Vollkornbrot is a true German rye bread recipe but unfamiliar to most nonnatives. Often called the archetype of rye bread, this recipe (adapted from Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes") produces a dense, moist sourdough, which is eaten in thin slices. To allow enough time for rising, start this bread the day before you bake. It does not require Altus (old bread) so it is an easy bread with which to start your breadmaking adventures.
2 2/3 cups (370 grams) whole rye flour, or pumpernickel flour
1 1/2 cups (370 grams) chlorine-free water (bottled is good)
2 teaspoons (20 grams) sourdough starter
2 1/4 cups (283 grams) rye berries. cracked
1/4 cup (283 grams) water
1 3/4 cups (243 grams) whole rye flour, or pumpernickel flour
2 to 3 teaspoons (30 grams) water
1 tablespoon (17 grams) fine salt
6teaspoons (56 grams) sunflower seeds
1 3/4 teaspoons (6 grams) instant yeast
Make the Sourdough and Soaker
Stir together the whole rye flour, water, and sourdough starter until all the flour is hydrated. The starter can be from the refrigerator if you renew it weekly. Otherwise, feed the starter once, which adds about 12 hours to the project. Also, use water which is chlorine free or let water stand at room temperature for a day before using because the sourdough grows better with dechlorinated water.
Stir the cracked rye and water together in a separate bowl. If you can only find whole rye berries, place them in a blender or coffee grinder for 30 seconds. It doesn't do the best job at cracking them, but it helps.
Cover both bowls and leave at room temperature for 16 to 18 hours. Room temperature is assumed to be 75 F. If your room is colder, you might want to let them soak/ferment longer. The sourdough will smell strong but not rise, and the berries should have soaked up all the water.
Final Bread Dough
Add all the rest of the ingredients, including soaker and sponge to a bowl and mix on low or by hand for about 10 minutes. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a floured board.
Form into a loaf and place in a well-buttered and floured Pullman or tea cake form. The dough is very sticky and you can't really see any gluten strands, but it is correct.
Flour the top of the loaf, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at 85 F for an hour. Surprisingly, the loaf will rise a bit. Consider keeping it in the oven with the light on; the light warms the interior of the oven to about 85 F. Just do not turn on the oven.
Bake the Bread
Preheat the oven for an hour to 480 F with a baking stone, if you have one.
Place the bread (still in the form) directly on the baking stone and bake with steam for 15 minutes and dry for about 45 minutes to an hour. In the last 15 minutes, carefully remove the bread from the form and place it back in the oven, to dry out the sides of the loaf.
Let the Vollkornbrot cool, wrap in cloth and let it age for 24 hours or longer before slicing. Slice 1/4 inch thick or thinner. You can also wrap and freeze. Freezing in sections is good for small households.
- Some consider Vollkornbrot an acquired taste. It is a lot like the co*cktail pumpernickel available at stores, except it is entirely made from whole rye and denser than store-bought bread.
- You can sometimes find partial loaves of Vollkornbrot that have been imported from Germany in stores,where they cost about $3a pound. This recipe makes a 5-pound loaf, so if you like dense rye bread, it's more economical to make at home.
- You will need a sourdough starter to make this bread. German bakeries would specifically use a rye sour, but a white flour starter will do fine, at least at first. Yeast is added to this loaf, so the sourdough is mostly there for flavor.
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) |
|---|
| 193 | Calories |
| 2g | Fat |
| 40g | Carbs |
| 6g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
×
| Nutrition Facts |
|---|
| Servings: 12 |
|---|
| Amount per serving |
| Calories | 193 |
| % Daily Value* |
| Total Fat 2g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat 0g | 1% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 657mg | 29% |
| Total Carbohydrate 40g | 15% |
| Dietary Fiber 7g | 25% |
| Total Sugars 1g |
| Protein 6g |
| Vitamin C 0mg | 0% |
| Calcium 19mg | 1% |
| Iron 2mg | 8% |
| Potassium 241mg | 5% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Recipe Tags:
- bread
- rye bread
- german
- family dinner
Rate This Recipe
I don't like this at all.It's not the worst.Sure, this will do.I'm a fan—would recommend.Amazing! I love it!Thanks for your rating!
