Sonderjysk Rugbrod

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Baking stone or heavy baking sheet
• •Wooden peel or flat board for transferring the loaf
• •Sharp blade or bread lame for scoring
• •Small roasting pan for steam
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Sturdy wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the soaker

   The evening before you bake, combine the cracked rye and flax seeds in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over them, stir well, and cover tightly with a plate or cling film. Leave on the counter overnight, at least twelve hours. The hot water begins breaking down the starches in the cracked rye and softening the grains. Without this step, the finished bread will have hard, gritty pieces that never fully cook through. By morning the soaker will have absorbed all the water and become a thick, sticky porridge. That's exactly right.

   Feed your rye sourdough starter at the same time you make the soaker. By morning both will be ready. The starter should be bubbly, domed, and smell sharp and yeasty.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Scrape the soaker into a very large mixing bowl. Add the rye sourdough starter, the dark rye flour, lukewarm water, salt, malt syrup, and sunflower seeds. Mix everything together with a sturdy wooden spoon or your hands until you have a heavy, sticky, wet mass. This is not a dough you knead. Rye flour has almost no gluten, so kneading does nothing except tire your arms. What rye needs is thorough mixing and time. The mixture should be uniformly dark, with no dry pockets of flour and no streaks of unmixed starter. It will feel like thick, sticky mortar. That is correct.

   Wet your hands before mixing. Rye dough clings to everything, and wet hands let you work without the batter climbing up to your wrists.
3. 3

   The gistning

   Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave it somewhere warm for three to five hours. This is the gistning, the slow sourdough fermentation that gives the bread its flavour and its keeping power. The mixture will not double the way wheat dough does. Rye rises gently. What you're looking for is a slight dome to the surface, a few cracks on top, and a sharper, more sour smell when you lift the cloth. The lactic acid developing during this phase is what keeps the bread fresh for a week on the counter and gives the crumb its characteristic tang. Don't rush this. A longer gistning makes a better bread.

   In a cool kitchen, the gistning may take closer to five or six hours. In a warm one, three is enough. Trust your nose: when the smell shifts from raw flour to something sharp, tangy, and alive, you're ready.
4. 4

   Shape the loaf

   Dust your counter generously with dark rye flour. Wet your hands and scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the floured surface. Dust the top with more rye flour. With wet hands, gather the dough into a tight round or a wide oval, tucking the edges underneath to create surface tension on top. Don't worry about perfection. This is a hearth bread, and the beauty is in its unevenness. The half-round shape is the whole point: more crust relative to crumb than a loaf pan gives you, and that crust is where the deepest flavour concentrates. Transfer the shaped loaf to a baking sheet lined with parchment, or onto a wooden peel dusted with rye flour if you're using a baking stone. Dust the top one final time with rye flour.

   Work quickly. The longer you handle rye dough, the stickier it becomes. Shape it in thirty seconds, not two minutes. Confidence matters more than precision here.
5. 5

   Final rise

   Cover the loaf loosely with a damp cloth and let it rest for forty-five minutes to one hour. The surface will crack slightly as it rises. That is not a problem; that is what you want. The cracks let steam escape during baking and give the finished loaf its rugged, honest appearance. While the loaf rests, heat your oven to 250C with the baking stone inside if you have one. Place a small roasting pan on the bottom shelf. You'll need it for steam.

6. 6

   Score and bake

   With a sharp blade or a lame, make three or four decisive cuts across the top of the loaf, about one centimetre deep. The scoring controls where the bread expands and prevents it from splitting unpredictably. Slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone or place the baking sheet in the oven. Pour a cup of hot water into the roasting pan on the bottom shelf and close the door quickly. The burst of steam keeps the crust flexible during the first fifteen minutes so the loaf can expand fully before the crust sets. Bake at 250C for fifteen minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C and continue baking for one hour. The loaf is done when the crust is deeply browned, firm to the touch, and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom with your knuckles. If the tap sounds dull and heavy, give it ten more minutes.

   Remove the steam pan after the first fifteen minutes. You want a dry oven for the rest of the bake. Dry heat is what builds the thick, crackled crust that makes this bread what it is.
7. 7

   Cool completely

   Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and resist every temptation to cut into it. Rye bread must cool for at least four hours, ideally overnight. This is not impatience talking, it's chemistry. The crumb continues to set as the bread cools, the starches firming and the moisture redistributing evenly through the loaf. If you cut too soon, the interior will be gummy, sticky, and dense in the wrong way. Let it cool. Wrap the finished loaf in a clean linen cloth and store at room temperature. It will keep for a week, improving in flavour for the first two days as the sourness deepens and the crumb firms. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •If you don't have a rye sourdough starter, you can make one in five to seven days. Mix equal parts dark rye flour and water in a jar, feed it daily with the same proportions, and wait for it to become bubbly and sour-smelling. Rye starters are easier to establish than wheat starters because rye flour ferments readily. Once it's active, keep it in the fridge and feed it the night before you bake.
• •Dark malt syrup gives the bread its deep colour and a gentle sweetness that balances the sourdough tang. You can find it at brewing supply shops or Scandinavian food shops. If you can't find malt syrup, a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses mixed with a tablespoon of honey is the closest substitute, though the flavour will be slightly different.
• •Don't skip the baking stone if you own one. The direct contact with a hot stone gives the bottom crust its thickness and its snap. If you don't have a stone, an inverted heavy baking sheet preheated in the oven works nearly as well.
• •When the loaf is three or four days old and the crumb has dried, break it into pieces and simmer it slowly with dark beer and a little sugar to make oellebrod. That is not a consolation prize for stale bread. It is the reason many Sonderjysk bakers made the bread in the first place.

Advance Preparation

• •Feed your rye sourdough starter the evening before baking, at the same time you prepare the soaker. Both need twelve hours overnight.
• •The shaped loaf can be refrigerated overnight before its final rise and baking. Cover it well, bring it to room temperature for an hour, then bake as directed. Cold retarding deepens the sour flavour.
• •The finished loaf keeps for a full week wrapped in linen at room temperature, and the flavour actually improves for the first two days. Slice and freeze for up to three months if you want to keep it longer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)