Wuppertal country bread

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 500 g wheat flour type 405
• 100 g rye flour type 1150
• 100 g spelt flour
• 20 g baking malt
• 1 cube of yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• some water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bread spice mix
• Flour for the work surface
• 400 g rye flour type 1150
• 400 g water, 35 °C

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 4 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 4 days 1 hour 15 minutes

Rye bread with sourdough, recipe for 2 loaves

For the sourdough starter: Prepare everything at room temperature. The water temperature should be 35°C. Mix 100g of water with 100g of rye flour and let it rest for a whole day. Add another 100g of water and 100g of rye flour, mix, and let it rest until the next day. On the fourth day, add 200g of water and 200g of rye flour. We now have 800g of sourdough. Transfer 100g of this to a small, sealed jar. This will keep in the refrigerator for a week or more. When multiplying the sourdough, add 350g of water (35°C) and 350g of rye flour the day before use. For the bread: Place the remaining 700g of sourdough in a bowl. Mix the wheat flour with the remaining rye flour, the spelt flour, and the malt, and pour it over the sourdough in the bowl. Use a spoon to make two wells in the flour. Put the crumbled yeast, sugar, and a little water into one well, and the salt and seasoning into the other well. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes until the yeast has dissolved. Mix everything together with the dough hook. The dough should be quite tough and firm. Add a little flour or water as needed. Then generously sprinkle the work surface with flour. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, knead firmly with the heels of your hands for 5 minutes, divide it, and knead each half firmly for at least 3 minutes more. The dough should not be sticky, but should come away easily from your hands. I consider this point particularly important because this is how the gluten dissolves from the flour. You can bake it as a loaf in a pan lined with baking paper, or as a free-form loaf. To do this, form one or two balls. Then let it prove in the oven at around 40°C for 30 to 45 minutes, until the dough has risen nicely. Don’t let it prove for too long, as the free-form version in particular will quickly become flat and wide. Briefly remove the bread from the oven, cover with a cloth, and preheat the oven to 200°C. Once the temperature is reached, pour 500 ml of water into the drip tray. This will then begin to evaporate and ensure the crust doesn’t become too hard. Baking time is approximately 40-50 minutes. While cooling, prop the bread up slightly, perhaps on chopsticks or something similar, so that it gets some air from the bottom. Variations: Onion or ham bread: Fry onions or ham and knead them in. Seed bread: Flaxseed or something similar also works well in the dough. A little more sugar: This doesn’t make the bread sweet, but it does make it rise a little better. Feel free to experiment. Don’t divide the dough, just make one large loaf: it will definitely work, but the baking time may change slightly. Higher rye content: This would be desirable, but ultimately, it doesn’t work quite as well in a home oven with rye flour as it does in a bakery, because those ovens have, among other things, the option of blowing in steam. The relatively high wheat content therefore ensures good results. Coarsely ground flour, wholemeal flour, etc.: I haven’t had good experiences with these; they don’t rise properly and don’t bake well. Therefore, only use them as an addition, e.g., instead of spelt flour. I’m happy to hear other suggestions and experiences with modifications. You can also let it rise twice, change the proving time or temperature, or something similar. Feel free to give it a try.