40% Rye Sourdough Bread

40% Rye Sourdough Bread
A recipe with an increased percentage of rye flour inspired by the Hamelman's recipe "40% caraway rye", from which I eliminated the caraway and yeast and I adapted the recipe to work exclusively with sourdough.
Ingredients:
Preferment:
- 389g rye flour (preferably organic)
- 323g water
- 19g rye sourdough (100% hydration)
Dough:
- 600g strong wheat flour
- 350g water (warm)
- 18g salt
- the above preferment
Full recipe and instructions on my blog at
www.hungryshots.com/2020/12/40...
I described in detail the autolyse process in another video of my channel:
• Autolyse. How to make ...
If you would like to see more videos from me, please subscribe to my channel.

[@danayo8852]

Denisa, even if I didn’t bake bread, I’d watch your videos. They are absolutely TV quality! The loaves are gorgeous, we are fortunate to have you as a member of TheFreshLoaf. A great baker makes everything look easy. Your video made it look like baking these beautiful loaves were a breeze. But those that bake bread know differently :-) The dough shaping portion of the video was informative. Danny

[@HungryShots]

Baking bread takes time and effort but the reward is greater. I wish more people would start making bread at home and buy less commercial bread that tastes like paper. Once you know the real taste, flavour and texture of real healthy bread you cannot go back. Thank you very much for your comment, I very much appreciate it.

[@sailorgirl2017]

Love the timeline. I came looking for a sourdough light rye and I was not disappointed. I agree, I've been making our own bread for over a decade now and never buy from the store. People have to keep at it, I look back on how far my bread baking has come. I have only in the last year started making sourdough - a 30yr old starter that was a gift from a fellow sailor (it was his mother's), I've named my starter Marion after her. Thanks for the fantastic video!

[@HungryShots]

Sourdough bread is a very satisfying activity when you motivate yourself to do it. Not to mention about the healthy aspect. I am so glad you liked my video!

[@kerryh3918]

This recipe was EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for, your adaptation is brilliant. Making this right now & I can’t wait to devour the results. Thank you so much.

[@HungryShots]

So happy that you liked my recipe. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask! Let me know how the bread went out of the oven ;)

[@kerryh3918]

@@HungryShots the bread was absolutely delicious & perhaps one of the best loaves I’ve ever managed to make. Thank you again

[@TooBuffed]

great presentation, and super result -- thank you for your efforts!

[@HungryShots]

Thank you too for the feedback!

[@peterdbattisti3727]

Those breads are piece of art. I almost didn’t want you to cut it although wanted to see the crumb. I am a passionate baker too, sourdough became our favorite in the family. But I take my hat off!! You are so talented and such a perfectionist I can tell. Thank you and keep bringing us joy showing new recipes and your skills. Helena.

[@HungryShots]

Helena, comments like your make me go in the kitchen and prepare for the next bake. Thank you so much, very much appreciated!

[@kyalamikid]

Thank you Denisa, this bread came out so well! Really easy to follow and live the timeline chart! I didn't get quite as much rise as you, but so happy with the loafs! Added 25ml of water to ease the mixing, which I did by hand as my mixer started to sound like to was going to burn out :-)

[@HungryShots]

Thank you, Mark! Please feel free to add water as every flour is different (less or more absorbent) and the results can be slightly different. If it it didn't rise that much, give it 30 minutes more (or less) in the bulk fermentation and see what works best because temperature and humidity influence the timing.

[@torbjornstalberg9147]

Thank you! Very inspiring and easy to follow. Cheers!

[@HungryShots]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Fabrizio.deitos-navalesi]

I've recently discovered your channel and I'm really amazed by the quality of both videos and contents. It's truly an amazing work and we're really lucky to have access to those wonderful informations and images. I'll try this technique as I really like the idea of using a pre-ferment as a kind of Poolish for sourdough, especially with rye flour. I'll may try it with dry (or fresh) yeast alternatives, to compare with the Sourdough starter version. Thanks a whole lot for all your work and congratulations for what you do! 😊

[@Fabrizio.deitos-navalesi]

And by the way, just a question: what do you use for the decoration? Powdered chocolate?

