Whole-grain sourdough bread "Rudi"

Since we just had a big food scandal in the bakery chain "Müller Brot " here in Bavaria, I'm very happy once more to be able to bake my bread by myself, well knowing exactly what goes into it - which is a surprisingly small number of ingredients! The recipe for this whole-grain rye bread was perfectioned by my sister and based on the bread that our grandmother used to bake with sourdough.  We called the newly created sourdough "Rudi" like our granddad, as  sourdoughs are usually considered male. I've learned to bake it and have managed not to forget to keep back some of the sourdough back for the next bread, because that would be the end of the Rudi dynasty!

For 1 Bread (ca. 2 kg):

1 TBSP sourdough
250 g whole-grain flour, rye

250 g water

700 g whole-grain flour, rye
300 g whole-grain flour, spelt (or wheat)
625 g water
25 g salt
if the sourdough is new and not very strong: 1 pck. yeast powder
2 TBSL olive oil
flour for the topping

Tools:

big sieve or dish
clean dish towel

Preparation: 

Mix the sourdough with rye flour and water to a smooth, rather firm dough.
Leave to rise over night, bubbles should form and a nicely sour scent should develop.

IMPORTANT: Take 1-2 TBSP of the mixture and put it into a glas with screw-on lid which you store in the fridge until you want to bake the next bread!

Put the sourdough mixture, the flours, water, salt, and, if applicable, the yeast into a dish and knead. It works best in a kitchen aid or food processor, as the dough is sticky and tough.

Knead the dough into a ball and coat it with olive oil, set in a dish covered in plastic foil and set to rise for 2-3 hours.

Knead the dough through, form a ball such that the surface is smooth and the folds are all on one side. Set the dish towel into the sieve and sprinkle it with flour.

Set the dough into the sieve, folds pointing upward, and cover it with the towel, let it rest for 30 minutes and start to preheat the oven to 230°C.

Set the bread on a baking tray, bake for 20 minutes each at 230, 200 and 180°C.
The bread is done once it sounds hollow when knocking on its under side!

Let the bread cool, cut it in 4 equal pieces and freeze 3 of them in a plastic bag. They can be easily unfrozen by setting them out for some hours, and the bread will be nicely fresh.

Cut the last quarter in slices and enjoy with butter...

And these are some pictures of possible decorations that you can carve into the bread before baking, e.g., for Christmas-style bread and other creative outlets...