A Sour Recipe: Rustic Sourdough Bread

A savory dark bread full of whole grains with a moist and soft crumb.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Coming from Germany I’ve always been more into darker wholesome breads and usually shy away from the very white ones except when they are challahs and brioches or focaccia, ciabatta and pizza. But plain white bread loaves are not often on my list as they don’t give me much and are neither a challenge to eat or to make. It still blows my mind that plain white bread is the most eaten bread in the world and I almost feel sad for so many people missing out on the beauty and taste of the whole grain and all of the varieties of it out there. Especially whole rye flour adds such a great layer of taste to bread and is able to capture a lot of moisture and has bread last forever!

I get that most people enjoy the soft and fluffy crumb of white breads, but you can actually easily achieve a similar crumb by using whole grains as part of the loaf! Especially rye added up to 15-20% almost acts like a yudane/Tangzhong because of its ability to soak up much more water and with it supporting the fragility and hence softness of the gluten structure built by the wheat in the loaf. It also makes for a great rustic colour of the crumb and you’ll feel healthier just looking at it! :D

To make this loaf you don’t really need to do anything special. The process is straightforward and the same as most of my other loaves. The key to it’s softness is upping the hydration to a point that it perfectly hydrates the dough and making sure to mix long and well enough or do enough folds if you handmix. From my experience whole grain loaves do benefit from mixing in a mixer though as it makes for a more developed and airy dough. Of course proper fermentation and a well maintained starter is also key! I used a combination of whole rye and whole wheat sourdough starters for this one which also add a lot of moisture and depth of flavour.
Don’t get confused my me calling them levain or leaven sometimes. Those two words are just used instead of starter when you feed your starter to use it in your final dough, but it’s all the same! ;)

Let’s dive into the formula and process now!