[@HungryShots]

Fabrizio, thank you so much for your kind words! Indeed, it is cocoa powder that I use for the decoration.

[@Fabrizio.deitos-navalesi]

@@HungryShots Thx for the confirmation 😉

[@bethaminkhan4951]

GREAT video!!! Love this..

[@HungryShots]

Thank you so much!

[@user-sb1tn5wd1o]

As always a great video, also the bread look's yummy...!!

[@HungryShots]

Thank you !💖

[@chinamy9606]

Such a beautiful loaf!!

[@HungryShots]

You are so kind. Thank you so much!

[@gerriedeetman1552]

Looks so good going to try

[@HungryShots]

Thank you! Give it a try and let me know how it went.

[@valeriegardiner3591]

Wow thank you will try this week

[@HungryShots]

Thank you too! Let me know how it went.

[@TobyRose71]

Thanks for the high quality video and recipe. Pre-shaping and shaping 00:04:50

[@HungryShots]

Thank you so much also!

[@LaziekNocVoon]

this was quite an enjoyable watch

[@HungryShots]

Thank you so much!

[@Alkin82Minsk]

Thank you!

[@HungryShots]

You're welcome!

[@jackskalski3699]

Love the recipe! I'm also from Europe but will experiment with my flour. One thing I wanted to ask, what are you decorating with, is that some rosted dark flour? Coffee or something else? Love the signature:)

[@HungryShots]

Indeed, experimenting with the available flour is the wisest thing to do. If it has less proteins just reduce the quantity of water in the entire bread. I decorate with cocoa powder.

[@nedaustin5690]

Your result looks great! Any thoughts on using a Dutch Oven?

[@HungryShots]

Thank you! I love using Dutch Ovens. The only inconvenient I have is that I usually bake 2 loaves at a time and they hardly fit into my electric oven. However, I also have a fired wood oven and they fit perfectly there. Now that the weather is better, I'll use them more and more.

[@chinamy9606]

Thks 4 sharing the clear n easy 2 follow video n steps!! Plus the useful diagramatic flow😍. Btw, what is the room temperature at your place for the preferment step? My country here is usually warm at night.

[@HungryShots]

Thank you! I mentioned in the chart that I kept the preferment at 21ºC for 16 hours. If at your place is warmer, you'll need to shorten the time to let the preferment develop.

[@chinamy9606]

Thks 4 super quick reply. 😃Yes, i missed the notes in your chart😊

[@markderv]

Beautiful bread! Thanks for the video! What dimensions are your bannetons?

[@HungryShots]

Thank you! The bannetons are 25 x 15 x 8 cm.

[@cutabove9046]

I've now made this recipe twice in the last week. I post this information here for those who have tried this bake and ran into problems. Trying to properly autolyse 600 grams of strong bread flour with 350 grams of water is near impossible. That's a hydration rate of 58 % and frankly to dry for a proper autolyse. Stealing water from the preferment is one solution. 400 grams of water works better for the autolyse without drying out the preferment too much. In fact since the preferment is dryer it slows down the degradation of the rye and makes the dough once mixed easier to work. As an alternate to make it even easier I would recommend simply to mix all ingredients including the preferment at the same time on day two without autolyse and let the dough sit after mixing for one hour as sort of a modified autolyse. Then work the dough as noted in this video. By the way strong bread flour in the U.S. is either First Clear, or All Trump. Both have protein levels over 14 percent. Regular bread flour with 40% rye flour makes a dough that is very hard to work.

[@HungryShots]

I cannot thank you more for your comment! Trying a recipe from the web (mine included) does not always reach you to the exact results as the one of the authors. There are so many variables playing an important role and only a skilled baker can play with them to his advantage. One of the main difference is probably the flour. Your flour is different from mine, European flours are not the same as US flours. But you found a way that works better for you and this is the most important. Feel free to add more water if you feel! I usually do the opposite when I follow US recipes ;)

[@cutabove9046]

@@HungryShots I can't thank you enough for all the work you put in to produce quality bread along with quality presentations. And I have found, not only is flour different but so is water depending on mineral content. Both affect how a dough will look, feel and handle. Both bakes I did of your recipe turned out great and I am enjoying them as we speak. All that was required was a bit of fine tuning to produce a fine bread using U.S. ingredients. I'm looking forward to baking more of your recipes. Please keep up the wonderful work.

