Crusty Rye Bread
A super easy, no knead, healthy crusty rye bread, packed with fibre and full of flavour.
My favourite food to eat in the Czech Republic was their amazing range of sausages accompanied by a piece of Rye bread slathered with mustard. It was also commonly served toasted with a wide range of salad toppings available. Or simply smeared with butter or lard when it’s fresh.
Crusty Rye Bread
Ingredients
2 cups of Rye flour.
2 cups of Bakers flour.
2 1/2 tsp yeast.
1 1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt.
2 cups of tepid filtered water.
1 tsp caraway seeds.
Instructions
- Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.
- Pour water into the mix and stir until combined, the mix should be sticky but not sloppy.
- Cover with cling film and leave to rest overnight (if it’s warm where you are you could leave it for around 6-8 hours).
- Preheat your oven at 230 C with a dutch oven inside.
- While oven is heating, pull out a large chopping block and dust with flour. Tip out your rested dough, it should look nice and bubbly and easily doubled in size. Gently fold the edges into the centre, either with your hands or a dough scraper, shaping into a nice round ball.
- Turn your ball over so that the smooth side is facing up, spray the top lightly with water and sprinkle some more caraway over the top. Try not to spray water onto the base of your chopping board, so that it does not stick as it rises.
- Cover your dough by placing the bowl it was in over the top, and rest for 30 mins while the oven warms up.
- When the oven is ready bring your chopping block closer to the oven, open the oven and lift out your pot, remove the lid, gently lift up your dough and drop it into the pot, replace the lid and put the pot back into the oven. Cook for 40 mins.
- Uncover and cook for a further 10-15 mins.
- Remove from pot and cool on a wire rack. The base should be hollow when taped. It’s important to let it rest at least 30mins, an hour is better, otherwise it could still be gluey inside when you cut.
Notes.
You could use 3 cups of Bakers flour and 1 cup of Rye if you want it lighter, alternatively you could make it heavier by adding more Rye.
Getting the dough into the pot can take time to master, don’t worry too much if it doesn’t fall in perfectly, it tends to sort itself out ok.
Go ahead and make 2 loaves! They freeze really well, just slice it before freezing.