Roggenmischbrot: Rustic German Rye Sourdough

Hallo, Leute! (Hello, people!) This recipe had several firsts for me: I weighed ingredients in grams, I used a temperature probe to see if the bread was baked enough and I made two different starters to mix with the dough. I felt like a mad food scientist!

I got the idea for making this bread while watching an "Easy German" video on a bakery in Berlin. It is a crusty Rye Sourdough bread. Although it is another rye bread, it couldn't be more different from the Jewish Deli Rye I made last time. I was intrigued because this bread calls for two different starters--a rye sourdough starter and a biga--that rest at room temperature for 20 hours. Plus the two loaves of bread only have "two pinches" of yeast in them, total. And no fat or oil at all. Mostly rye flour.

The flavor of this bread is fabulous! (I took some in to school with slivers of Manchego cheese and it was taste-test approved by the students brave enough to try it!) Next time, I will skip the oven steam bath at 500 degrees because the crust is harder than I need it to be. Also next time, I think I'll add just a tad of yeast--maybe 1/2 tsp.

Because this is a European recipe, the measurements are metric. Instead of converting them, I used my kitchen scales! I had no idea how much 175 grams were. Now I have a better idea.

Here are the ingredients:

Roggenmischbrot
German Sourdough
1. *** Rye Sourdough ***
2. 175 g Rye flour
3. 175 g water (175 ml)
4. 18 g rye sourdough starter

5. *** Wheat Flour Biga ***
6. 175 g white bread flour
7. 175 g water (175 ml)
8. 2 pinches dry yeast or 0.2 g fresh yeast

9. *** Main Dough ***
10. 175 g rye flour
11. 60 g spelt flour
12. 12 g barley malt or molasses (optional)
13. 12 g salt
14. *** Optional Mix-in ***
15. 50 g dry figs (2 large, chopped up)
16. 40 g choppped walnuts