rye starter to raise your bread. Local Breads by Daniel Leader [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BREAD-RECIPE/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BREAD-RECIPE/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/