[@HungryShots]

@@cutabove9046 I have dedicated a video only to understand the flour, you can find it on my channel. I will continue to share videos on bread, however over this summer will be more challenging for me as I am catching up with holidays :)

[@patw5550]

Hi, did u use whole meal rye flour or light rye flour ? Tq

[@jackskalski3699]

Very nice. I've tried this recipe 3 times and the dough is incoherent. It doesn't let itself shape... It's too runny. I used whole organic rye flour and bread flour with 12.1 g protein I don't have access to stronger wheat flower (didn't find it) I also have Italian 00 flower but even that tops out at 13g. I think I will give up on this idea here or I will play with hydration and lower dosage of preferment. For now I call it my failure

[@timstein2656]

Hiya!! Just watched your amazing video and even more amazing bread! Well done! Please would you let me know if this is just flour you use to sprinkle on the X-mas template? It looks very dark, almost like cocoa powder…. Many thanks all best Tim

[@HungryShots]

Thank you very much. Indeed is cocoa powder.

[@timstein2656]

@@HungryShots Hiya!! Thanks very much for letting me know! That’s great! All best Tim

[@patrycjawinklerhegi9863]

Beautiful 😊😊😊👍👍👍

[@HungryShots]

Thank you very much!

[@irenesneddon2982]

Excellent video. If I want to let it ferment overnight in the fridge , that would be in what point ? Thanks .

[@HungryShots]

You have a very good question, thanks for asking! Ideally I do the 2nd fermentation in the fridge (the one after the shaping) with the reason of developing flavours. But did you know you can put the dough in the fridge at any time while fermenting? It delays the fermentation if for example you have an urgent matter to solve and you need to abandon the dough for a while.

[@chrisandemmam5760]

Such beautiful loaves! Please may I know which model of baking stone you are using here? Thank you :D

[@HungryShots]

Thank you! There is no fancy baking stone. It is a granite 40cm x 40cm x 2cm that I have for more than 8 years, it broke in 2 but I still use it.

[@chrisandemmam5760]

Thank you :)

[@cutabove9046]

Are you using a medium or light rye? I noticed when using a dark pumpernickel rye (which is all I had at this time) the preferment looks a lot dryer than yours. I'm guessing I should have upped the hydration slightly to compensate for the thirstier whole grain rye. Your thoughts?

[@HungryShots]

I bought the rye flour from a local farm and they grind it with an old stone mill. There was no extra label on the package, only a handwritten flour name. When I opened the package I saw a grainy dark rye that looks rather as a whole rye flour. I used it and I liked it, especially also because it is organic. Every flour is different, so I honestly suggest you to give it a try. Try to achieve a similar dough consistency as mine, even if this means to add more water.

[@cutabove9046]

@@HungryShots Thanks for the response.

[@toasty3593]

Looks amazing. I was curious though, why is the preferment not 100% hydrated? I see that there is 389g of rye flour compared to 323g of water. Other recipes I’ve seen use a 100% hydration rye starter for similar breads. I’m really interested in why a rye preferment is done and why the ratios of starter, flour, and water are as they are. Thank you 😊

[@J-A-A-K]

Also curious about this. I’ve been experimenting with slightly stiffer preferments. I’ve read that it can create a slightly sourer final product but my results have not been very conclusive yet.

[@HungryShots]

This is a good question, and the reason is more related to practical aspects than scientific ones. I needed to balance the water between the preferment and the water that joins the main dough. If you notice, I barely have enough water for proper hydration during the autolyse. Now, scientifically speaking, lower hydration tends to create a stiffer levain, less acidic and with a longer fermentation time. However, the hydration of the preferment is 83.4% and there is not a noticeable difference in terms of taste/flavours.

[@HungryShots]

Actually stiffer preferments reduce acidity. If you have/borrow a ph meter you can easily measure this. That's why pasta madre is used for sweet bakes like panetone. Going on stiffer preferments is a matter of choice, that acidity is the culprit of all the flavours formed in the bread and how much sour you like your bread to be can be adjusted exactly with this and with the length of the fermentation time.

