This rye sourdough starter can change your life. Seriously. It not only creates a traditional rye bread with all the flavor of classic bread but it yields health benefits as well when compared to commercially made wheat bread. Here’s how to make it.
It’s not hard to make a rye sourdough starter from scratch. Some sourdough starters rely on wild yeasts that live in the air, others on acid-producing bacteria present in buttermilk, yogurt, pineapple juice, and the like, and still others start with commercial yeast or store-bought starters. Fact is, none of these additives is necessary. All it really takes to build a delicious and robust rye sour culture, or starter, is some whole-grain rye flour, water, a warm place, and patience. [Editor’s Note: And when your traditional rye sourdough starter is complete, the very first thing you’re going to want to do is use it to make Galician rye bread.]–Stanley Ginsberg
Rye Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
Email Grocery List- Day 1: Make the Rye Sourdough Starter
- 2.5 ounces (70 grams) whole grain rye flour, preferably organic
- 2.5 ounces (70 ml) warm water (105°F or 41°C)
- Days 2 to 7: Refresh the Rye Sourdough Starter
- 2.5 ounces (70 grams) whole grain rye flour, preferably organic
- 2.5 ounces (70 ml) warm water (105°F or 41°C)
- 2.5 ounces (70 grams) Sour Starter from the preceding day
- Days 8 and Beyond: Maintain the Rye Sourdough Starter
- 2.5 ounces (70 grams) medium or whole-grain rye flour, preferably organic
- 2.5 ounces (70 ml) warm water (105°F or 41°C)
- .25 ounces (7 grams) rye sourdough starter
Directions
- Day 1: Make the rye sourdough starter
- 1. Start with equal amounts of organic rye flour and water by weight. Dump them in a nonreactive (glass, porcelain, stainless-steel, plastic) container, mix by hand into a stiff paste, cover, and let stand at room temperature (68 to 72°For 20 to 22°C) for 24 hours.
- Days 2 to 7: Refresh the rye sourdough starter
- 2. The next day, discard all but 70 grams of the culture and mix the remainder with the refresh ingredients, cover, and let stand. Repeat each day, discarding all but 70 grams of the preceding day’s culture.
- 3. The most important point to remember at the early stages is to feed the sourdough starter, or culture, daily. Even when it shows no apparent fermentation, the yeast is busy multiplying and consuming nutrients at a very high rate. By the second or third day, it will swell, show bubbles, and give off a clean sour smell. Over the next few days the activity will become more and more vigorous and the smell more intense. Occasionally the yeast normally present in whole grains fail to establish itself in a new culture; if, after 3 or 4 days, the culture darkens, develops a mold, or smells bad, dump the whole batch and start over. After a week, the culture, or sourdough starter, will be ready to use or to be stored refrigerated in an airtight container for a couple days. [Editor’s Note: If storing the sourdough starter for more than a couple days, you’ll need to maintain it, which we explain how to do just below.]
- Days 8 and Beyond: Maintain the rye sourdough starter
- 4. In a perfect world—or working bakery—sourdough starters are refreshed daily. That said, daily feedings demand both a degree of dedication and abundant flour supplies that are impractical for all but the most committed home bakers. The author suggests refreshing your starter every 36 hours or so.
- 5. Mix the rye flour, water, and rye sourdough starter by hand until incorporated. Cover and ferment at room temperature (68 to 72°F or 20 to 22°C) overnight or for 10 to 12 hours. The sponge will be very bubbly, have a clean sour smell, and will have tripled in volume. Store refrigerated in an airtight container and it will last indefinitely.
Recipe Testers Reviews
The rye starter was easy to make and quick. It took about 5 minutes each of the 7 days. Mine smelled great and seemed consistent after the week of feedings. I switched to the refresh amounts after that and it stayed nice and healthy. During the buildup you end up tossing about 2/3 of it away. I definitely recommend a scale versus just using volume measurements.
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I am in the process of developing my first-ever rye starter. I am on day 6 and things seem to be going pretty well. The starter is active, though it is not doubling each day.
My question is about the “maintain” phase. Do we really only keep 7 grams of the starter? and then, do we store it in the fridge? If so, are we only keeping 7 grams of starter each time we refresh?
