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Cereals and bread from Germany

Detmold three-stage rye sourdough (Detmolder Dreistufenführung)Detmolder Dreistufenführung

A ripe rye sourdough is built up in three stages before it goes into the bread dough. Each stage has its own firmness, temperature and time, set to favour yeasts first, then acid and aroma, then a short warm finish. The whole sour ripens in about a day.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Detmold three-stage rye sourdough itself.

DocumentedCereals and bread23 h – 34 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceA Swiss bakery training recipe for a rye-wheat bread: 6,520 g of full sour and about 17 kg of dough in all. Only 180 g of the first stage goes on into the second.
Ripe rye sourdough (Anstellgut)35 gTo start the first stage[pistor2019]
Rye flour for the three stages70 g + 900 g + 2,450 gFirst, second and third stage[pistor2019]
Water for the three stages110 g + 540 g + 2,450 g[pistor2019]
Flour for the bread dough3,600 g rye flour, 3,000 g wheat flour[pistor2019]
Water for the bread dough3,600 g[pistor2019]
Salt200 g[pistor2019]
Baker's yeast100 gAdded to the bread dough in this recipe[pistor2019]
Starterripe rye sourdough (Anstellgut)

Total time across the recorded steps: 23 h – 34 h

Start
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shapes, not to countYeasts25–26 °CSugarAlcoholCO₂

What changes: A soft, mild first stage lets the yeasts multiply

Step 1 of 5
Anfrischsauer (freshening sour)
Time
5–6 h
Reported
Temperature
25–26 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

Output: freshened sour.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
very soft
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

soft, mild conditions favour the yeasts

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A ripe rye sourdough is built up in three stages before it goes into the bread dough. Each stage has its own firmness, temperature and time, set to favour yeasts first, then acid and aroma, then a short warm finish. The whole sour ripens in about a day. Made in 5 steps over 23 h – 34 h. The longest step, grundsauer (basic sour), takes 15–25 h (Wikipedia (de)) and runs at 23–30 °C (Röthlin U. 2019).

Key numbers
Main step15–25 hReported[dewiki][pistor2019]Grundsauer (basic sour)
Temperature23–30 °CReported[pistor2019][dewiki]Grundsauer (basic sour)

What makes this one different

The classic three-stage method needed evening work. The Detmold version was built from the Detmold two-stage method; its sour ripens over 24 to 30 hours, so the evening work falls away. The Detmold one- and two-stage sours have fewer stages, and Wikipedia says they need added baker's yeast.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Classic three-stage (klassische Dreistufenführung)Shorter stages, so the baker must refresh in the evening.
  • Detmold two-stage (Zweistufenführung)No freshening stage; the basic sour can stand over a weekend; baker's yeast is added.
  • Detmold one-stage (Einstufenführung)One sour ripened overnight; yeast must be added.
  • Berliner KurzsauerOne warm, soft, short stage that favours lactic acid; mild bread.
  • SchaumsauerVery soft stages beaten full of air to favour yeast growth; developed in the 1930s and promoted after the Second World War, when bakeries were short of yeast.

Safety

Rye is the cereal most affected by ergot, and the BfR says rye flour, wholemeal rye bread, rye bread and rolls can carry raised ergot alkaloid levels depending on the harvest. For children aged six months to six years, it judged from German monitoring data for 2013 to 2021 that acute health effects are possible with a medium likelihood, especially from rye products. Pistor's guide values for a ripe full sour are pH 3.8–4.0, which is a quality guide and not a safety limit.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

German Wikipedia says the federal institute for cereal, potato and fat research in Detmold (now the Max Rubner-Institut) optimised the three-stage method. A 1998 paper from the institute says a three-stage sour is mainly recommended for breads leavened by the sourdough alone, and reports optimising the Detmold one-stage sour for that use.

  1. [bfr-ergot] BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment), Questions and answers on ergot alkaloids in cereal productsgov
  2. [pistor2019] Röthlin U. 2019, Sauerteig regional & international (training slides; Roggensauerteig Detmolder 3 Stufenführung), Pistor AG (Switzerland)web
  3. [dewiki] Wikipedia (de), Sauerteigführung (Detmolder Dreistufenführung section; the section carries no citation)wiki
  4. [unbehend1998] Unbehend G., Brümmer J.-M. 1998, Lockerung von Roggenmischbroten durch die Detmolder-Einstufen-Sauerteigführung, Getreide Mehl und Brot 52(2):94–102 (abstract, AGRIS)paper
  5. [kirchhoff2001] Kirchhoff E., Schieberle P. 2001, Determination of key aroma compounds in the crumb of a three-stage sourdough rye bread by stable isotope dilution assays and sensory studies, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49:4304–4311 (abstract)paper