Cookbook:Rye Bread

| Cuisine of Denmark | Breakfast

Rye bread (Danish: rugbrød) is a type of bread common to Northern Europe in many varieties, but almost unknown in the south. This version is a typical Danish example. In Denmark, most people eat this type of bread on a daily basis.

Ingredients

 * 1500 g rye flour
 * 1000 g cracked rye seeds
 * 5 tsp salt
 * About 2 L water
 * 300 ml sourdough starter

Procedure

 * 1) Mix the salt with the rye flour in a big bowl.
 * 2) Add 1.8 L of the water and mix it.
 * 3) Mix in the sourdough starter. The result should be wet enough to flow very slowly.
 * 4) Cover it with a cloth and let it rise for at 12–30 hours as convenient. Then add the cracked rye seeds.
 * 5) If the resulting dough feels dry, add a bit of water. The result should be just dry enough to retain an approximate shape, but no drier.
 * 6) Take out 300 ml of dough to act as the starter next time you make this recipe.
 * 7) Butter 3 bread forms and put the dough into it, forcing it into all corners with a spoon. Then using a fork, make deep holes as close as you can all over the bread.
 * 8) Let it rise for 5–10 hours, and then bake it for about 90 minutes at about 180°C.
 * 9) Let the bread cool for 15 minutes, and then tip them out to cool further on a table.
 * 10) The loaves can keep for about a week in a plastic bag. Do not refrigerate.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * The bread is very difficult to cut for 2 hours or so after baking. Allow to cool before slicing.