Sourdough Rye Bread

I finally gave up on finding a sourdough rye bread recipe that is user friendly and yields consistent results. I combined a couple of recipes and came up with one of my own that I make every week or so. You will need a kitchen scale for this one. When I combined recipes it was easier to have some ingredients in weight and others in measuring units. Be sure to note that the 1/4 cup of distilled water is to gradually add for the desired constancy. Do not throw it in all at once.

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Ingredients:

• 360g bread flour

• 40g rye flour

• 255g active starter

• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons sea salt

• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds

• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion

• 3/4 cup potato water

• 1/4 cup distilled water

• 1 tablespoons butter to grease pan

Instructions:

1. Mix the first eight ingredients by hand or by machine until combined. (I use my Kitchen Aid) Use the 1/4 cup of distilled water to add small amounts gradually until you have the desired texture. The dough should be soft and tacky, but not sticky. (It may not need all of it the 1/4 cup of water.) Rest the dough for 10 minutes. Continue to knead the dough about eight minutes until it's elastic and passes the windowpane test.

2. The windowpane test is taking a bit of dough and flattening it between your fingers. Pull and stretch the dough until you can see light coming through the dough. If you can do this without the dough ripping then the proper amount of gluten has been formed.

3. Knead the dough gently by hand to form a nice tight ball. Place the dough ball in a greased bowl to. Cover and let it sit on the counter overnight

4. In the morning remove dough from bowl and gently work into a disc on a lightly floured surface. Form a loaf with your dough by folding the top to the center and pressing it to seal the dough along the seam. Then fold the bottom up to the center and press it to seal again. Pull the side-ends of the dough up and over and seal them along the seam.

5. Place the dough into the buttered loaf pan top side down and then flip it over. This should leave you with a nice buttery top.

6. Cover the pan and let the dough have a second rising until it's at least doubled in size.

7. Preheat your oven to 400°. Bake the loaf for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 and bake for 30 minutes. Watch and if it starts to get too brown lower heat to 350. When the bread is done remove it from the oven and set out a cooling rack. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and let it cool completely on the rack before slicing.

Note:

I did not know that Lodge has a cast iron bread pan. I have used cast iron for years. If you want one, save shipping charges by ordering on the Walmart site and pick it up at the store. I got in a big hurry and paid more for the shipping than for the bread pan. I dearly love the cast iron for bread baking.

I save the water after boiling potatoes. Cool it, then freeze 3/4 cup in a plastic container. Pop out of container and keep in a ziplock bag in the freezer.