Nate–
I have been maintaining a rye starter for years. I would not worry a lot about the 7 gr once you have a healthy starter. What I do is always refresh with equal parts starter, flour, water. Usually for me that is about 50 gr each. Yes, I keep mine in the fridge in a small mason jar. When ready to refresh I dump out most of it leaving 30 – 50 gr starter, then add the water and flour. Hope this helps.
Great response! So, the maintenance phase is very similar to the first phase; we are just able to store it in the fridge and reduce the frequency of refreshing. Great!
Nate, you bet!
This site and other sites instruct that a rye starter should have equal weights flour and water. I read somewhere else that a drier environment encourages more of the acid-forming organisms and a wetter environment more of the lactic-acid family of bacteria. Could a wetter starter work for rye? Has anyone tried it? I was thinking about this because a nearby healthfood store sells whole rye berries, and I thought that if I added more water, I could soak the berries overnight and grind them with water in a food processor the next day. This is a method I have seen recommended for making a different fermented food (dosa or idli from India, made with a grain, usually white rice, and a de-hulled legume, sometimes de-hulled lentils). Also I live in an area with heavily chlorinated water and don’t have the means to buy filtered or distilled water. Can boiling help lower the chlorine enough to give my starter a fighting chance? If so how long should I boil and do I need to wait long after that before using the water in starter? In other words could I use the water as soon as it cools or should I wait a day or two before using it?
Hi w. ally, let’s see if any readers have tried a wetter starter or experimented with rye berries. As far as your question on chlorine, many water authorities now use chloramine which is not as easily dissipated as chlorine. Perhaps using a water jug with an activated charcoal filter might help?
Ah, good idea, Thank you Beth Price. Maybe I’ll use charcoal filtering and maybe boil for good measure to help with any stray bacteria too. I’ve tried a ferment with other grains and had hit-and-miss results. Maybe lingering chloramine had something to do with it. I hadn’t heard of that, so thank you.
You are most welcome.
Hey, W. Ally! I saw your question, and I thought I’d chime in. I run the baking website The Perfect Loaf, and I get questions like yours frequently. Yes, you can definitely use more water in your rye starter, if you’d like. When I keep a rye starter, I typically do this because rye can be hard to mix each day–adding some water helps with this process.
Concerning the difference between more lactic or acetic acid: changing the hydration can affect this balance, but I’ve noticed I can achieve whatever flavor I’m after in my end bread by adjusting other parameters. For example, I can modify the percentage of whole grains in the recipe for more sourness, larger pre-ferment for more sourness, and a long, cold proof for more sourness as well. So in the end, I find it’s ok to keep your starter at whatever hydration you’d like and what makes it easy for you each day you feed/refresh.
I’m not familiar with soaking berries and then milling them, but I do mill my own flour very frequently, in fact, I currently feed my starter with 50% fresh milled (dry) hard red wheat and 50% white flour. It works extremely well. If you don’t have a mill such as a KoMo or Mockmill, you could theoretically use a high powered blender, but you won’t get near the same flour quality as a dedicated grain mill. It’s worth an experiment!
Regarding chlorine in your water supply: this is very common here in the USA. You can fill a jug of water the night before you use it for baking (or feed your starter) and leave it out on your counter uncovered. This will allow the chlorine to dissipate from the water naturally. Boiling your water is not necessary. The caveat here is if your water is treated with chloramine instead of chlorine, in this case, leaving your water out won’t help, the chloramide has to be removed in another way. In this case, I find it easier to buy distilled water.
I hope that helps!
Maurizio, thank you so much for chiming in. I knew you’d have a bounty of answers!
I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found this blog. You explain things so brilliantly.
I have been looking for a recipe for rye bread starter for weeks. However, is there a difference between rye sourdough starter and just plain rye starter? I have recipes for both.
Many thanks
There really is no difference between rye sourdough starter and rye starter. Either one is a rye starter if it uses rye flour. Most recipes will add the word “sourdough” to the name but really either one can be used to make “sourdough” or -the more accurate terminology i think since not all naturally leavened bread is sour- “naturally leavened” bread.
Many thanks for clarifying, Elie.
