Sourdough Rye Country Bread

Here is a sourdough bread recipe that flips the ratio of whole wheat and rye flours in the classic French pain de campagne to give more emphasis on rye. I did this for fun and taste exploration, but also because I wanted to do an intricate score on the crust. The more rye flour in a dough, the lower its gluten strength and the less likely it is to have crust-rupturing oven spring. In the photo gallery below, you can see that I let the dough ferment quite far in both the first rise and the final proof. Not only does this reduce oven spring when taken far enough, it enhances flavor too.

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Most pain de campagne recipes are dominated by refined white flour. They have a small amount of whole wheat flour, and an even smaller amount of rye flour or none at all. This touch of rye flour is said to stem from the fact rye sometimes grew alongside wheat in France and got into the mix. The benefit of the inclusion of rye is an added depth of flavor, slower staling of the bread, and a boost to fermentation because rye tends to be more enzymatically active.

The baker’s percentages for this recipe are:

If you’d like to explore other variations on sourdough French country loaves, check out the following:

Sourdough Pain de Campagne 75:20:5 bread flour : red fife whole wheat flour : rye whole grain flour

Whole Grain Sourdough Rustic Country Loaf 67:33 red fife whole wheat flour : hard white whole wheat flour

Fermentation Photo Gallery

: Start of the bulk fermentation

: 6 hours later

: Start of the final proof

: 16 hours in the refrigerator

Sourdough Rye Country Bread

sliced rye bread on wooden cutting board

This sourdough rye country bread is bursting with earthy notes and baking spice aromas alongside flavors that develop from the almost 24-hour fermentation process. It's an ideal bread to pair with stews, dip in olive oil, or use for hearty sandwiches.

Servings

Serving Size

Prep Time

30 minutes

Baking Time

35 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients

260 grams bread flour (2 cups)
130 grams rye whole grain flour (1 cup)
90 grams red fife whole wheat flour (2/3 - 3/4 cup)
355 grams water (1 1/2 cups)
90 grams sourdough starter (1/3 cup)
10 grams salt (scant 2 tsp)

Instructions

My dough rose for 6 hours at about 76°F, and the final proof was 16 hours in the refrigerator. You should modify this timing as needed with different ambient/dough temperatures.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours, water, sourdough starter, and salt. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment for 1-2 minutes. You can also mix by hand if you don't have a stand mixer.
Cover the dough and let it rest.
To develop gluten in the dough, either do several rounds of stretching and folding with 20-30 minute rests in between (I did three rounds) - or - rest the dough in the stand mixer bowl (covered) for 1 hour, and then run it again on low-medium speed for 5-12 minutes.
Let the dough rise until it is between 1.5x and 2x the original size: target expansion of 75%.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and preshape it into a boule. Cover and let it rest about 15 minutes.
Shape the dough to your preference (boule, batard, oblong loaf). Make sure you build tension on the surface of the dough and dust it with flour before placing it seam-side up in a proofing basket.
Cover the basket and refrigerate it for 12+ hours. If you prefer to bake same-day, let the dough proof at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until it has expanded and is puffy -- see the photo gallery above for before and after pics.
Preheat your oven and baking vessel to 500°F for 30 minutes.
Directly from the refrigerator, flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone bread sling. Score and load the dough into your baking vessel and oven.
Bake for 12 minutes at 500°F with the option to uncover and re-score your "oven spring" cuts at the 7-minute mark and put the lid back on afterward.
For a softer crust, at the 12-minute mark, leave the lid on and reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 30-45 minutes more or until the internal temperature of the bread is over 205°F.
For a harder crust, at the 15-minute mark, reduce the oven temperature to 450°F. Continue baking with the lid on for another 10 minutes. At the 25-minute mark, remove the lid and bake 5-10 minutes more or until the internal temperature of the bread is over 205°F.
Let the bread cool for about 12 hours before you slice it because of the relatively large amount of rye in it. This will allow the crumb to set and not be gummy.