Reviewed: Apr. 9, 2012

I'm frustrated with the way this recipe is written. It may work wonderfully for an experienced sourdough baker, but to someone new to the process it's not helpful at all. I tried this as the first bread with my new rye starter and, after a complete failure (well, not complete - I turned it into some lovely sourdough rye crackers) I dove in and did more research on sourdough baking. I realize now that what the recipe author intends is for the baker to make a sourdough "sponge" the night before baking. It's too bad the recipe never mentions that word, or I'd have looked into what a sponge was sooner. As directed, I fed my starter the night before but I fed my *whole* starter, not simply taking out a cup then and making a sponge. The steps for doing this are completely unclear for anyone who is unfamiliar with the ins and outs of sourdough breads and really ought to be clarified. NOW, I have a sponge sitting on my counter and will try again the proper way tomorrow. Lesson learned.

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4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

vibrantwanderer

Reviewed: Apr. 16, 2011

Recently a neighbor gave me a cup of 100+sourdough starter! It has worked well so I tried this rye recipe with it. Success! Next time I'll add a 1/2 tsp baking soda to get loaf less flat; mine did not look like picture. Thanks!

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6 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

alittleredhen.com

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Aug. 25, 2010

Really, really yummy! I followed the directions exactly, and used Sourdough Starter II on this site. I got a really nice crust by placing a pan on the bottom of the oven and filling it with boiling water to create steam... left it in for about 10 minutes, then dumped the water. Delicious crust and a soft, chewy bread. Thanks for the recipe!!

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16 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Jessi

Cooking Level: Professional

Home Town: Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2009

Wonderful flavour and texture and it rose perfectly!

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8 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

huxylady

Reviewed: Jun. 14, 2009

The bread had a good flavour but the texture wasn't quite what I am looking for.

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5 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

the4taals

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Reviewed: Feb. 5, 2009

This is a delicious recipe. I was nervous that it doesn't call for any yeast. I almost went ahead and put a teaspoon in, since my sourdough starter is not very mature, but I decided to stick to the rule, for once: make the recipe as-is the first time around. And it turned out great! I did change one thing: I fed the starter with rye flour 24 hours before I started the bread, not just the night before. I make all bread in my food processor, so I just put the starter and the additional flour in my processor, pulsed it a few times until it was mixed, then left it 24 hours. This morning I mixed up the bread, and left it 3 or 4 hours for the initial rise, then 4 or 5 hours for the second rise. I think this was necessary because my sourdough starter is immature. Thanks! Great recipe!

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14 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

michalcrum

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 20, 2008

This was easy to follow and delivered 2 great little loaves of bread. I did vary the recipe a bit. I changed the final cup of bread flour to 1/2 cup of bread flour and 1/2 cup of corn meal. It was a hit at dinner with friends. Nice dense, flavorful, slightly sweet rye. I gave the recipe and starter out as take homes.

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14 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

nanci

Reviewed: Jul. 19, 2007

Question-Are you supposed to add the first ingredients to 1 cup of starter or are you supposed to add the ingredients to your starter and then use 1 cup of it? I did the latter, and the bread turned out okay, but it only made one small loaf.

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17 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Becca

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 25, 2006

I found this recipe unbakeable. My starter works well in other recipes, so I did not expect any trouble. However, the first rise was minimal, I had to knead in an additional cup of flour so the dough didn't stick to the counter, there was nothing to punch down, and after letting rise for more than four hours I was still left with a lifeless slab of ingredients. Won't make this again!

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4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Kaiote

Reviewed: Apr. 24, 2006

I found it dry, sharp sour with no sweet to overcome my 3yr. Sour dough starter. I did put onion in place of caraway. I cooked it 35 min. in 350 oven and it was over done. I will look for another recipe because my wife loves rye bread but I need to at least get close to what she buys to make it for her.

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4 users found this review helpful