Ellie, thank you for your answer.
I have a rye starter bubbling away on my counter thanks to this recipe. However, this is the only recipe I’ve seen for a starter that says to feed every 36-48 hours once it’s in the fridge. Most indicate once a week for infrequent bakers and cold storage. Why feed so often by comparison for this one? And would it be resilient enough to handle resting a week in the fridge? I’ve got a vacation coming up which will mean leaving it for about that long.
Hi Lexy, I spoke with Sarah, one of our baking testers, and this is what she had to say;
“I am no way an expert bread baker, but have been working on sourdough the last year or two….the two resources I’ve drawn from (Bread Ahead Bakery in London – in person class and their cookbook, and the Sourdough School cookbook) offer varying methods on refreshing the starter. But, Bread Ahead says that once your starter is established it should be kept in the fridge and fed every 2 weeks (if you aren’t using it frequently). If/when using it, you should refresh/feed it around a day before using it for baking. If you are going to be away for more than 2 weeks, you can freeze the starter. When you come back, defrost at room temp and feed it daily until its back to its bubbly self (may take a few days). You can always freeze part of the starter as an insurance policy in case something happens to your fridge starter…would save you the time in rebuilding from scratch.
Sourdough School recommends feeding/refreshing twice a week, but also says you can leave for up to 2 weeks and then bring it back with daily feeds when you return.
The general impression I get is it is hard to kill your starter completely. It’s only no longer rescuable if, as Bread Ahead says, “it smells like dirty nappies.” :)”
Lexy, Ive had a rye starter for years. It lives in my fridge. I rarely feed it more than every other week or so. No need to waste flour every 36 hours! These things are resilient. It can go for a month (mine survived a hurricane power outage for a week too) but then it’s a good idea to feed it a couple of times dumping half out between the feedings to make sure a healthy yeast culture is back in action.
Let me know if you need more info or details of my process.
Many thanks, Elie!
Hi David,
It’s me again. So I have tried the sourdough rye bread and Galician rye bread and both tasted superb. Can you please recommend a good sourdough sandwich bread recipe?
Thank you.
Hema
Hema, we don’t have one on the site yet, but I just added it to the list. Sorry that I can’t be more helpful.
I’ve just started the process today, if I were to throw 70 grams out the 2nd day then I’m left with none? Am I getting the steps wrong?
(Days 2 to 7: Refresh the rye sourdough starter)
2. The next day, discard all but 70 grams of the culture and mix the remainder with the refresh ingredients, cover, and let stand. Repeat each day, discarding all but 70 grams of the preceding day’s culture.)
Hema, on day 1 you use 70 grams of flour and 70 grams of water, for a total of 140 grams. The following day, you discard roughly half (70 grams). On subsequent days, you have a total of 210 grams of starter, of which you discard all but 70 grams to refresh the starter. Does that make sense?
ok! that makes sense! Thank you
You bet!
Hi David
My starter is looking very happy and bubbly, my next question would be; can I use them in any bread recipe that calls for sourdough starter or only with bread recipe that uses rye flour. Its my first time experimenting with sourdough starter.
tq
Hema, wonderful!! I use my rye sourdough starter in all kinds of sourdough bread. The reason for a rye starter is it’s easier to work with.
Hi David
Thank you for the response and I have additional question, its day 8 and to maintain the starter; Step 5. But if I haven’t used them, what is the next step?
Hema, what I do is add 70 grams of flour and 70 grams of warm water to 70 grams of the starter once a week to keep it going. When you’re ready to bake, refresh once or twice more. Does that make sense?
ok, do I discard them, like below or just refresh them as per your instruction?
2. The next day, discard all but 70 grams of the culture and mix the remainder with the refresh ingredients, cover, and let stand. Repeat each day, discarding all but 70 grams of the preceding day’s culture.
Thanks again.
P.S. hopefully all my queries in enough to satisfy the rest of the novice sourdough maker
Hema, you would discard all but 70 g, just like step 2. That way you’re keeping the same amount of starter week to week. If you’re planning to bake a lot, you can have two jars with starter, each with 70 grams of starter, water, and flour.
