Opa's Rye Bread

Rev 1.15, last revised:  05-May-07

This recipe makes one medium/small (~650gm), sourdough, Jewish-style, rye loaf (picture).  Double it, or more, to make larger loaves.  This loaf has become one of our favorites.  It has a thin but delightful crust, a great crunch from the cornmeal and extra seeds on top, and is fragrant almost to a fault.  It's the perfect bread to use if you want to make The Perfect Rueben Sandwich.

Starting the sponge (the night before):

Mix the rye flour and water into a thin paste.  Inoculate (seed) this mixture with well stirred sourdough culture.  Cover and let it ferment for 8-12 hours at 70-75F; longer if it's cooler.

Making the Dough (the next morning):

Combine the flour (less the tuning reserve), the salt, and the Caraway seeds.  Stir with a whisk or spoon to blend.  Add to the sponge created in the previous step, mix well.  Work in the remaining bread flour a little at a time, until the dough just doesn't stick to everything in sight.  Cover and let it rest for 15 - 30 minutes.

Pour out onto a floured surface and use either the Stretch&Fold or the Flatten&Fold technique.
[NB: I no longer use a mixer, so I've removed the mixer details.  If you simply must use a mixer, you're on your own to work out the mixing details (basically, just mix it for a few minutes).  I've found that the "machine-less" techniques produce excellent results!]

Finally, form into the loaf shape you desire, and put on a COLD sheet sprinkled with a bit of cornmeal.  Cover to protect against drying (or mist--which is what I do) and let rise until it's at least doubled (I usually wait for a triple).

Beat egg-white & water, to make glaze.  Gently brush onto loaf; sprinkle seeds and/or cornmeal over top, and coupe (slash).  [For seeds:  caraway, cornmeal, anise, poppy, sesame, sunflower; your choice!]

** NB: Over the years I started to add another seed.  Unfortunately, I transferred the seeds to a bag and managed to lose the label.  Seed toppings like these can go by many names; some regional, some conventional, and some simply incorrectly noted. 

IIRC; these seeds were known as: Chernushka (in Russian) or onion seeds.  They're also variously known as: Black Cumin (although they're not from the Cumin family), Black Caraway (although they're not from the Caraway family).  MY best guess is that they're Nigella sativa, also known as Kalaunji in India.  In any event, I use them on my rye bread as well.  Of course, YMMV...

Turn oven to 'ON', set to 400F for 30-40 min or so.

As with most rye breads, this is both better and easier to slice, the second day than the first.  And, as my dear sister is about to find out, a hoot to make!

Pictures: loaf; inside.  These were made from double this recipe.