Rye sourdough at home

So, let's make sure in advance that we have rye flour and water available. I’ll immediately make a reservation that everyone’s flour has different moisture content, so it may require a little more or a little less water. But as a result, the rye sourdough will have 100% moisture, that is, the ratio of flour and water in it is 1:1.

We select the dishes in which our rye sourdough will grow. A plastic or glass one (not metal) is best, but I advise you to take a transparent one so that you can see how the starter feels during the process of growth and development. Also, be sure to take a container with a volume of at least 1.5 liters, as the starter will actively grow and may escape. I have a plastic container with a volume of 1.6 liters. Set yourself up for a great mood and pour 100 grams of rye flour into a container.

Pour 100 milliliters of water there. The water should be pleasantly warm, but not hotter than 40 degrees, otherwise it will simply kill the starter. You may need a little more water or vice versa less — measure and pour.

Mix everything with a spoon or fork until smooth. The thickness of the mass will be like sour cream 20% fat or like pancake dough. This concludes our work for today. All that remains is to cover the bowl with cling film, make about 30-40 punctures in it with a toothpick (so that the starter can breathe, but not dry out) and send it to some quiet place. This could be a kitchen cabinet or bedside table — the main thing is to store the starter at room temperature in a dark place. For the first 3 days, my starter lived in the nightstand next to my bed (I took it out and admired it from time to time), but due to its not particularly pleasant smell, I had to put it in the kitchen. There she settled in my oven. Naturally completely turned off.

Rye sourdough on the second day. What does she look like? Well, first of all, it started to smell a little, or rather stink (sourdough, sorry). The smell is so sour-rotten-nasty. But that's okay. The starter spread and became much thinner.

It also started to bubble. Do you see how many small bubbles there are? By the way, this is why it’s so great when the dishes are transparent. It's time to feed the starter.

To do this, pour 100 grams of rye flour directly into the starter and pour 100 milliliters of warm water. Mix everything well, trying to avoid any lumps. The density with each feeding will be approximately the same as when kneading sourdough — like pancakes or like sour cream with 20% fat content. Cover the bowl with cling film again and place the starter in a secluded place. Keep it away from children — even the unpleasant smell of growing sourdough will not scare away these curious little people.

Day three. The starter bubbles very well, it liquefied and began to smell even more unpleasant. I sat down, opened it and sat and smelled it. I have to describe it to you. what can you expect. Smell: Imagine that you boiled corn and forgot about it for a week. It sat in water on the stove in the heat in the summer and went rotten. Almost the same smell. Well, or, if you want, you can compare this “aroma” with vomit. Don’t blame me, this is exactly how cooks who “ate the dog” on sourdough bread say it. In fact, there is something in common, namely a strong, repulsive smell. This is fine!

Again we feed our starter with 100 grams of rye flour and 100 milliliters of warm water.

A homogeneous smooth mass is obtained again. We repeat the same procedures as in previous days: cover it with film and put it in a cabinet. Day four: sad and exciting. I wake up in the morning and immediately look at the sourdough (well, what did you think, this is another child in the family). And she hasn’t changed at all (or almost) in appearance since we fed her yesterday. How upset I was… I think I have to do everything all over again now. And my hands practically give up. I went online and spent 2 hours searching and reading. I perked up a little and went to talk to the starter and feed it (as usual, 100 grams of rye flour and 100 milliliters of warm water). At the same time I moved it to the oven — it seems to me that this is the most suitable place for it. Then every half hour I went and checked how the process was going. For the first few hours nothing changed, but then the starter seemed to wake up — bubbles appeared, it began to grow and become thinner. The smell is a little weaker, but also unpleasant. Smells sour. By the way, I even tasted it — the sourness is terrible. I sighed (but with great relief) and went to look for bread recipes.

Here! Just admire it — how lovely! Everything is so bubbly and pre-bubbly. And the smell! Today (the fifth day) the starter has been completely reborn — it is not only ready for use, but it also smells (it smells, not stinks) pleasantly. Such a sourish-delicate smell, similar to that of natural yogurt.

And here’s a side view so you can also notice how airy and bubbly it is. I told you that transparent dishes work best.

That's it. We did it — in the photo there is a young, just hatched sourdough. Over time, these small bubbles will become much larger and more prominent. Now you can bake our first homemade bread with rye sourdough. But wait a little longer — I will tell you how to store sourdough. We got about 800 grams of finished sourdough. We take as much as is needed to prepare the bread, and put the rest into a glass jar with a lid and put it in the refrigerator (but not in the freezer). It is advised to take about 100 grams of sourdough for storage, but this seems like a lot to me. 1-2 tablespoons would be ideal — it’s both convenient and economical. This is a starter (ripe starter), which can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 (this is the limit) weeks without feeding, but it is best to feed the starter once every 5-7 days. Remember that you need to place the starter in the refrigerator for storage after feeding. That is, you fed her and IMMEDIATELY put her in the cold. The point is that there she must also feed, although not as actively as in the warmth. This food will be enough for her just for 5-7 days. And if you feed it, let it wake up (bubble) and only then put it in the cold, it will begin to starve there and may turn sour. As a rule, to prepare bread, 10-20% of the starter is used from the total weight of flour in the sourdough. To wake up the starter, take it out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for an hour. Then they feed three times. The interval between the first and second feeding is ideally 6-8 hours, and between the second and third — 6-12 hours. When you feed the starter for the third time, the bread will be ready to bake in 3-4 hours. It seems like everything I wanted to say. There are a lot of thoughts, but they jump so fast that I don’t have time to catch them. If you have any questions, write in the comments — I will be happy to answer and help as much as I can. I’m new to working with sourdough, so we’ll learn together. Good luck, my dear bakers, strong and healthy sourdough to you. And then some delicious bread!