Home leaven for rye bread

Bread is one of the oldest cooked products. It can be made by baking or frying dough. Its main ingredients are flour and water, and additional - yeast, baking powder, sugar, salt. Yeast dough for bread has been used for more than one century, although initially the basis of bread was precisely leaven. Ancient Egypt is considered to be the country where bread from yeast dough was first baked.
Today, such bread has become the most widespread in the whole world. First, yeast production began in the USA. Here the baking speed was of particular importance. After all, this was based on profit. And in Europe, on the contrary, yeast has not been used for a long time. They preferred the ancient recipe for bread, for it rye leaven was used. But as a result of the pursuit of easier recipes and the speed of bread production, yeast has taken root in its application here. After yeast dough is easier to knead, it does not require additional efforts in cooking. But some cooks, who genuinely appreciate the true taste of real home-made bread, prefer it to leaven, and not to yeast.
Fermented bacteria are the basis of the ferment. The result of their vital activity is the development of the sour-milk environment, which is so necessary for leaven. Sour-milk bacteria live continuously in the air. Therefore, the leaven is prepared from rye flour, and in combination with water and air, the desired result is achieved. Although earlier, many centuries ago, bread was soaked in water or milk to produce sour-milk, as well as acetic acid bacteria, which was the initial stage in the preparation of leaven. Today this is called natural fermentation. But this method is not used in industrial production because of slow processes. But leaven has more advantages due to the fact that it can be used many times and for a long time.

Yeast is also involved in the preparation of leaven. They come here with air and flour. But their participation in the process is insignificant. After the yeast was found, many people stopped using the leaven. Therefore, now we are unaccustomed to feel the sour taste of bread. Rye bread, prepared on leaven, does not have a classic "yeast" smell. The leaven for rye bread allows you to store it for a long time. This can not be said of his rich fellow. Rye starter does not cause difficulties in cooking, but takes a little longer than the yeast opara. It is used now only for making bread at home. Proponents of healthy eating are very appreciative of it.
The sourdough for rye bread consists of the following ingredients:
- Rye flour;
- fermented milk product with bacteria (kefir or yogurt);
Water.
Mix 100 gr. Rye flour together with 100 ml of warm water. Stir well and cover with a towel. This mixture should be infused for 24-48 hours at 21-25 degrees indoors. The higher the temperature, the less time it will take.

The leaven for rye bread should increase slightly in volume and "play".
Then you need to add 100 ml of the same fermented milk product every day along with the addition of 100 gr of rye flour. Do this operation for three days. But if the house is cold, you can "feed" the leaven again. Now you can bake bread.
The starter for rye bread, if necessary, is stored in a glass jar with a tightly closed lid in the refrigerator or in the cellar. It must be "fed" with the composition described above once a week and certainly before baking bread, then it will always be at hand at the right time, ready for use. Due to the constant renewal of the composition, the shelf life of the starter will be practically unlimited.