Ready-made rye sourdough: how to find the peak of its activity

In all my own sourdough bread recipes, I always warn that you need to use the sourdough at the peak of its activity. But how exactly to find the peak of its activity and how to realize the state when it is ready? After all, only mature and active leaven can be added to the dough. Therefore, I decided to use the example of my own rye sourdough to show how I feed it and how quickly it reaches its peak.

Sourdough from the refrigerator

I store my 100% moisture rye sourdough in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 days. But now this rye starter of mine has been in the refrigerator for 2 days and at the moment I have taken it out of the cold and am going to prepare it for future dough.

If you also have rye sourdough in the refrigerator, then before you use it for dough or dough, you need to return it.

Never use rye sourdough directly from the refrigerator into dough. You'll be able to bake bread even faster using this type of sourdough starter. But the properties of such bread will already be a huge question. Therefore, the first rule is to constantly use active leaven in the dough, which is at its peak of activity. Although if you are baking rye bread, then in this case it is possible to introduce rye sourdough, the peak of which has passed not so long ago. But this does not mean that you can use sourdough that has been fermented for a long time. This rule applies only to rye sourdough.

Feeding rye sourdough

Before you start feeding the starter, you need to immediately find out how quickly you will need it. If you need it after 6-7 hours, then feed in a ratio of 1/1/1 and store at a temperature of +24-25C. For example, 10 g rye sourdough + 10 g water + 10 rye flour. If you need it even faster, then simply put this starter in the oven under the light on, where the temperature is +30-32C. Then it will ripen in 4-5 hours, and perhaps earlier.

But because I don’t need sourdough right now, I chose a different proportion for feeding: 1/2/2. In other words, I will take 1 part 100% moisture rye starter and add to it 2 parts water and 2 parts rye flour. I mix everything for homogeneity.

What flour to use

I use peeled rye flour of 2 different brands - this is S. Pudov and ordinary local flour without a name. With this composition, my sourdough feels best. Therefore, you can also experiment and choose the best flour for your own rye sourdough.

You can mix this leaven directly in the container in which you will store it. But for clarity, at the moment I mix in a bowl, and later transfer it to a container.

Then I close the starter with a lid, but not tightly.

I’ll summarize the feeding results

Let me remind you again, I used a cool rye starter, which I had in the refrigerator for 2 days. I fed the starter in a ratio of 1/2/2. I closed the lid loosely and left it at room temperature, for me it’s currently about +24-25C.

Now you need to wait until the starter matures, in other words, reaches the peak of its activity.

Leaven after 4 hours

4 hours have passed and I'm checking the starter. By this time, the starter had already begun to noticeably loosen and increase in volume. Its growth is still insignificant, so I leave the starter to ferment for another couple of hours at a temperature of +24-25C.

Sourdough after 6 hours

A total of 6 hours have passed since I fed the starter. And just at this moment you can see how well it has loosened and almost doubled in volume. But I would give her another 30-60 minutes so that she would still reach twice the height. Therefore, I leave my starter at a temperature of +24-2C and return to it in 1 hour.

Sourdough after 7 hours

7 hours have passed, and oh, so at this point my starter has reached the peak of its activity. Let me remind you that the starter for the sourdough starter came from the refrigerator. And I fed the starter in a ratio of 1/2/2. With all this, the starter was at room temperature, which I currently have at +24-25C.

And this is what mature rye sourdough looks like, which can already be added to the dough or dough. Based on the leaven given to us, I will make a dough for rye bread.

Again, I draw your attention to the main signs that the starter is ready:

The starter increases in volume by at least 1.5-2 times.
The structure of the leaven becomes loosened and porous. With all this, the porosity is uniform, and there are no dense areas in its structure.
The surface of the leaven grows like a cap, and small pores appear on the surface.

If the surface of the starter begins to fall slightly, this means that the peak of the starter has recently passed. But this rye sourdough is also suitable for rye bread.

For comparison, I will show rye sourdough, the peak of which has passed not so long ago. I prepared this kind of leaven for kvass and the fact that it is overripe is nothing terrible, it is suitable for kvass. If you have not yet prepared kvass according to my recipe, then I advise you to definitely prepare it for you. This is a delicious drink that is appreciated by everyone who has already tried it. Read more in the article: “How to prepare kvass at home: a recipe for rye sourdough.”

