Rye bread from the Middle Ages

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 750 g dark rye flour
• 1 tsp, leveled salt
• 500 g kefir with live cultures

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest period approx. 2 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 2 days 1 hour 40 minutes

real sourdough without yeast

Add 350g of rye flour and a level teaspoon of salt to the kefir, stir the mixture until smooth, and let it rise overnight at at least 30°C, e.g., in a covered container on the radiator. The next day, stir in 350-400g of rye flour, pour the dough, which should be quite firm, into a non-stick baking pan, and let it rise again overnight at about 30°C. Then, cut a shallow slit down the center of the dough with a wet knife so the bread can break open. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake the bread at 120°C for about 80 minutes using top/bottom heat. Remove the foil half an hour before the end of baking. During baking, keep an open, shallow bowl of water in the oven. The baking temperature and time refer to my oven. These instructions may vary slightly with other ovens. Where the bread turns dark, it will be a little bitter. The foil and the relatively low heat ensure that this effect is minimized. The bread will easily keep for more than a week. Note: Anyone who has ever tried baking pure rye bread may wonder why there are no genuine bacterial sourdough starter cultures available for purchase. The “sourdough” mixes on the market contain a very high proportion of yeast. Since such a high alcohol content is lethal to bacteria, one can assume that this is a pure yeast culture with added chemical acid, preserved with alcohol. But there is a solution. The original from the Middle Ages: make your own real sourdough. Real sourdough is based on lactobacilli, which are lactic acid bacteria, not yeast (fungi). For example, you can make a real, pure, and mild sourdough with kefir and live cultures. One package (500 g) is enough for a loaf made with approximately 750 g of rye flour.