FAQs
Whole wheat and rye flours provide more nutrients for your starter and ferment more actively, but working with rye flour makes starter maintenance easier than whole wheat. Rye provides increased fiber and nutrients similar to whole wheat flour, but because of its lower gluten amount it's much easier to stir.
How often should I feed a rye sourdough starter? ›
When your mixture is active, throw away two third of the mixture and add 30ml of water and 30g of whole grain rye flour, stir with a clean spoon for 30 seconds and store at room temperature. Stir the mixture 2 or 3 times a day for 10 seconds. This is called refreshing or feeding your starter.
How do you activate a rye sourdough starter? ›
You now have rye starter, which is a malty flavoured base to sourdough bread. Keep it in the fridge (it will stay dormant) and 12 hrs before you want to use it, spoon half of it off and feed it with 100g flour and 100g water. Leave it at room temperature and it should become active again.
How long do you bake sourdough rye bread? ›
Cook for 50-55 mins until hollow sounding when tapped. (The middle of the loaf will read 98C on a digital thermometer when ready.) Remove the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hrs.
Does rye flour make sourdough starter more sour? ›
For more tang: Incorporate some rye flour and/or whole wheat flour early in the bread-making process, such as when feeding the mother culture and the preferment. Rye flour in particular will help your culture produce some acetic acid.
How much rye flour is in a starter? ›
One part starter to five parts flour and five parts water. This makes the ratio of rye flour to all purpose flour 10:1 because there is 30 grams rye flour and 3 grams all purpose flour in the fed jar (6 grams starter is made of 3 grams flour and 3 grams water).
Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›
Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.
How to tell if rye sourdough starter is ready? ›
Generally, when a starter is ripe, it has risen, is bubbly on top, has a sour aroma, and has a looser consistency. Typical signs your starter is ripe and ready to be used: Some rise. Bubbles on top and at the sides.
Why won t my rye sourdough starter float? ›
They type of flour you use to create your sourdough starter will affect whether that starter will float in water. This is because some flours, such as rye or whole wheat, may not allow the starter to develop the strong gluten network needed for the starter to float.
What should rye sourdough starter smell like? ›
When your starter reaches the last stage and stabilizes it will develop its own characteristic smells. However, despite the name "sourdough", a healthy sourdough starter usually has a fresh yeasty smell with, perhaps, a bit of an astringent note to it.
Part of what makes a starter rise and become bubbly is the yeast. Yeast will become dormant when kept in colder temperatures. If your house is particularly warm (or if you keep your starter in the fridge), it could be sluggish. Try keeping it somewhere warm.
How do you know when rye bread is done? ›
It's hard to tell with rye sometimes. The very best thing to do is get a probe thermometer. Bread is around 98 degrees C on the inside when it is done.
How do you strengthen sourdough starter with rye flour? ›
In fact, rye flour starters perform notoriously well. Rye flour will help to make your starter more sour. To boost your sourdough starter with rye flour, substitute half your normal flour with rye flour at each feeding for a few days and you should see a noticeable difference in your starter's activity level.
Does rye sourdough need more water? ›
Rye flour absorbs more water than bread flour or all purpose flour, so you need to add more water to make the flour workable. If you feel the dough is too stiff after autolysing this dough, wetting your hands can be a good idea to gradually work extra water into the dough.
What is the best flour to use for sourdough starter? ›
All-purpose Flour
It strikes a perfect balance of softness and structure, making it an ideal choice for various recipes. Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter.
What is the ratio of rye flour to water for sourdough starter? ›
They consensus seems to be a weekly refresh for start in the fridge, or 3 feedings at room temp 12 hrs apart before building the levain or mixing the final dough. The Bread Code guy recommends 1:5:5 and in the book "The Rye Baker" it says 1:10:10 (7g rye starter + 70g water + 70g rye flour).
Does rye sourdough starter float? ›
Type of flour: Some flours aren't as suitable for the float test. Lower gluten flours, such as whole wheat flour or rye flour, may not build a strong gluten network that holds in those bubbles which cause it to float, yet the starter may very well be ready to go.
