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sourdough marble rye loaf in a bowl cut in half

Homemade Sourdough Marble Rye Bread Recipe

Homestead Lady Tessa Zundel
Homemade sourdough marble rye bread recipe made with whole grain rye, organic flour, & sourdough to increase health & create a great crust!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Ferment Time 6 hours
Course Bread
Cuisine Homemade Breads
Servings 2 Loaves

Equipment

  • 2 Large Bowls with Lids Or other coverings like beeswax wrap or plastic wrap.
  • 1 Thermometer Not necessary, but comes in handy.

Ingredients
  

Sourdough White Dough

  • 3 Cups Organic white flour
  • 1 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 Cups Unchlorinated Water
  • 1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Dark Rye Dough

  • 2 Cups Cups Organic White Flour
  • 1 1/2 Cups Whole Grain Rye Flour May also use all-purpose rye flour.
  • 2 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Fair Trade Cocoa Powder, Optional
  • 1 Tbsp. Powdered Dandy Blend, Optional May also use instant coffee.
  • 1 1/2 Cups Unchlorinated Water
  • 3/4 Cups Active Sourdough Starter
  • 2 Tbsp. Molasses

Instructions
 

Mix Sourdough White Dough

  • Combine 3 cups of white flour and 1 tsp. of Sea Salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
  • Combine 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of active sourdough starter in a small bowl and stir to combine.
  • Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and use your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon to mix the dough until just incorporated. Clear the sides and bottom of the bowl of flour.
  • Cover and set aside to ferment for 6 hours.*

Mix Sourdough Dark Rye Dough

  • Combine the 2 cups white flour, 1 1/2 cups whole grain rye flour, 2 tsps. of sea salt, 1 Tbsp. of cocoa powder, and 1 Tbsp. of Dandy Blend (or instant coffee powder), if using, in a large bowl. Mix.
  • Combine the 1 1/2 cups of water, 3/4 cups of active starter, 2 Tbsp. of molasses in a small bowl until incorporated.
  • Add the wet mixture to the dry and use your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon to mix until just combined. This dough will be wet and sticky, but do not add more flour.
  • Cover and set aside to ferment for 6 hours.*

Create the Marble Rye Dough

  • Once both sets of dough have fermented for at least 6 hours, it's time to form the doughs into 2 marbled bread loaves. This recipe will also make one larger loaf that will fit into a roughly 9" - 10" round pan.
  • Uncover the sourdough white loaf bowl and empty the dough onto a clean, flat surface that has been oiled or patted down with water to prevent the dough from sticking.
  • Flatten the white dough into a rectangle, or split the dough in half to press out two rectangles.
  • Repeat these steps with the dark rye dough.
  • The following process is the same whether you have two rectangles of dough or four. Layer the dark rye on top of the white dough and slightly press the layers together. Be gentle.
    This will result in the white dough being baked up on top. You may also reverse this, if you want the dark rye to end up on top of the finished bread.
  • If you have four rectangles of dough, continue stacking until all the dough has been piled together. Gently press each layer. Gently.
  • Starting from the longest edge of the rectangle, carefully begin to roll up the dough into one, long log. Tease the dough off the surface of the counter carefully, if it wants to stick. Wet or oil your hands if necessary. You may also use a pastry scraper to scrape the backside of the dough as your roll.
  • Stopping about halfway through rolling, fold the corner edges of the dough into the center to tuck them in. Finish rolling to the end and smooth the dough to flatten the seam.
  • Use a sharp knife or a pastry cutter to cut the dough in half, if baking in sandwich pans. Place one dough log in each pan and cover to rise.
  • If using loaf pans, grease two more loaf pans on the inside and invert them over the rising dough. This will keep the dough damp and warm as it rises. It will also keep out bugs and debris. Allow the dough to rise until roughly doubled in height. This can take 1-2 hours, or more. Be patient; rye flour is less inclined to rise quickly than wheat flour.
  • Allow the dough to rise until roughly doubled in height. This can take 1-2 hours, or more. Be patient; rye flour is less inclined to rise quickly than wheat flour.
  • Remove the inverted bread pans to cut slashes in the top of your dough. I use scissors, but you may also use a razor blade. Return the inverted pans over the bread dough.
  • Place in a cold oven and set it to 425F/218C. Bake for 35 minutes covered.
  • Remove the inverted bread pans and reduce the temperature to 400F/204C. Place a piece of foil over the baking bread if the crust begins to brown to quickly. A sourdough bread loaf is fully baked once it reaches between 200F - 205F (93C - 96C).
  • Remove from the oven and turn out onto a baker's rack to fully cool. This can take upwards of 24 hours. If you cut into the bread while still hot, you may flatten the loaf and turn the crumb a bit gummy.

Notes

You may use all-purpose rye flour instead of whole grain rye flour for a more turgid dough. Be advised, the finished bread will be a bit lighter than if you used whole grain rye flour.
You may substitute in some whole wheat flour for white flour in either dough, but this will alter the texture of the dough. I would suggest you make the recipe as it's written first, and then experiment as much as you like!
This recipe can be made as a traditionally kneaded bread, or one that is merely stretched and folded.
  • If you don't have a lot of time, I advise you knead your bread doughs after they have been mixed. Do this for about 8 minutes by electric mixer, or 10 minutes by hand.
  • If you will be home and have the time, after an hour of fermentation time, stretch and fold both doughs. Do this again in another hour. Then, leave the doughs to rest for the rest of their fermentation time.
To stretch and fold your dough:
  1. Mix the ingredients as described above, cover the dough in the bowl, and allow it to sit for an hour.
  2. Then, remove the cover and wet your dominant hand.
  3. Use your dry hand to steady and turn the bowl as you use your wet hand to gather one side of the dough and pull it up, stretching it vertically.
  4. Fold this side over the rest of the body of the dough. Turn the bowl a bit to the right.
  5. Repeat the stretching and folding process until each side has been stretched and folded once or twice. Once will be sufficient for white flour dough. A full two circuits would be better for the rye dough.
  6. Cover the dough and allow it to sit for a half hour to an hour. Repeat the stretching and folding process 1-2 more times.
Stretching and folding gently develops the gluten bonds that will give your bread great structure and rise. This is especially important for the rye bread dough because rye flour has much less gluten than wheat flour.
See the body of the post for an extended explanation of kneading vs. stretching and folding your dough.
Sourdough both ferments and rises best at a temperature somewhere between 65F - 70F (18C - 21C). Much colder and the processes go much slower. If it's much hotter, the processes can go too fast, resulting in over-proofing.
Over-proofing is where the culturing or rising processes simply go on too long. The sourdough consumes all the available carbs and the structure of the dough collapses, turning into a soggy mess. 
Under-proofing, however, will result in a finished dough that is too dense, with not enough rise. Don't despair - learning the perfect proof time just takes practice, if you're new to sourdough baking!
If you're not using bread pans, you can use a light oven-safe cook pot with a lid. I like enamel cookware for this. 
Some people enjoy baking sourdough in cast iron Dutch Ovens but I find them a bit cumbersome. You can achieve the same sourdough crust with enamel cookware, if you prefer not to use heavy cast iron.
If you don't have a food thermometer, tap the top of your loaves to see if they're sufficiently baked. They should sound hollow.
Allow the bread to cool all the way, which can take 12-24 hours. This ensures that more water will evaporate out of the loaf, which prevents a gummy crumb (inside of the bread).
Keyword sourdough bread, sourdough recipe
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