Oh how interesting! I love hearing about family traditions like these, hope you like this take on rye.

So a couple things to note on this recipe - first, it's a relatively low-rise rye in the first place, so is never going to have large air pockets as you might see in some other loaves. The other thing is the starter described here works fine if you are just making it for this recipe as it is basically a 'new' starter, but it is not what you typically do in terms of discarding some of the starter and so doesn't work to maintain it this way. If you intend to keep this starter going for longer before using or to use for additional loaves, you really need to be discarding some and feeding the remainder to keep a higher level of new 'food' for the yeast and also keep the pH balance of the starter. Typically you weigh the starter you are keeping and add the same weight of water and flour to it (so if, for example you have 100g starter, you add 100g flour and 100g (100ml) water). Hope these help.

It won't be quite the same, but a bit of brown sugar should also work.

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been away. I hope it worked out, and glad you found the description made it sound doable! So just for future reference - the slight separation in the starter just means it is needing fed. With most starters, you tend to discard some of the starter each time you feed it, so you in effect have a higher proportion of new water and flour to existing starter. You certainly can do that here, but you don't absolutely need to which is why it's not written that way. If the sponge was dry, did you maybe cover with a cloth? It might be that it would be better with cling wrap/film to help keep moisture in (some can depend on how dry the environment is too). Hope this helps for a future bake!

Glad to hear you enjoyed! Unfortunately the dough can lose a little of it's shape when you tip it out, that's partly just bread in general but particularly the rye. One way you could lessen it is if you put the dough in the fridge for say an hour or so before baking - I'd suggest you do this as additional rise time since it will rise very slowly in the fridge unless it's for a long time. The colder temperature will help firm up the dough so it should hold its form a little more.

This is the most delicious rye bread! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My first attempt turned out very well ( beginner's luck.) I did however have a bit of trouble transfering the raised dough from the basket to the cornmeal dusted pan. Any hints for this manuever? My dough was not stuck to the floured cloth but trying to tip it out of the basket resulted in a loss of height and shape? I am not quite sure how this should be done. Thanks for your help 🙂

So glad to hear you enjoyed (and completely understand eating it while still warm 🙂 )

I'm so glad to hear it worked out well and that you enjoyed (and that it beat bakery bread, hooray!)

Glad to hear it worked out well!

Thanks Caroline! Yes, once everything was mixed it did look like too much for my loaf pan. I ended up using a larger ceramic pan with a lid (I don't have a dutch oven), keeping the lid on for the first half as you suggested to the commenters using a dutch oven. It made a lovely crusty, flavorful loaf, delicious! Next time I'll add an extra half tsp of salt because I'm a salt fiend.

I haven't tried this in a loaf pan but I think it should work. The amount of ingredients is a little more than other breads I make in a loaf pan but it doesn't rise quite as much as some either, so it may be pretty full but hopefully will still fit - if it seems too much, then you might need to hold a little back or use a slightly larger loaf pan, if you have one.

Great, glad to hear it worked out well!

In spite of the fact that I used whole wheat flour, my bread turned out delishious! I baked it in a dutch oven, texture and flavor are great! Thank you again!

Thank you so much for your response. I let it rise overnight and it did rise, will try baking it and see how it turns out.

I haven't tried with whole wheat so it's a little hard to say, however it has a lower level of gluten forming protein, which is the main reason for using the bread flour - rye is already low so it helps to give a little lift. It will rise relatively slowly either way between the sourdough and rye, but may take a bit longer with the whole wheat. Also the end loaf will probably be a bit denser, but hopefully as long as it has time to rise it will still taste good!

Thanks Caroline. The dough looked good at about 1am, maybe the room was too warm.Perhaps when the room cooled overnight it sunk. I'm game to give it a go!
Thanks

It's hard to say for sure without being there to see all the ins and outs but I'd say as long as you still have some pockets of air, it should be fine to move to next stage.

I'd say it sounds like you need to, yes - if you see the picture above where I say "step 2 - sponge" above, this is my sponge and so you'll see it is relatively moist.

My sponge seems very dry. It is basically a ball of dough. Should I add more water?

what did you do for the bread machine recipe?

Yes you could - I'd suggest part (roughly half) with lid on then part off. There's no need to put a dish with water in the oven to create steam if you do that, as the lid on the dish will give the same effect. And keep an eye towards the end as it may take more/less time to bake. Enjoy!

I'm so glad to hear! I agree rye and sourdough really do work so well together. And fast disappearing is indeed a challenge we have too 🙂

Rye definitely doesn't give as much indication of rising as wheat flour, I feel. I'd suggest peeling back a very small bit to the side and see if you have any air pockets formed, to get a sense of if it's active at all. Then give it the rest of the resting time as well, as I think it does definitely need the full 20-24 hours. Hopefully it will be doing something! If it still doesn't appear to have worked, you could add yeast to help it along and treat it as a "regular" loaf in terms of having an hour or two first rise. That way, it saves wasting and you should still get some of the sourdough flavor, if nothing else. Good luck!

