On this page you can find answers to everything about Rye cup and rye bread - facts and baking tips.
We are happy to expand it, so write your question to lars@danishryeandmore.dk and we will answer.
The crust cracks - "The lid is lifted from the bread"
If your crust cracks on one side, it may be because the bread was not fully risen before it went into the oven. What happens is that the crust is baked hard in the oven before the center of the bread is heated and rises the last, and "the lid is lifted off". Solution - let the bread rise for 2-3 hours longer, or put it in a warm place so that it rises faster.
My rye bread does not rise enough
This can be due to many things:
A. The sourdough can be inactive - left too long or left too cold. Try letting the bread rise for a longer time, e.g. 12-18 hours. Or keep the bread warm while it rises.
B. The leaven may be inactive. Try to liven up the sourdough before baking by feeding it 1-3 days before with 1 tbsp wheat flour + 1 tbsp water. Try making it warmer so that the yeast cells get better conditions. Some give it a little honey, or go so far as to add a very small cube of yeast to the sourdough.
C. The dough may be too firm so that the air bubbles cannot expand. Try a lighter dough, like oatmeal.
D. The crust of the unbaked dough may have dried out so that it cannot rise as much. Moisten the surface of the dough liberally with a wet hand, and then cover the dough with a damp proofing piece or air-tight cellophane when it is left to rise.
My sourdough separates
It is quite normal for a watery sourdough to separate into a layer of dough at the bottom and a layer of brownish liquid at the top. It does nothing wrong. You can move it around a bit.
My sourdough has mold on it
Rye bread sourdough contains a lot of acid, and makes it almost impossible for mold bacteria to live. Sometimes the sides of the Rugkoppen can get mouldy, because there the sourdough is dry and not acidic. The sourdough itself is often fine, and you can simply keep it in another cup while you clean the Rye cup. If there is mold on the liquid part of the sourdough, you should throw it away and make/get a new one.
My sourdough smells terrible
Sourdough is an organic size with all kinds of natural and different yeast bacteria and lactic acid bacteria. It is the diversity here that develops the many fantastic flavors that characterize rye bread and sourdough bread. Purchased yeast has few different yeast bacteria and therefore yeast-raised bread and buns often taste the same and boring.
But among the many natural microorganisms in sourdough, there may be some that take over and do not taste good. Then the sourdough definitely doesn't smell inviting and you should throw it out and make/get a new one. Some use the word "vomit" - if the sourdough smells like vomit - then you have to throw it out and make a new one.
My sourdough smells like vinegar
This may be because the yeast cells in the sourdough have eaten up all the starch and have converted it all into lactic acid and a small amount of vinegar. If the sourdough stands like this for a long time, the amount of vinegar may become too large. But sourdough is not dead. Bake with it and let the bread rise for twice as long (e.g. 24 hours). Or refresh the sourdough by pouring out half and supplementing with 4 tablespoons of rye flour and 4 tablespoons of water 12-24 hours before you bake again.
How do I get a darker rye bread?
Dark malt flour gives both flavor and color to the bread. Three to five tablespoons (30-40 grams) can certainly help. If you subscribe to our " Rugbrødkassen - Dark malt ", you get all the flour, seeds and kernels for seven Rye cups of rye bread including 200g of dark malt flour.
You can also replace some of the wheat flour with rye flour (or all the wheat flour). Then it just needs to rise for a few hours longer - as long as you think the bread has risen enough. This will make it darker and also more rye bread sour.
There are also many who use malt syrup to give the bread flavor and colour.
Can I bake rye bread without wheat flour?
The Rye cup rye bread can easily be baked without the wheat flour. You simply replace one cup of wheat flour with another type of flour of your choice. It can be half a cup of extra rye flour and half a cup of extra cracked rye kernels. For some, it gives an even better rye bread taste.
We have prepackaged " Rye bread box - 100% rye " for this purpose. Subscribers of that box get 3kg of rye flour and 3kg of broken rye kernels and 0kg of wheat flour delivered in the box.
I forgot to take sourdough from…
You can also take sourdough from the finished dough. So the one with salt, honey and seeds in it. It also contains the wild yeast cells, which are important. Perhaps the salt causes the cells to multiply more slowly and the sourdough is a little dull the next time it is baked, but then you can simply extend the rising time.
If the bread is fully baked, there is nothing to do. Start a new sourdough, or get a portion from a baker or rye cup baker on our "Rugkop - tips, tricks & sourdough" Facebook group.