My starter gets white mold on it every night. I have it in a large plastic cup, covered with plastic wrap, and it sits out at room temp. I live in Charleston, SC, so maybe it’s too warm here? Should i put it in the fridge instead? Should i just stir the mold in, and keep moving? Its thick white mold.
Hi Laura, although many bakers will say to scrap the mold off and feed as normal, I’m reluctant to advise this. Are you using organic flour and filtered water? Are your utensils and containers super clean? What does the starter smell like? It should smell sour.
This is in response to Laura Hunt’s question about white mold growing on a starter in a plastic cup covered in plastic wrap. I have three thoughts. First, I have heard that the most dangerous molds are usually orange, yellow, red, or pink. The blues and the whites are not so bad. You’ll want to remove what you can see because you don’t want it to compete with the other, souring microorganisms you are trying to cultivate. If it were in the orange-pink family though I’d throw out the whole thing. I wonder why it grew there. Maybe like you said it has to do with heat and humidity. You could move it to a cooler spot if available, the fridge would be too cold to keep the starter humming along and growing/fermenting quickly, although it does say that it’s fine to store it in the fridge once the sourness is established. I think the recommended temp is about 70 so as close to that as you can get would probably be ideal. Maybe too the plastic wrap is trapping more humidity than a cloth cover would. You could cut a piece of an old cotton t-shirt, maybe clean it in boiling water, and attach it with a rubber band instead of using the plastic wrap. Also if you can use a glass cup, porcelain bowl or other glass container/jar you might be able to pour boiling water on your container before adding the flour, in order to sterilize the container and kill any invisible mold particles that might be hiding out there. Of course you want to use hopefully tempered/oven-safe glass, like a caning jar if available, to be sure the glass won’t break when the boiling water hits it.
Thanks for all your tips, w.ally!
I’ve made all of our bread for several years now but have always shied away from sourdough because of the starter maintenance and waste. Dona Ks suggestion helps with the latter. Each recipe I have calls for a starter using the flour the bread will be made from. Is it possible or desirable to grow a generic starter then use it for rye, red fife, or whatever unique flour you want to use?
Rick, baking is such a precise science, I suggest you try this or a different starter and stick with the bread recipe suggested for starters. Then, as you become more comfortable and experienced with various doughs, you can explore a little. But the relative densities and moistures and such all play into the resulting bread’s texture as well as taste.
How would I maintain the starter over time? Frequency of feeding etc.
Thanks
Patty k, this information has been added to the instructions under “Maintain the rye sourdough starter.” Good luck!
This article is so informative and well written but I’m still confused between “refresh every 36 hours” and “stick it in an airtight container in the fridge to last indefinitely”
So do you still refresh it every 36 hours indefinitely? Or can you ignore it for weeks/months between using it for a recipe?
Thank you!
KM, thanks for asking for clarification, I added a note that hopefully helps to clarify. Greatly appreciate your feedback. You can stick it in the fridge and not do anything with it if you intend to use it to make bread within a couple days. You’ll need to refresh it every 36 to 48 hours or so if you want to keep the starter alive for weeks, months, even decades! I hope this helps!
I know, maybe I’m a tad frugal, but I hate the thought of throwing out about a pound of perfectly good (if a tad young) starter (about what you’ll end up with by the end of the week). How about saving each day’s 2.5 oz, stick it in the fridge, and use it mid-week and end of week for bread? It won’t be a ‘full-up’ starter, but should still provide a little extra flavor for a couple loaves of bread. If that’s too much baking for you, you could lob a couple days worth of starter slag into a zippy bag, toss it in the freezer, then defrost it at a later date for a loaf. Just let it thaw, add a little more flour and water, proof overnight, and it’s good to go the next day. Just saying, no reason to chuck it out.
Dona K., love your no-nonsense approach! Thank you!
I hated to throw out the extra feeding starter too. I saved it all together in the fridge then at the end of the week I made sourdough rye waffles that were incredible. Followed this recipe here (and doubled it).
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-waffles-recipe
We topped the waffles with thick cut bacon, an overeasy egg, a little creme fraiche and hot sauce. It was a superb breakfast and made tons for the freezer!
Brilliant, Annie! Thank you for sharing this wonderful tip!