Great, hope you enjoy and I look forwards to hearing how it goes!

Yes you could, just be aware that it won't be that heavily rye tasting and also the amount of flour will probably not be the same since the flours don't act quite the same - you will have to take a guess a bit to get the right consistency.

Will be interested to hear how it goes!

I haven't tried it, but certainly in principle I don't see why not. You might have to see if you need to adjust the amount of flour or water, as the flours can behave a little differently. Sprouted flours can need a bit more water, so keep an eye on if it seems dry. Let me know how it works out if you try!

It's hard to know exactly without knowing at what point you mean. Generally a sticky dough early on can be one of two things - the most common is the ratio of flour to liquid is not quite right, so you might need to either use a little less water and/or add a little more flour. Just add a little as you go when you knead. The other part is kneading takes away some of the stickiness and makes it smoother. So if you knead a few minutes, adding a little flour now and then as you need it, it should hopefully stop being as sticky. If it gets a bit sticky after rising, it should still be fine as long as it was OK earlier, just try to form as usual and let it rise again.

Germany has an incredibly diverse mix of breads - it was one of the things I loved about living there! - many with seeds in them (which is probably what you thought were nuts - they might have been but seeds are more common). It's hard to know what you had without seeing it or trying, as a result, but one of the most common is a bread called pumpernickel. It's a dense rye bread with a dark color. Another slightly lighter bread that's also pretty common is often called "fitness bread" - it too is made with rye but it's a bit lighter both in color and density. I haven't shared recipes for either as yet but hope to at some point!

I was recently on a Rhine River cruise withe Viking. They served a German bread (sliced thin and possibly had nuts) with creme fraiche, cucumbers, smoked salmon and fresh dill. It was amazing. I would love to replicate this bread. Can you help?

So you have a couple options - you can keep it active by feeding it each day, removing some as needed, in the same way as you do as you are 'growing' it initially. As long as you keep feeding and removing some, it will stay active. Just keep it at a gently warm room temperature. Alternatively, you can cover and store it in the fridge to keep it dormant for roughly up to a week. Then take it out and feed it a few days to 'wake it up'. Enjoy!

I'm afraid I am not sure, I have never tested the temperature when baking bread as I would always be nervous that by testing it too early I'd deflate the loaf. I instead go for the test of tapping on the bottom to see if it sounds hollow. Hope it works out and you enjoy!

Yes, you can make a purely rye loaf but it will be a denser texture. I've yet to try this style that way myself, but from other rye breads, that's the typical result. On the other hand, it will have a stronger rye flavor which if you like rye bread anyway, you may like.

Glad to hear you enjoyed! Yes it's definitely a good intro to or compromise on rye being less heavy etc. It may be that you needed a bit more scoring, but great that the texture was still good. And definitely unfortunate on the dish!

So glad to hear you enjoyed it, and agree it's a great base recipe to experiment with.

You will need to feed it again after it has been in the fridge to get it back to being bubbly and active - this is typically a day or two. Once it is active, you can make the sponge as in the main recipe. Enjoy!

Yes you could use whole wheat bread flour instead of regular bread flour, just be aware it will come out a bit heavier.

So glad you enjoyed it, I agree the flavor is great and the dough is pretty robust!

I made another loaf this morning and did as you instruct. It had to rise a little more than 2 hours. Then I got caught up with something and had to throw it in the fridge for a while. This dough is indestructible!!!! This was my first attempt at a sourdough and it is really delicious. What a difference in flavor. Oh, the only thing I changed was I used barley malt syrup instead of molasses since I already bought a jar. Truthfully, both ways I let the dough rise worked just fine. Thanks so much for your time and a great experience.......

Hi Lorraine, yes this is right - what you are probably more used to is having 2 rises, and so the first one isn't formed as a loaf but then the last one is. Here, the sponge rise stage is in effect taking the place of the 1st rise, so that's why you form it in to a loaf for the first rise. It does mean, however, it's the only one as a whole loaf. While it's more unusual, it is actual typical for this type of loaf. Hope it works out for you!

It's been a little while since I've had Jewish rye to do too close a comparison, and they can vary too, but this is more like a light Jewish rye - I think they are similar in the slightly sour taste, but this has a little less of a rye flavor than a typical Jewish rye (which often tends to use a pumpernickel-style flour). I also haven't used caraway as is also common in a Jewish rye, although you certainly could add some here. Consistency is probably quite similar.

Thanks, sounds like a great idea!

Thanks, and I agree homemade bread is something special!

This definitely wasn't a dry bread I think partly with the blend of wheat and rye. Hope you'll give it a try!

Thanks, do hope you'll give it a try!

Thanks Karen, especially coming from you who is quite the baker!

I agree, it can be hard to find elsewhere but I've made both a denser Swedish style bread before and this and I do find both worth the effort!