Rye Sourdough Starter

This rye sourdough starter is easy to make and will give your bread a unique flavor that’s sure to impress everyone in the family! Using this quick rye starter recipe you'll be able to bake with your starter in 24-48 hours.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 25

Ingredients

day 1:

50 g warm water
½ teaspoon active dry yeast
50 g dark rye flour

day 2 onward:

50 g warm water
50 g dark rye flour

Instructions

DAY 1:

In a small glass bowl mix the warm water and yeast with a wooden or plastic spoon. Set aside for a couple of minutes to rehydrate the yeast.
Stir in the rye flour. It will be sticky and dense. This is normal.
Either cover the container with a clean kitchen towel or transfer it to a large glass jar and lightly cover.
Set the starter in a warm spot, free of temperature swings and drafts to ferment for 24 hours.

DAY 2:

After 24 hours, stir down the bubbles and discard all but 50 g of starter and feed it with 50 g rye flour and 50 g warm water. If you notice a layer of liquid (hooch) on the top of the jar, stir this in before discarding.
Once the fed starter is fed, bubbly, and doubled in volume it's ready to use! This will take about 6-12 hours depending on your kitchen temperature and starter.

DAY 3 + Onward:

Discard all but 50 g of starter and feed it with 50 g rye flour and 50 g warm water, transfer to a clean jar. Or save any amount of starter you like, but it must be mixed at a 1:1:1 ratio of starter: water: flour to keep a 100% hydration starter.
Store as desired.

Notes

My starter is stiff!?

This is totally normal. Rye flour can absorb more water than wheat flour. The starter will be quite stiff and hold its shape especially after being freshly fed.

Yeast or not?

You can choose to add it or not. If you choose not to add it, omit it from the first mix, and be prepared to feed your starter for 6+ days before it's active enough to bake with.

feeding + storing rye sourdough starter

daily to bi-weekly baker

To keep your starter alive, you'll need to feed it roughly every 24 hours. You can play with the feeding schedule a bit, once you get to know your starter and how hungry it is. The starter should be fed after the culture doubles in size and deflates, and ideally before the hooch starts to form.

weekly or less frequent

If you're an infrequent baker, keep your sourdough in the fridge! This slows down the fermentation time considerably and allows you to feed your sourdough only once every week or two. Due to the length of time between feeds, the refrigerated starter will likely have hooch forming on the top, this is totally fine, stir it in and feed as required.

If keeping your starter in the fridge, simply remove it from the fridge, stir and feed, and rest for 12-24 hours before baking.