French rye bread with caraway seeds

Recipe can be found @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen

What you need

For salted rye sour

Rye flour: 26 g

Rye flour sourdough: 15g

Salt: 1/8 teaspoon

Water: 26g

For sponge

Very warm water (105 to 115 F): 28.5 g / 1/8 cup

Active dry yeast: 1/3 teaspoon

Rye flour: 65g / ½ cup

Cool water (75 to 85F): 39g/ half of 1/3 cup

Rye salt sour starter: 34g/ 1/8 cup

Dough

Very warm water (105 to 115F): 28.5g/ 1/8 cup

Active dry yeast: 1 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon

Cool water (75 to 85F): 161g/ ½ cup plus half of 1/3 cup + 1 ¼ tablespoons

Rye flour: 150g/1 cup + half of 1/3 cup

Unbleached bread flour: 159g/3/4 cup

Salt: 1 ¼ teaspoon

Caraway seeds: 4 g/ 1 ½ teaspoon

Olive oil : 1 teaspoons

Cornmeal for sprinkling baking sheet

How I made

Day before baking

In a small container combine rye flour, water, active sourdough and salt, stir together to mix everything and set aside for 7 hours at room temperature.

Then with this above starter , a refreshment is done with 30 g/ 1 ounce/ 1 tablespoon of starter and set aside for 5-7 hours in room temperature or refrigerate it until you are ready to make your dough within 24 hours.

On the baking day

To make sponge combine very warm water and yeast in a measuring cup and stir to dissolve the yeast stir with fork to dissolve yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl combine all ingredients for the sponge, including yeast mixture and mix them very well and cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour. (Don’t let to sit for longer than 1 hour as the sponge become sour).

To make the dough about 5 minutes before the sponge is ready combine very warm water with and yeast in a medium mixing bowl and stir with fork to dissolve the yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes.

In a bowl of kitchen aid stand mixer combine, prepared sponge, yeast mixture, cool water, rye flour, bread flour, half of caraway seeds and salt together form a shaggy mass of dough and let it rest for 20 minutes for autolyse.

Knead the dough again for about 5-6 minutes in medium speed form sticky but supple dough.

Shape the dough loose ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes or until the dough has little holes and bubbles developing in the dough. When it is ready it will still feel heavy, but you will able to see that it is raised enough.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle cornmeal generously and set aside.

Gently remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough to free standing loaf. Mist the top of loaf with oil and sprinkle the rest of caraway seeds. Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover the loaf with oiled plastic wrap and allow them to rise for about 45 minutes or they will expand slightly but not double. (if crack develop in the dough bake it right away as it is sitting too long and tangier).

Place the baking sheet in the oven. Keep an empty broiler pan in the lower rack of oven. Add boiling hot water into the broiler pan when you are ready to bake the bread. (This will create steam, necessary to make the thick crust).

When ready to bake sprinkle with rye flour and make 4-5 shallow cut across the loaf not to deflate them. Using plastic spray bottle, mist the loaf for about 6 to 8 times. Then quickly shut the oven door.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate pan and reduce the oven temperature to 400 F bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer until the loaf are rich reddish brown and sound slightly hollow when removed from the pan and tapped on the bottom.

Transfer the loaf to cooling rack and allow cooling completely before slicing.

Enjoy as much as you wish.