How to start a rye bread sourdough

In order to bake rye bread, you must have sourdough in the house. You can probably get it from colleagues, family, a nice baker (Meyers Bakeries gives it for free if you bring a cup) or you can make it yourself in 4-6 days of flour and water.

This sourdough only needs to be made once and for all, because every time you bake a rye bread, you take a new sourdough away for the next time.

Recipe for rye bread sourdough

• 1.5 dl of water
• 0.5 dl rye flour
• 0.5 dl wheat flour
• 0.5 dk wholemeal flour (whatever you have)

The flour should preferably be organic, as pesticide residues can inhibit the natural yeast bacteria from multiplying, and it is exactly the wild yeast types we want a lot of in a good sourdough.

Stir the ingredients together and place with or without a lid on the kitchen table for 4-6 days, stirring it daily. The pages dry out. The surface can also form skins. But after 4 days the mixture starts to smell sour. A bit like beer or yogurt. Then you are ready to bake your first rye bread. You may also see that it makes some air bubbles.

Presumably, your first loaves will have to rise for an extra long time before the sourdough becomes really active. You can also "dope" your sourdough by stirring 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of water into it 1 day before you bake.

Watch a video of a sourdough that is made over 6 days - sped up to 1 minute.

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