Conversion of an all-rye sourdough to 'white' sourdough

[Mette]

Hello,

I bake danish style rye bread (similar to this) about every 2 weeks and I have a good sourdough going for this (called Charlotte for the work colleague who gave it to me - one does get attached to one's sourdough). My sourdough starter is all coarse rye flour.

Here's the question: is it possible, and how do I go about it, to convert a jar of the all-rye starter to a starter that can be used for lighter bread types, pizza etc - the flavour in the rye is very good.

Thanks

[Isabelle Prescott]

To make a lighter starter you need to add white flour to a small portion of you regular rye starter.

I would put 1/4 cup of the rye starter in a jar. Then mix together 1 cup of purified water and 1 cup of white flour. Add this mixture to the 1/4 cup of rye starter and let it sit at room temperature until its nice and bubbly and has increased in volume. I can't estimate how long that will take as I don't know how strong your rye starter is. You will end up with 2 starters, one for rye bread and the other to make pizza dough, white or wheat bread, etc. It might help to give it a name since it will be Charlotte's offspring.

[Mette]

Thanks very much, I shall give it a go