Experiments with 100% Rye Sourdough

It's been a year since I started on a journey of sorting out what was causing my GI issues and healing my gut. In that time I have been on a few elimination diets while trying to sort out food sensitivities, and am now slowly adding foods back in and assessing their impact on my health.

One thing I have learned; certain foods are tolerated in only small to moderate amounts; wheat is one of them. Fortunately rye and rice have been well tolerated and so they have been my go to grains. But I miss bread, and the simplicity of throwing together a sandwich when I am on the go.

Our family has baked bread for decades, and in the past 10-15 years have been exclusively using sourdough starter for baking. Since that starter was wheat based I went on a search for a 100% rye sourdough starter. I found some hints in my old, battered Tassajara Bread Book, then went looking on the internet and found this gem of a resource: 100% Rye.

I downloaded the book, printed it out (because I am old-school that way when cooking) and waited patiently for my sourdough starter to be ready to use.

Birth of my starter one week ago:

Rye flour, water, a bit of honey and 1 Tbsp yeast to get this rolling

A couple of hours later I had to stir it down several times to keep it from overflowing the bowl

Once the starter had settled down (it went crazy for a few hours and I was wondering if I was going to have to stay up all night to keep an eye on it) it just needed stirring once a day until it had matured. 

Yesterday I deemed it ready for use and readied to feed it. This meant discarding all but 1/2 cup of the starter and feeding that with 1 cup rye flour and 1 cup water. Within a short period of time it more then doubled and actually started overflowing the quart jar I had it in. 

I had covered it with paper towel to keep fruit flies out

Still "doubling"

Eventually at least 1/2 cup of starter had spilled over the sides of the jar

Happy, healthy sourdough starter

By the time I got ready to make the initial batter for the dough the starter had subsided and I realized I did not have the 2 cups necessary for the dough as well as a 1/2 cup to set aside for future bakings. So I put the starter back in my biggest bowl, fed it again (twice as much flour and water as starter) and set it aside to double. Which it did quite nicely in about 8 hours. 

I needed 2 cups of starter for my bread (No-Knead Sourdough Loaf) so had more then plenty for the dough and a cup to set aside for future bakings. What to do with the remainder, besides discard it? The 100% Rye cookbook came to the rescue and I made up the Sourdough Clafoutis recipe, adding cranberries along with the apples and omitting cinnamon (one of the foods/spices that is a no-go for me). 

Delicious! And a great breakfast. I easily polished off 1/2 of this 8" x 8" pan. Very light and fluffy and I think would pass muster even with those who can eat wheat.

I am waiting for my dough to double and will then bake up some rye sourdough loaves for daily use. I am excited to see how they turn out in light of how vibrant the starter has been.

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On (and off) the Knitting Needles:

Sweater for my grandson G. I had started it prior to a visit in June but was unable to finish it while there, so had to ship it. Apparently it is a big hit, and arrived in time for their first snow. 

The Sawtooth/Wild Duluth version of my Runner's Hat. The main color is Autumn on the Shore. It perfectly represents fall in northern Minnesota. Sadly the contrasting color, while it stands out nicely in the brim, is a bit harder to pick out in the main body of the hat due to the variegated yarn. Still, the recipient is quite happy with it. 

A quartet of Duluth Dishy cloths to thank my crew and pacers for their help at this years Superior 100.

After knitting up a bunch of cloths that took attention to detail it was time for a nice soothing basic hat. Knit with yarn dyed by a local from Great Falls, Montana. It has still to decide who it belongs to. 

Next up: baby knitting!! Three people that I know are all due in April. So it is time to get to work. First on the needles will be a Tomten Sweater. This is one of my favorite sweaters to knit and I think it is quite dashing on babies and toddlers. Bonus - garter stitch is adaptable and tends to "grow" with the user, making the sweater last awhile. 

I polled the recipient's parents-to-be and came away with the following favorite colors: blues, greens, greys. With that in mind I went shopping for yarn and found a lovely wool/mohair blend in a color-way called Kamchatka Sea Moss. 

It is a brighter green then this photo indicates

and a bit greener then this photo indicates

In a few days of concentrated knitting, including a concert last night, I have already reached the hood.  I am beginning to think about fastening methods (zipper vs buttons) as I have a stretch goal of completing this in the next two weeks and, if I decide I need a zipper, the search for one will likely take almost all of that time (limited sources for notions in my hometown).