Polish Sourdough Rye

This is my favourite basic sourdough loaf that I've tried. It's quick to make, requires few ingredients, and has both a lot of flavour and a soft, porous crumb. It's my ideal rye bread, especially for sandwiches. You can use light rye to make a more subtly flavoured loaf, but I definitely prefer dark rye.

I like it the best with sunflower seeds- you can also mix some into the dough, if you wish. In any case, this is a very impressive bread for minimal effort.

Polish Sourdough Rye
From Kochtopf

For the Sourdough:

70 g. Dark rye flour
70 g. Distilled water
10 g. Sourdough starter

Mix all and leave covered overnight, at room temperature (12-16 hours).

For the Final Dough:

All above sourdough
400 g. Bread flour
100 g. Dark rye flour
11 g. Salt
10 g. Fresh yeast, or 1 Tsp. active dry yeast
350 g. Water

Seeds, e.g. sunflower, to sprinkle if desired

Dissolve yeast in water and leave for 5 minutes. Dissolve the sourdough thoroughly. 

Mix flours and add the yeast mixture, kneading until smooth. Add the salt and continue kneading on a medium-high speed with a stand mixer (or by hand) for about 5 minutes. Increase speed and continue kneading another 5 minutes until elastic.

Let rise, covered and in a greased or floured bowl,  for 30 minutes. Stretch out and fold the dough like a letter. Let rise another 30 minutes, then repeat.

Shape an oval loaf and let rise on a parchment-lined baking pan, covered, until doubled (about 1 hour). Preheat oven to 230℃.

Cut 3 to 4 slits on the top of the loaf of bread. Spray with water and sprinkle on seeds or additional flour, if desired.

Bake for 10 minutes. Spray the oven with steam from a spray bottle of water, then reduce the temperature to 210℃. Bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 190℉ inside. Cover with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly.

Let cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.