Living in the US, I don’t want to miss good home-style bread. Sure, all kinds of bread are available here, but at a price, and you never really know what is inside.

This bread is about 60% rye, 40% wheet. Rye flour always requires the use of sourdough, and we have to consider two cases:

(1) You are the proud owner of some sourdough, or have a friend that has some.

(2) No sourdough at hand. Don’t worry. Sourdoug can be prepared, without any starters, at home.

(a) mix 50 g of dark or semi-dark rye flour with 50 g of water; stirr; leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
(b) add 100 g of dark or semi-dark rye flour and 100 g of water; stirr; leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
(c) add 100 g of dark or semi-dark rye flour and 100 g of water; stirr; leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
(d) add 100 g of dark or semi-dark rye flour and 100 g of water; stirr; leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
At this point, you should have quite a bit of sourdough ready, with small bubbles, and with no mold.

Some key items:
(1) Use boiled or otherwise chlorine-free water; tap water is perfectly fine but boil and let cool before use to remove any chlorination
(2) Use very clean utensils; store at a clean place – away from any sources of mold.
(3) Use a plain plastic or porcellain dish; don’t cover it; don’t use a metal dish.
(4) Temperature is fairly important – not too hot, not too cold.

For later use, best put some sourdough (~100 g) into the freezer.

Now, as you have sourdough now, let’s get started.

Step (1) – Take 100 g of sourdough, add 200 g of rye flour, and 200 g of water; leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

Step (2) – Add 400 g of rye flour, 500 g of water. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

Step (3) – Add 750 g wheet flour, 200 g of (warm) water, 30 g of salt (measure accurately!, mix in with the flour), 1 cube of yeast (available mainly in Europe – 42 g each; can be substituted by one package of active dry yeast), 500 g of ‘quark’ = curd cheese – low fat type.

Step (4) Knead properly, using your hands or strong machine; cover the dough with a towel, let the dough sit for about 1 to 1-1/2 hour to rise.

Step (5) Form any shape and size of bread. I prefer multiple small pieces. Use some wheet flour – the dough is fairly sticky.

Step (6) Let rise for about 30 minutes; preheat oven to 220-230°C.

Step (7) Bake. After 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 170-180°C (depending on oven; I use a forced convection type: 170°C). Bake for another 45-60 minutes, depending on size of loaf. If you prefer a shiny crust brush with water (with a bit of corn starch added) immediately after removing from oven.

Step (8) Let cool. Don’t cut off pieces for at least 1 hours – other wise, steam will escape.

Enjoy!

Note – rye flour refers to semi-dark rye flour (not whole grain). In Germany, known as Type 1150. Wheat flour – best use any ‘bread flour’, in Germany, known as Type 1050. I use Type 405 because it is commonly available and it is amazingly cheap (currently EUR 0.32 per kg!!).