So, let me summarize the result. For the dough or dough, you must use rye sourdough, which is at its peak of activity. The peak of activity is a sign of its maturity. You can feed the starter according to any proportion that is comfortable for you, the main thing is to maintain the initial moisture content of the starter.

What affects the rate of sourdough ripening?

The speed of sourdough ripening will be influenced by:

starter quantity;
starter property;
the amount of flour in relation to the amount of starter;
storage temperature of the starter after feeding it.

If you still have questions on this topic, write them in the comments, and I will be happy to help you.

And I wish you a good mood and see you soon!

Sourdough for bread made from rye flour

If you want to always have real and very tasty rye bread or other necessary baked goods on your table without yeast, then I suggest creating a sourdough starter for bread from rye flour. The starter is prepared in 3 days in a warm environment, then from part of the starter you can bake bread or other pastries, and store the rest in the refrigerator, “feeding” it from time to time. Then just take the required amount of leaven for baking.

Ingredients

Manufacturing stages

On the 1st day: pour 25 ml of warm water (water temperature no higher than 40 degrees) into a clean, dry 0.5-0.7 liter jar and add 25 grams of rye flour. Mix flour and water thoroughly. The result will be a fairly thick, sticky mass. Cover the jar with cellophane, making several holes in the cellophane (so that the starter can breathe) and leave it at room temperature (preferably in a hanging kitchen cabinet) for a day. 2nd day: after a day, virtually nothing will happen in the bank, the mass remains the same, except that it grows a little. Pour 50 ml of warm water into the jar and stir. Add 50 grams of rye flour and mix everything thoroughly again so that there is no dry flour left. The mass will be just as thick and viscous. Cover the jar again with film with holes and place it in the same space for another day.

3rd day: if everything is done correctly, after a day you will see that the starter has begun to work, bubbles and a sour smell will appear. The warmer the ambient temperature, the stronger the fermentation will be.

Now add 100 ml of warm water to the starter, mix and add 100 grams of rye flour. Mix everything thoroughly again. The mass will be the same mixture as before. Cover the jar with film and leave it in the same place for another 24 hours.

Day 4: a good sourdough starter for bread made from rye flour is ready - it will grow, there will be a lot of bubbles and it will acquire a corresponding pleasant sourish smell. My starter grew by half due to the cold in the apartment; if it is warm, the starter will rise almost to the brim of the jar. Usually, 30 grams of sourdough is enough to bake a loaf of bread, but in different recipes it is necessary to add either more or less. The remaining starter can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with film with holes, “feeding” it for any 3 days.

Before baking bread, if you are using sourdough from the refrigerator, you need to take out a jar of sourdough and leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours. Then 20 grams of the starter given to us must be put into a clean, dry jar. The remaining starter in the jar that we took out of the refrigerator must be thrown out or, if it’s a pity, just add a little flour and water, stir, wait for activation for 2-3 hours and use for baking pancakes and pancakes. 20 grams of sourdough, set aside in a clean, dry jar, must be “fed”, in other words, add 20 ml of warm water and 20 grams of rye flour, mix and leave in a warm place for 2-4 hours, the sourdough will begin to ferment intensively, then take the required amount of sourdough for making bread (you will get about 60-80 grams of sourdough), and put the rest in the refrigerator. If to make bread according to a recipe you need more than 60-80 grams of sourdough, then leave the sourdough in a warm place for a day, again “feed” 20 grams of rye flour and 20 ml of warm water, wait for activation and take the required amount.

Do not forget to “feed” the starter that is stored in the refrigerator for any 3 days; to do this, you need to remove it from the refrigerator, let it warm up to room temperature (2-3 hours), transfer, for example, 20 grams of starter into a clean jar, add 20 ml of warm water and 20 grams of rye flour, mix, let it “rest” in a warm place (in other words, the starter must begin fermentation, depending on the ambient temperature - within 2-4 hours), use the required amount of active starter for bread, and the remaining Place some in the refrigerator again.

The starter will collapse in the refrigerator. If the top of the starter dries out, simply remove it with a spoon. If drops of water appear on the film, it must be changed; if mold suddenly appears in the jar, the starter must be thrown away.

