"Pierre Nury's" Light Rye Sourdough

I've now made this bread four times, although one of those times was a failure because the sourdough starter wasn't active enough to make the dough rise properly.  Also from Leader's Local Breads.  It's not the prettiest loaf - call it rustic - but it tastes great and is really versatile.  With almost 10% rye and that sourdough punch, it's got plenty of flavor to eat on its own and its great with butter or jam.  I've also used it for sandwiches and it tastes really good with cheese.  The crust is awesome and the crumb is chewy and open.  I pretty much have the recipe memorized:

125 g firm sourdough starter (though I've used a wetter starter with slightly more mass to good effect)

400 g water

450 g bread flour (high gluten recommended - I've done a blend with as little as 20% high gluten)

50 g rye flour

15 g salt (1.5 tsp)

The most recent batch was made with my new kitchenaid 6 qt stand mixer, pictured mixing the water and flour below.

It's actually a pretty easy bread to make by hand too, even though the dough is very wet.  You mix the rye and bread flour with the water till it forms a rough dough.

After allowing the flour to absorb all the water and the gluten to develop on its own for 20 minutes, add the starter and the salt and mix for 15-18 minutes.  I've done this with a wooden spoon, and it's easier than kneading.  You want the gluten to be well-developed but I didn't actually subject the dough to a window-pane test each time and it turned out fine.

Now put the dough in a lightly oil container or mist it with cooking spray.  Allow the dough to rise for an hour, it won't rise much.  Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and turn it once; that is, pull one end of the dough over onto the center, then repeat for the other end.  After this is done, return the dough to it's container.  After another hour, it will have risen a bit more - repeat the turning operation and return the dough to the container.  Let it rise for up to about 2 hours.  It should double, but it didn't really the last time I did the recipe and it ultimately rose properly, so I guess it depends on how active the starter.

After this, retard the dough in a refrigerator for 12-24 hours.  Take it back out about 2 hours before baking.

It bakes at 450 degrees for about 35 minutes.  Make sure to steam up the oven at the beginning and of course a stone is highly preferable.

Here's a good batch - they kind of take the shape they want, although I am also constrained by the size of my baking stone which can lead to some extra contortion.

An earlier batch - guess which was made with the mixer.