Sourdough Bread is my new learning and experiment over the last 1 month and this one is my third bake or the 4 and 5th bread. The earlier 2 breads were with whole wheat and all purpose flour and this time I have used a combination of Spelt, Rye and Whole wheat to make this healthy and delicious Spelt and Rye Breakfast Sourdough Bread.
Bombarding with Images, so please bear with me but cannot hold my joy 🙂
I have wanted to start Sourdough Breads for the last 2.5 years but the plans never worked. I was a bit apprehensive if I would be able to feed my starter on time and what I do with the discard. But this lock down gave me an opportunity to give it a start and overcome my fears.
Sourdough Discard Recipes
With respect to the discard, most of the discards occur when we start creating the starter from scratch. But you can use that discard in different recipes and I have made numerous ones. I would definitely not let it go waste. Especially when it has all the natural wild yeast. The discard can be used to ferment pizza dough, Idli Dosa Batter, make scrumptious waffles , pancakes etc etc. So you know which recipes are coming up next.
So what is Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough Bread is made using a leaven. That is a starter made using flour and water which is left to ferment. The fermentation of dough takes place using naturally occuring lactobacilli and yeast. If you are making a starter from scratch the intial process takes upto 7-10 days or more depending on the weather where you live.
Sourdough Starter
Once a starter is created it can stay for ages with regular feedings. Feedings explained in a simple process is that the yeast needs to feed on fresh flour and water, it gets hungry. The starter can be kept in fridge and once a week feeding is sufficient. There are ways to even freeze the starter but I have yet not done it.
As said earlier this is just my first few tries and I would say I am a novice in Sourdough baking. I am today just sharing my experiments with it. Learning slowly and enjoying the phase. I currently do not have any post on starter marking, but you can see a lot of pics on my Instagram profile.
Sourdough Terms & Tools
At first I was so confused with all the terms being used. Starter, Leavain, AutoLyse etc. I read it again and again to understand everything. I followed most of the instructions found on here for a new Sourdough Baker. It is a perfect guide. Though I still do not have all the baking tools, except a thermometer which I bought just before the lock down and I am glad I did that :-).
The perfect Loaf has the best instructions on how to make a perfect starter. I tried to follow most of the instructions, but had to replace flour after 3-4 day as I ran out of some flour and also had to adjust the timings as we have cold weather here. I did take a bit of extra 1-2 day and when my starter was ready, I was elated.
My First Sourdough Bread
Guess what when I was about to mix the flours for baking my first sourdough bread, My scale broke and I had to use cups for judgement. I would say my Indian cooking where we hardly measure ingredients came into use here. So I baked this first bread, where in the starter was all Rye in start and then a mix of All purpose and Rye. Finally Leavain a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour as it ran out of flours. Bread was a mix of all purpose flour and wheat flour. I was happy and thrilled with the results.
Today’s Spelt, Rye and Whole Wheat flour Sourdough Breakfast Bread
So finally today I am sharing my Sourdough Bread recipe after I feel a bit comfortable that I can share. I have used a combination of Spelt , Rye and Whole Wheat Flour. As I was keen on using multi flours for this sourdough and also for the fact that this month’s Bread Bakers have the challenge to bake a bread with Rye hosted by Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories.
Taste and Texture of the Bread
I love the taste of this bread more than the whole wheat and all purpose flour bread. The bread is of course dense and heavier because of the use of Spelt and Rye Flour. This breads are a little chewy and at times sour, not like your normal bread. I have followed the recipe from The perfect loaf’s recipe with some modifications.
Spelt Flour
Spelt also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat is a species of wheat. It was an important staple food in parts of Europe. (Source Wiki) . I have made this Sugarless & Vegan Apple and Carrot Loaf and Injera (Ethiopian FlatBread)
Rye Flour
Rye grain is also a member of the wheat tribe. It is also used for flour, bread, crisp etc. I have used Rye flour in this Rye Flatbread, Sugarless Multiseed Rye Bread and this Knäckebröd – Swedish Multi-Seed Crispbread.
Spelt and Rye Breakfast Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
Leavain Build
- 55 gram Mature Sourdough Starter
- 27 gram Whole Wheat Flour
- 27 gram Spelt Flour
- 55 gram Water (at 28 Deg C)
Bread Dough
- 233 grams Spelt Flour
- 233 grams Rye Flour
- 520 grams Whole Wheat Flour
- 830 gram Water (at 28 Deg C)
- 20 grams Coarse Sea Salt
- Leavain Build from above
- 3-4 tablespoon Rice Flour for dusting
Instructions
Liquid Levain
- You would need to start the process the previous day you intend to bake this bread.
- In the morning, start with the leavain build.
- Mix all the ingredients in a clean jar, cover lightly and keep it in a warm environment.
