Unfed Sourdough Rye Mixer Bread

Our Sunday Funday today is celebrating recipes that use sourdough starter, sourdough discard, or store-bought sourdough bread. With how amazing my last sourdough discard mixer bread turned out, and seeing as how I love a light rye bread, I decided to try it again! The old Better Homes and Gardens Bread cookbook had a recipe in there for a light rye mixer bread, so I gave it the same treatment as the conversion of the white flour mixer loaf. Published in 1963, there is not a single sourdough recipe in there, only fresh and packet yeast options. (The sourdough revolution started in the late 60s.) So I converted this recipe just the same as the last one I tried, using 100g unfed starter, and reducing the yeast just a little.

My poor sourdough starter hadn't been fed for 59 days so it had a hefty layer of hooch on it. This is a perfect way to wake it up since I will need it strong and active in a few days. It will be at full peak in 1-2 days with a few feeds. This starter puts up with so much! (With 2 months since its last feed, it did take 15-18 hours to perk back up. I will give it another couple feeds at room temp before using it for full on baking... Not to worry though, after the second feed it doubled in under two hours and soon thereafter popped the lid off its container! Experience tells me that even if I stick it straight in the fridge after a third feeding tonight, it will still have popped the lid up tomorrow morning.)

This rye loaf turned out a more cohesive and regular looking dough than the previous mixer bread, even though I added more water to address the thirstiness of the fresh ground rye. Really easy dough to work with! And it turned out a similarly bouncy crumb with a delightful, sweet rye aroma.

Light Rye Mixer Bread with Discard or Unfed Starter
makes 1 loaf

230g water (If using freshly ground rye flour, I recommend 250g)
100 g sourdough starter, fed or unfed
1¾ tsp (5.3g) instant yeast
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp butter, melted, or avocado oil
1½ tsp sea salt
2-3 tsp caraway, lightly crushed (I love caraway in rye, so I use the full tbsp)
165g rye flour
255g bread flour

In large mixer bowl, thoroughly combine the rye flour and ½ cup of the bread flour, the yeast, caraway, and salt. Add the water, unfed starter, honey, and melted butter to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until moistened; then increase to medium speed for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the remaining flour with a dough whisk or large wooden spoon until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. (For this batch I decided to give it a scrape down, and another hour because it looked fairly sluggish at one hour.)

Stir down the batter with a spoon. Spread the dough evenly into a greased bread pan, either 9½x5-inch or tall sided 9x4 inch. (I used the tall.) Cover and let rise in warm place until the batter doubles, 45-60 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes until golden brown. (Check after 20 minutes and cover with foil if it is browning too quickly.) Unmold and place on a wire rack to cool. Brush with butter straight out of the oven, and cool completely before slicing. (Seriously - do not cut rye bread while it is still warm or you will likely get a gummy crumb. Give the starches time to set.)