Should the sourdough have the lid on?
Yes, then it doesn't sit and weed in the fridge or on the kitchen table. The lid is produced a little loose and uneven. This is on purpose so that the Rugkoppen is not airtight and excess pressure is created.
I bake half a batch - should the temperature and baking time be changed?
No, the temperature and baking time are exactly the same whether you bake a half portion or a double portion.
The rye bread will be too sour
If the sourdough stands for too long without being fed again , the content of acetic acid will be too high in relation to the lactic acid bacteria, and your bread will end up tasting boringly sour and not rising particularly well. The solution is to feed the sourdough 1-2 days before with 1 tbsp flour + 1 tbsp water, and let it stand at room temperature until you bake.
The rye bread is too dry
Add more water. For example, two cups of water instead of one and a half cups of water. Rye bread dough can easily be quite runny, without the kernels sinking to the bottom during rising. If the bread becomes sticky in the middle, or collapses a little in the middle and gets an air hole, then the dough is too wet.
You can also soak the broken rye kernels in water for 6-10 hours before baking, and still add 1.5 cups of water to the recipe. Then the bread will also be less dry.
The crust is too hard
The bakeries only sell their rye bread the day after it is baked, because only then has the moisture in the bread distributed, so the crust and crumb have the same traditional rye bread consistency. If this is desired, you can put the bread in an airtight bag when it has cooled.
A hard crust can also be remedied by adding steam to the oven. This is done by placing a roasting pan in the bottom of the oven with 3-5 dl of water during baking.
You can also spread the crust with butter after the bread has been in the oven for 20 minutes.
A particularly hard crust can also be caused by your oven being too hot. Try turning it down a bit. But at the same time measure whether the bread is baked through. A ready-baked rye bread must be 96 degrees in the middle of the bread when it is taken out. This is done with a frying thermometer.
Should there be a lid on the cup when you make your own sourdough?
You can make sourdough both with and without a lid on the kitchen table. The sourdough appears when natural yeast bacteria/fungal spores from nature have time to multiply in the cup. Most fungal spores come from the flour (i.e. nature/dirt/biology from the fields, which should preferably be organic, so that they are not counteracted by pesticide residues). But some fungal spores can also come from the air in your kitchen. Therefore, you can easily leave the sourdough uncovered when you make the sourdough. If it's summer (hot/insects) - or if you think it smells, you just put the lid on. It should probably go both ways.
How often can you use sourdough to make bread, i.e. how long does it take to "get ready again"?
The more often you bake with a sourdough, the more often it gets fresh flour mixed in, and the more active and potent your sourdough becomes. You can bake every day if you have to. You can assess how quickly the bread rises the desired 1-2 cm in the mold. Sometimes 8 hours, other times it has to stand for maybe 16 hours before you put it in the oven.
If you bake once a week or more often, you can keep the sourdough on the kitchen counter all the time. Otherwise, it is a good idea to store it in the fridge so that it does not develop too quickly (eats up all its fresh flour) and loses its power before you have to bake the next time. If you have the sourdough in the fridge, you must take it out at room temperature 1 day before you are going to bake, and if you remember, give it a tablespoon of wheat flour when you take it out. Then the sourdough gets stronger before you mix it into the dough the next day. If you forget - or can't manage - to take it out the day before, you just have to bake with it, but just give it a longer rising time, because the sourdough bacteria also get new nourishment when they are mixed into the rye bread dough. It only takes a few hours for the biological processes to start, which extends the rising time.
When the sourdough takes a holiday break.
Sourdough can last several months in the refrigerator. They go dormant, so when you want to bake again, you take it out to room temperature, and every day for 2-6 days you feed it with 1 tablespoon of rye flour or wheat flour and 1 tablespoon of water. If the quantity becomes too large, you simply throw some of it out.
Nutrition declaration for a Rye cup Rye bread
A Ryecup rye bread weighs 1800g, and gives approx. 30 discs. Average daily calorie consumption: Women: approx. 2400kcal. Men approx. 3000kcal
Nutrition declaration for one whole loaf:
- Energy: 4422 kcal / 19850 kJ
- Protein, g: 148
- Carbohydrate, g: 712
- Fat, g: 114
- Dietary fiber, g: 138
- Sodium, g: 39
Nutrition declaration for a slice (60g):
- Energy: 147 kcal / 660 kJ
- Protein, g: 5
- Carbohydrate, g: 24
- fat, g: 3.8
- dietary fiber, g: 4.6
- sodium, g: 1.3
