My recipe will make 2 loaves of bread, as written here. You can use 2 loaf pans, 2 dutch ovens or clay bakers, or one of each. If you only want 1 loaf of bread, you'll need to cut all the ingredients in half, but you'll stil need 2 mixing bowls - one for each type of bread.

As with all of Glenda's recipes, you can mix and bake all in 1 day, or mix 1 day, refrigerate, then bake the next. Instructions will reflect both options!

The Day Before - Prepare your starter:

To prepare for making this much bread, you'll need to mix up a large amount of starter, so that it will equal about 3-4C total, when stirred down. Hopefully you have around 1-2 cups of active starter in a jar. If you keep your starter small, you'll need to start at least 24 hours before you want to mix the dough.

The morning before you want to mix:

• Feed your small (1T-4oz) starter with 1/2C mixed white & wheat flour and about 1/3C water. The consistency should be thicker than pancake batter. Somewhat stiff but stirable. If you already have a 1C or larger starter, just feed and/or discard like you usually do in the morning. If your starter has been kept in the fridge (but it's not too old or half dead) bring it out now, feed and leave it at room temp.

The evening before you want to mix:

• You should have 1/2-3/4C (or more) of starter. Divide your starter into 2 jars (1qt. each) or pour into a medium mixing bowl. Feed each jar 3/4C mixed flour and somewhat less water to keep the consistency, or feed the starter in the bowl 1.5C mixed flour and the right amount of water.

Dough Day - Mix both doughs:

You should now have around 3-4C of starter AFTER you've stirred it down. Somehow I never have quite enough, and it's always fine. I've gotten away with just 1C for each loaf and the bread has turned out just fine. It's perfectly fine to take *all* your starter, as long as you leave a good amount stuck to your jar sides. Just 1T is all you need to refresh your starter after you take most of it!

• Place all ingredients for each dough in the 2 separate bowls. Glenda's instructions say to wait and add the salt with the first set of folds, and that is a very traditional step for all types of sourdough. However, lots of people have done side-by-side testing, adding the salt at the beginning, and have found very little difference. I add mine all at once and it turns out fine, but feel free to ad with the first fold if you prefer. Stir with the dough whisk or wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated.

• You may need to adjust your water amounts, based on your local humidity. The dough should be rough and leave sticky on your hands, but will hold together in a ball and mostly clean the sides of the bowl when stirred. The pumpernickel will feel heavier, because of the darker rye, and less wheat flour.

• Follow Glenda's overall instructions for making no-knead breads, and refer to her instructions if you don't know about folding. Here's your schedule:

  • Mix, rest an hour

  • Folds #1, rest 1 hr

  • Folds #2, rest 1 hr

  • Folds #3, rest 1 hr

  • Folds #4, rest 3 hours or overnight

• If you plan to bake tomorrow, cover your sourdough containers and place them in the fridge. They will be fine for 24-48 hours, and you need to chill a minimum of 8 hours to ensure that the sourdough has time to fully sour the dough.

• If you plan to bake today, set a timer for 2.5 hours. Keep the dough loosely covered.

Baking Day:

Prepare your pans:

I use Crisco on my stoneware. There, I said it. I keep a small container of Crisco in my house for 2 uses - greasing stoneware and greasing cast-iron to make cornbread. Yes, I know it's soybean oil. It's also the #1 best product for keeping dough from sticking to the pan! Butter has too high of a liquid content, and liquid oils will soak into the dough before it starts to sizzle. I find that this damp dough sticks to parchment paper in stoneware (this doesn't happen when you lower into a hot dutch oven or clay baker). Crisco will make a crispy crust and the bread will pop straight out of the pan, or it could need just a little coaxing. Lard would probably work the same way, since it's a solid fat with no liquids or milk solids in it. If you're unsure, try it both ways and see which you prefer.

I take a small folded paper towel and wipe about 1T Crisco over the whole inner surface of each pan.

If you'll be using 2 dutch ovens with lids, or 2 clay bakers with lids, place them in the oven to pre-heat.

Heat The Oven and Swirl The Bread:

For stoneware loaf pans, heat the oven to 375 (keep the loaf pans on the counter, don't heat them)

For dutch oven or baker, heat the pans with their lids inside the oven to 425.

• Divide each dough into roughly equal parts. Set 1 of each aside, and work with the other 2. Pat both doughs out into a rectangle, as wide as your loaf pan and around 10ish inches long. Peel up the pumpernickel and lay it on top of the rye LEAVING ABOUT 1-2" of RYE exposed on the end nearest you. This is very important! You don't want a large piece of pumpernickel in the center of your loaf, because it it is heavier and wetter and will be more difficult to cook through. Plus the swirl won't be as noticeable!

• Fold the rye over the end of the pumpernickel, then roll tightly, stretching slightly as you go. Rock the loaf gently back and forth with the seam side down, and you can press in on the ends if it ended up wider than your pan.

• Place the loaf into the greased loaf pan with the seam side down, then repeat for the second loaf.

• If you are using the bakers, place the loaf on parchment paper to prepare to be lowered into the hot baker.

The oven should be allowed to heat for at least 30 minutes, especially for the bakers. When everything is hot, slash the tops of the dough any way you like. I tried a long deep cut and diagonal deep cuts. My long cut made the loaf sag a bit, maybe I went too deep. Experiment until you find a slash pattern you like.

Bake:

For loaf pans, slide into hot oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Because I've had a hard time getting the pumpernickel to bake through, I use a thermometer to temp the center of the bread. If I get 205 degrees, I let it bake for 10 more minutes, just to be on the safe side.

For bakers, carefully remove the hot bakers, lower the dough in by the parchment paper, cover with the hot lids and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the lid, lower the temp to 400, then bake another 10 minutes. Check the temp and bake longer if needed.

Cool:

You must let this bread cool for at least 30 minutes to allow the interior of the bread to slowly drop temp. Over an hour of cooling time is preferable.

Enjoy your fabulous Rye and Pumpernickel Swirl bread!