Whole Grain Bread

For me the quintessential German bread (even though not what most Germans have as their daily bread): A sourdough bread with high rye content and lots of grains. Sourdough makes for almost half of the ingredients.

 Sourdough

• 220g whole grain rye flour
• 220ml water
• 22g rye sourdough starter

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 16-18 hours.

1st Soaker

• 50g sunflower seeds
• 50g rye flakes
• 50g rye meal
• 150ml boiling water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl ( I use a glass jar with a lid), pour over boiling water and stir well. Cover and let sit for 2 hours.
 
2nd Soaker

• 210g whole grain rye flour
• 105g whole grain wheat flour
• 155ml water

Combine all ingredients an a bowl and stir until smooth. Cover and let sit for 2 hours also. I used the mixing bowl for this as all the ingredients are later combined and mixed anyways.

Main Dough

• Sourdough
• Both soakers
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp barley malt powder (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast, 3/4 tsp of sugar and 40ml (1 1/3oz) of water, mixed and let stand for about 10 minutes (or 10g fresh yeast) 
• Rye flakes to roll in

 Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl (I just added to the bowl of 2nd soaker) and mix for about 7 minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Then form into a ball (or oval, depending on the shape of the fermentation basket you want to use), roll in rye flakes, transfer into a well floured fermentation basket and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1 to 1/2 hours at 86-90°F  (30-32°C). You can get to that temperature using your oven by just turning on the oven light.

Preheat oven to 485°F (250°C). 

Place parchement paper on a baking sheet and carefully turn dough over onto it. Transfer into oven on 2nd level from the bottom. Spray some water into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then open the oven door to let out steam and reduce temperature to 360°F (180°C). Bake for another 45 minutes.

To check if the bread is ready knock on the bottom. It should sound a little hollow.

Let cool on a cooling rack.

Original recipe (German language) on ketex.de.