It is better, of course, if the starter does not end up in the refrigerator, then you need to feed it every day, setting aside 20-30 grams (the leftovers, as annoying as it may sound, are thrown away if you are not going to bake anything) and adding the same amount of flour to it and water. Any day there will be more leaven, set aside the required amount of already active leaven for production, and add flour and water again for the rest. If you don’t bake bread for a day, half of the active starter will have to be thrown away, and the rest will have to be fed again.

Rye sourdough, the most beloved and obedient!

Friends, I’m writing an upgrade at the very beginning of the article, because it’s important. I, like you, am on the path of learning and researching bread, I always learn and try new things, change the ways and methods of making dough and sourdough. So, if you want to breed wheat or rye sourdough, please read this article . It describes a method for breeding sourdough, aimed not at a schedule, as in the article below, but at the state and processes of the starter itself, which significantly speeds up and simplifies the breeding process. Thank you!

Read also: Buckwheat bread

Those who are headlong into baking cannot survive for long without rye sourdough. This is categorical, but about me I started to get acquainted with sourdough bread specifically with rye sourdough, learned to breed it and bake non-sour wheat and sour rye. That’s why rye sourdough is like returning to my native land for me. It’s especially gratifying to my soul, because the parting was long - I baked with wheat sourdough, later with a back-ferment, mainly wheat bread, and never baked rye. The soul yearned for the smell of rye bread and the bright sour smell of rye sourdough, and even for the everyday routine - feeding! As I wrote not so long ago, I got organic rye and, as a result, rye flour, and since there is rye flour, then there will be sourdough and rye bread!

I develop rye sourdough in 3-5 days, on the fifth or sixth day I already try to bake wheat bread, it is still not sour enough for rye. With freshly raised sourdough, rye bread comes out sticky and finely porous, and these are sure signs that the sourdough has not gained acidity. It is absolutely believed that rye sourdough is more sour and fragrant than wheat, and therefore wheat bread made from it turns out sour. To be honest, I still can’t find out if this is true, I literally only understand that with rye sourdough, literally the same as with wheat, you can bake amazing, completely non-sour wheat bread and even baked goods.

In winter, to feed my own rye starter, I take the same amount of flour and water and maintain 100% humidity; in summer, I make the consistency much thicker so that it does not ferment so rapidly. If we associate it with wheat, it is the strongest and most undemanding in almost everything, at least that’s how it turns out for me: it hatches even faster (rye takes a week at most, wheat takes two or three), does not peroxidize so quickly and can completely survive , if I forget to feed her once or twice. Under such conditions, my wheat sourdough became sluggish and depressed, and this greatly affected the bread. Rye, despite the Spartan conditions, constantly raised the dough with a bang and quickly recovered. But, if previously I fed it, so to speak, by eye (or as God wishes), focusing on density, now I feed my newest rye sourdough with a scale, literally weighing the amount of water, flour and starter. It was wheat sourdough that taught me precision; as it turns out, scales do not add fuss; on the contrary, they make the feeding process easier and faster, and the sourdough itself more stable. At the moment, my starter feeds once a day, each time I pinch off 10 grams from it, put it in a clean jar, add 25 grams. water and 25 gr. flour, mix and close the lid until further feeding.

To start removing the starter, you need very little - 50 grams. water and 50 gr. whole grain rye flour. You need to mix flour and water in a half-liter jar and leave it in a dark, warm place for a day. The black space has no strategic significance; it simply protects the jar of sourdough from direct sunlight. The light won't do anything to it, but the sun's rays can really heat up the jar and practically cook the starter.

Depending on the content criteria, the starter will have one or another ratio of lactic acid microbes and yeast. This is influenced by temperature, humidity of the starter and specifically flour. The coarser the flour and the higher the grain yield, the better it is suitable for fermenting and the better it ferments. To put it in clever words, whole grain flour has higher enzymatic activity than flour that is free of bran and most of the grain. In addition, the composition of the microflora of sourdough is greatly influenced by temperature and humidity. Even if we take similar water and similar flour, but mix two starters of different mixtures and let them ripen at different temperatures, we will get two different starters with different “inner worlds” and different qualities. This means they will have a different smell and different lifting force, which can also be reflected in the bread. At a temperature close to 30-40 degrees, the leaven will be the most acidic with a huge number of lactic acid microbes and the smallest amount of yeast; at 20-22 degrees it will have more yeast. In a similar way, the mixture affects the yeast content in sourdough: watery sourdough has more yeast, but there is approximately the same or slightly less lactic acid than thick sourdough.

