I think Sourdough Rye Bread is the ultimate recipe of homesteading. It’s a common type of bread in the Czech Republic, often found at traditional bakeries and farmers’ markets. This is my recipe.
The Sourdough Rye Bread is made over the course of a day and a half in several stages, it’s not a fast recipe and it will require your time and dedication. However, the result will be a delicious, fluffy and nicely sour bread with thin but crunchy crust.
Unlike the Wheat-Rye Bread that I make with yeast, this recipe calls for rye sourdough for which I have a recipe as well. Also, compared to the wheat-rye bread, this one is made from a dough that’s more liquid and I bake it in a ceramic baking pan.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
1st sourdough
- 3 tbsp of rye sourdough
- 100 g/3.5 oz of rye flour
- 100 g/3.5 oz of water
2nd sourdough
- 50 g/1.8 oz of rye sourdough
- 50 g/1.8 oz of water
1st dough
- 200 g/7 oz of water
- 300 g/10.6 oz of rye flour
Final dough
- 500 g/17.6 oz of water
- 500 g/17.6 oz of rye flour
- 1 tbsp of honey
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tbsp of ground caraway seeds
Other
- sunflower seeds or flaxseed for sprinkling
- oil
- baking pan
Czech Sourdough Rye Bread – Recipe
1st sourdough
Let’s prepare the first sourdough. In a larger bowl, mix 3 tbsp of rye sourdough, 100 g of rye flour, 100 g of water. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or a plate and let it work for 12 hours at room temperature.
2nd sourdough
After 12 hours, take 1 tbsp from the 1st sourdough and mix it with 50 g/1.7 oz of rye flour and 50 g/1.7 oz of water (ingredients for the 2nd sourdough). Let it ferment for another 12 hours.
1st dough
At the same time that you make the 2nd sourdough, make the 1st dough from the 1st sourdough, after you’ve taken away that 1 tbsp. So mix the rest of the sourdough with 200 g/7 oz of water and 300 g/10.6 oz of rye flour. Cover this bowl as well and let it ferment for 2 hours. Therefore, you’ll have the 2nd sourdough and 1st dough fermenting at the same time.
Fermenting time: The minimum fermenting time for the 2nd sourdough and 1st dough is 12 hours. If you like your rye bread more sour, let it ferment even longer. The longer the fermenting time, the more sour the taste.
Final dough
Now it’s time to combine the contents of both bowls. If you want to set some sourdough aside for later baking, take 1 or 2 tbsp of the 2nd sourdough, all the rest will go into your sourdough rye bread.
Mix the rest of the 2nd sourdough with 500 g/17.6 oz of water, you’ll have a very watery solution. Mix this into the 1st dough and combine well. Then add the rest of the ingredients for the final, that’s 500 g/17.6 oz of rye flour, salt, honey and caraway. You can add also other herbs if you like, such as ground coriander.
Cover the bowl again and let it ferment for 1 hour at room temperature.
Baking and Cooling
Smear the baking pan with oil and move all the dough to the pan. Don’t stuff the dough, just let it fall into the pan and even the surface a little. Sprinkle the flaxseed or sunflower seed on top and let the dough rise a little. It won’t take long now, about half an hour.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250°C/482°F and when the dough has risen (2,5 cm/1 inch is enough), lower the temperature to 210°C/410°F and bake the bread for 60 minutes.
Take the bread out of the pan and onto a rack to cool down.
Tip: If you don’t like a thick crust, cover the bread with a kitchen towel and sprinkle some water on it.