Autolyse (After 2.5 – 3 hours)
- After around 2.5-3 hours, you would notice that the leavain build is going strong.
- At this stage mix all the flours mentioned in the Bread Dough along with water.
- Leave the salt for later.
- Just give all the flours a mix and let it sit for 1 hour.
Mix (After 1 hour of Autolyse)
- After 1 hour of the Autolyse, add in the liquid levain and salt into the flour and water mix.
- Mix everything using your hands.
- Take the dough into a clean work table and slap and fold the dough for 5-8 minutes.
- The dough is quite wet so that is fine.
Bulk Fermentation (3.5 hours)
- This is a 3.5 hour long fermentation process.
- During this process you would stretch and fold the dough 3 times in intervals of 15 min, 30 min and 30 min.
- Stretch and fold means that you stretch the dough all the way up, and then fold it. Repeat this in all the 4 directions and then let it rest.
Divide & Preshape
- After 3.5 hours gently remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean surface.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal sizes.
- Shape it into a rough round and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
Shape
- After 30 minutes shape the dough.
- I have made one into a boule and the other in a tin in sandwich form
- See the pics on how to shape in a boule.
- For the boule I have used a normal round bowl. Ideally one uses a proofing basket.
- I dusted a clean kitchen towel with some rice flour and added the shaped boule into it.
- For the sandwich tin, I lightly greased it with oil and added the dough in it.
- I have also added a bit of oats on the top of my sandwich tin.
Proof (16 hours)
- Cover both the tins using a thin plastic. This helps the dough not get dry from the top and not develop a dry layer.
- Let this dough ferment in the fridge for the remaining 16 hours.
Bake
- Next day morning. I.e. after 15 hours of Proofing your dough in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 240 Deg C. One can use a baking stone or baking steel for baking. I am using my Cast Iron Dutch Oven for this.
- While preheating keep your dutch oven in the oven covered as shown in the pic.
- This will help the dutch oven preheat too. Preheat for 45 mins – 1 hour.
- Once the oven has preheated to 45 mins, remove the dough from the fridge.
- Flip the boule on parchment paper, with a chopping board or a pizza peel below.
- Score the dough using a Bread Lame. I am using a sharp knife for this.
- Now remove the dutch oven, and place the bread. Be careful the oven and the dutch oven is quite hot.
- Cover the dutch oven. This will help in baking it with steam as the steam will get trapped. Bake for 20 mins
- For the loaf tin, I just sprayed some water on the top to help it trap some steam.
- Now remove the cover of the dutch oven. Be careful the oven and the dutch oven is quite hot.
- Now bake for additional 30 minutes at 240 Deg C. I lowered the temperature to 220 Deg C, as my top was getting too brown.
- After 30 minutes your boulle is done. Remove it from the oven.
- Let the loaf/sandwich bread bake for an additional 20 minutes at 200 Deg C.
- The bread is done. I also check the internal temperature of the bread after it is done. It should register above 98 Deg C.
- Let the bread cool completely for 1-2 hours.
- Slice and serve.
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Today, the Bread Bakers, hosted by Karen’s Kitchen Stories , are baking breads with rye. I’m excited to see everyone’s rye breads!
- Black Pepper Rye from A Messy Kitchen
- Coffee Scones with Maple, Raisins, and Rye from Palatable Pastime
- Everyday Multigrain Rye Sourdough from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
- Light Rye Sourdough Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Multigrain Spiced Raisin Bread from Passion Kneaded
- Overnight Rye Buns from Food Lust People Love
- Sourdough Rye Boule from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Tangzhong Method Rye Bread from Sneha’s Recipe
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Michele
Monday 16th of October 2023
Thank you for the recipe. I made it yesterday and my husband said it was the best tasting sourdough, yet! I am still practicing.
Renu Agrawal Dongre
Monday 16th of October 2023
Ah lovely, Thank You so much for your feedback. You will master it soon.
Genesis Ron
Wednesday 20th of May 2020
Good to know that works too! It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Wow great post.
Renu Agrawal-Dongre
Thursday 21st of May 2020
Thank You
ARCHANA
Friday 15th of May 2020
OMG! You made the sourdough bread! Even with Varada and Sowmya coaching me I am failing miserably but let us blame it on the weather ;D Its too hot here. I love the bread in fact I wish I can bake it now.
Swathi
Thursday 14th of May 2020
Beautiful spelt and rye bread, this is my favorite combination. I like that you made it perfectly boule and a loaf.
Renu Agrawal-Dongre
Friday 15th of May 2020
Thank You so much
Chef Mireille
Wednesday 13th of May 2020
WOW - what a beautiful bread. I love the dark crusty exterior. Toasted with some butter, this must be so delicious!
Renu Agrawal-Dongre
Friday 15th of May 2020
Me too, love the crust. Thank You