However, it is literally impossible to find out how many microbes and yeasts are contained in homemade sourdough. Only through trial, error and observation can we create some reliable conclusions about how active the leaven is, what lifting force it has, and whether it is quite sour and fragrant. And for this you need little - go into the kitchen, weigh the flour and water, and then mix it.

Day 1. Half liter jar, 50 gr. water (I take boiled cool water, from time to time I don’t disdain tap water if the kettle is hot), 50 gr. whole grain rye flour, mix, close the lid, hide in the cupboard.

For a long time the dough will lie in the jar and smell of flour, water and a little hay, nothing will happen to it. But by the end of the day, fermentation may begin. In my sourdough it has started, you can see small air bubbles. The smell of all this is good, it’s better not to smell it, because it smells like half-rotten grass. It is rotten bacteria that give this aroma.

Rye sourdough for kvass and bread

Rye sourdough for kvass or homemade rye bread without yeast is necessary and high-quality and does not require special knowledge and skills. The recipe for rye sourdough is so simple that even a child can handle it. It can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time and consumed when necessary.

So, now we will create rye sourdough, so that later we can prepare homemade kvass - a tasty and necessary drink that saves us in the heat every summer. Well, okroshka with kvass will be tastier and healthier if this kvass is homemade without yeast!

10 tablespoons rye flour
1 teaspoon sugar
200 ml water

Homemade rye sourdough recipe:

It’s easy to make homemade sourdough from rye flour - there are a minimum of ingredients: rye flour and water, but I also add little sugar, you can do without it.

Take 4 tablespoons of rye flour

Stir until sour cream thickens

I add another teaspoon of sugar

I cover it with moistened gauze and leave it on the table in a warm kitchen.

Every other day you need to “feed” the rye sourdough.

To do this, I add 2 more tablespoons of flour and add a little water so that the leaven is as thick as sour cream.

Cover with moistened gauze and leave for another day.

On the third day we do the same thing: add another 2 tbsp. spoons of flour and add some water. The starter does not have to be thick.

On the third day, the sourdough starts to smell like sour rye bread.

Add more flour and leave for a day.

On the fourth day, the rye sourdough is ready!

From the homemade rye flour starter we have been given, you can create anything you want: you can bake the desired yeast-free rye bread.

You can create homemade kvass with rye sourdough - tasty and necessary, because it is yeast-free. We make it with natural rye sourdough, so ladies can drink it without any worries.

Once the rye sourdough is ready, “feed” it with a couple of spoons of rye flour, leaving the required amount of sourdough for homemade rye bread or kvass.

And we leave the rest in the jar, close the lid and put it in the refrigerator, where it can be quietly stored and “eat” with flour. You need to feed the starter once a week, otherwise it will die when it “eats” all the flour.

Making yeast-free rye sourdough for homemade kvass or rye bread is an easy and not labor-intensive process, everything seems to be casual, but we get the desired and high-quality product

A hot summer is ahead and making homemade kvass, a popular Russian drink, will be the task of every housewife, because the whole family will be drinking liters of this necessary drink.

Homemade kvass is not only tastier and healthier than store-bought kvass, it is also cheaper, which is important.

Start preparing rye sourdough: the following recipe is homemade kvass with rye sourdough. While waiting for homemade kvass - make okroshka with kefir - a cool summer soup in the heat - delicious!

While the starter is “fermenting”, cook a delicious strawberry compote - in the heat it is an excellent thirst quencher or strawberry lemonade!

And don’t forget about winter, prepare strawberry jam and strawberry compote using our recipe!

For everyone who wants to talk about microbiological topics about “yeast” and juggle with scientific definitions, I inform you - you have the wrong address - forums about microbiology dilemmas are for you. Here the term “without yeast” is used only in a culinary sense, i.e. – without thermophilic industrial yeast.

At this point, I’ll close the discussion on this topic in the comments, if you have something substantive to share: experience in making sourdough and baking bread – welcome!

That's all for today! Cook with pleasure and share your impressions in the comments.

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