[@patw5550]

Hi did u use whole meal rye flour or light rye flour ? Tq

[@HungryShots]

It is a mix in fact, the farm from where I bought it call it demi.

[@Klecksfabrik]

I'd love to know where you keep this dough at 26 C. Will it be ok if I put the dough into the oven with the light on? I have no idea how warm that would be.

[@HungryShots]

I use a bread proofer where I can set the temperature that I want. Without it, here are some ideas: oven with the light on (temp depends on your oven/light bulb but probably is around 28-30ºC); microwave with a warm cup of water inside; on top of a device that warms up (wifi router; top of the fridge; above the coffee machine etc) or a cupboard up above a radiator. Every house has some warm spots.

[@Klecksfabrik]

@@HungryShots Thank you for all those ideas! I might stick to the oven with light on, I think and keeping fingers crossed!

[@HungryShots]

@@Klecksfabrik Use a room thermometer and measure the temperature that the light bulb creates in the oven. If the temperature is higher than 26ºC the dough will ferment faster. Look also to the other extreme, that the temp do not overpass 32ºC.

[@Klecksfabrik]

@@HungryShots Thank you for these great tips! Will probably get to baking tomorrow!

[@lan-phuongnguyen4304]

What is the dark flour you used to decorate the loaf?

[@HungryShots]

Cocoa powder

[@twanakamal3220]

Great to watch, thank you, would half of the ingredients make one bread? how about adding seeds? any change needed? Best,

[@HungryShots]

You can halve the ingredients to make one bread. Add seeds later in the process, let's say after you mixed the preferment and salt. This will let the dough form the gluten network without any barrier.

[@annikaslife6199]

Tried it and for some reason it was a big mess. My dough flowed all over my Counter and was so sticky and I added more flour but it got even more sticky. No way to form it into anything. Put it into my Römer and hoping it will still bake fine. Otherwise I have wasted a lot of flour 🥴

[@HungryShots]

Do not get discouraged! I recognise myself in the past in your words following recipes published by famous bakers. It is not the recipe, it is not you... it is the flour that makes all the difference. Your flour has a particular water absorption and a particular gluten quality and quantity. Try the same recipe by reducing the amount of water with 50g then tell me how it was. Resist the temptation to add flour later in the process. I've done this too many times in the first years of baking. Instead, find the right balance between your flour and the quantity of water. This is the secret that you learn by experimenting....

[@michellesutton8653]

I only have a sourdough starter made with organic non-bleached all purpose flour. Can I use my starter for this recipe? Thanks!

[@HungryShots]

Of course you can. Keep it active and it will raise your loaves beautifully!

[@michellesutton8653]

@@HungryShots Thank you. Hope to have as pretty loaves as you. 🤞😀

[@JohnDoe-pe6iu]

Had to throw my entire dough mix as I accidently took 20 gms of the starter instead of 19 gms.....Please people take a break....this is making bread that people have made for centuries....19 gms starter, 323 gms water my ass!!!

[@HungryShots]

Quantities are for people who want to to be extremely precise. Our grandparents baked without having a balance because they knew how the dough needed to look and feel. Nowadays, only experienced bakers can do that and for the rest, the exact quantities need to be mentioned. However there is a big trick that many do not know: an exact quantity of my flour is not the same for everybody in terms of properties because flours have many different characteristics unless they are from the same batch and have been kept in the same storage conditions.

[@fum00A]

For those who use FREEDOM units, 26 degrees C is 79 Degrees F, 260 C is 500 F, 220 C is 428 F. That really irks me - people who speak in Freedom units usually convert them to non-freedom units but more and more people who speak in captive units don't bother to convert them for us freedom speakers.

[@HungryShots]

Thank you for this information. I live in Europe where only Celsius scale is used. There is a simple formula for anybody to transform from one scale to the other: °F = °C × 1.8 + 32.

[@arthurprs]

Captive, right

[@TheMinot60]

Freedom and captive indeed. Ever hear of the expression, ugly American. Crawl back to your militia if bobs ma is letting him use the garage again.