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A hearty, dark sourdough rye — dense, deeply flavoured and faintly malty, with a thin crisp crust and a moist, close crumb that's made for cheese, smoked fish or just good butter. Rye behaves nothing like wheat: there's little gluten, so it's sticky rather than stretchy, and it ferments fast. The trick is to work it wet, bake it in a tin, and — this matters — leave it a full day before you cut it.
Ingredients
- 250g Shipton Mill wholemeal rye flour
- 250g Shipton Mill strong white flour
- 350g water (70% hydration)
- 100g active starter (a rye-fed starter is ideal, but white is fine)
- 10g fine salt
- 2 tsp caraway seeds (optional, but classic)
- 1 tbsp black treacle or molasses (for colour & a malty depth)
Method
- Mix: Whisk the starter, treacle and water together, then add both flours, the salt and caraway. Mix to a thick, sticky, porridge-like dough with a wet spoon or hand — there's no kneading with rye, you're just combining it well.
- Bulk ferment: Cover and leave at room temperature until visibly risen and bubbling — rye moves quickly, so this is often just 2–3 hours in my 22–23°C kitchen. Don't let it overshoot; rye doesn't have the structure to recover.
- Shape (wet): Wet your hands and a spatula and scrape the sticky dough into a greased and lightly floured loaf tin, smoothing the top with a wet hand. It won't hold a free-form shape — the tin does the work.
- Proof: Dust the top with rye flour and leave until the surface is domed and small cracks just begin to appear — about 1–2 hours. Those cracks are your sign it's ready.
- Bake: Into a hot oven at 230°C. Bake 15 minutes, then drop to 200°C for a further 35–40 minutes, until the crust is dark and the internal temperature reads ~98°C.
- Rest — don't rush it: Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out. Now wrap it in a tea towel and leave it a full 24 hours before slicing. Rye crumb is gummy and unfinished when warm; that overnight rest is when it sets into a proper, sliceable loaf.
Tip: A rye loaf keeps beautifully for the better part of a week, wrapped in a cloth or paper — it actually improves on day two. The caraway is traditional, but a tablespoon of toasted fennel or a handful of cracked rye is lovely too.
That depth of flavour starts with a lively culture. Our San Francisco sourdough starter is live, and ready to bake in 2 hours.
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