Recipes
Dark Wholegrain Rye Bread

Dark Wholegrain Rye Bread

Name: Dark Wholegrain Rye Bread
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients: 400 g wholemeal rye flour; 200 g rye flour; 150 g rye sourdough starters; 1 packet dried yeast; 450 ml water; 2 teaspoons salt; 60 g sunflower seeds; 40 g flaxseeds

Eduard LáskaBakeryGerman Cuisine x se líbilo

This dark rye bread follows the German Vollkornbrot tradition, rising slowly from a starter into a dense, moist crumb that stays fresh for almost a whole week. The dough relies only on rye and wholegrain flour, sunflower and flax seeds, and a little patience. We bake it in a loaf pan, so you need no baking acrobatics and no proofing basket. The result is a loaf with a dark crust and a deep grainy aroma, just like the ones from German bakeries.

Příprava: 40min

Vaření: 1h

CELKOVÝ ČAS: 1h 40min

Step by step process

Mixing and proofing

1
Rye bread starts in a bowl. Pour in the wholegrain rye flour, the rye flour and the dry yeast, then add the rye starter, salt and lukewarm water. Using a wooden spoon, bring everything together into a sticky, dense dough. Do not knead rye dough the way you would wheat dough, just mix it thoroughly until no dry flour is left in the bowl.
TIP:
Rye dough is naturally stickier than wheat dough, this is normal, not an error. Don't add unnecessary flour. Instead, work with a scraper or wet hands to keep the dough soft and airy.
2
Set aside part of the sunflower and flax seeds for topping. Stir the rest straight into the dough, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm spot. This takes about two hours, until the dough has visibly grown and small bubbles appear on the surface.
3
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. With dampened fingers, spread the dough evenly inside and smooth the top so it bakes nicely. Sprinkle with the reserved seeds, cover and let it proof in a warm place for one more hour.

Baking and cooling

4
Heat the oven to 230 °C and place an empty tray on the bottom. Slide the loaf pan into the middle. Carefully pour a little hot water onto the hot tray so steam forms in the oven, which helps the bread rise and builds the crust. Bake for ten minutes, then lower the temperature to 200 °C.
5
Continue baking for about fifty more minutes. The bread is done when it has a dark crust and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. Turn the finished loaf out of the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack, ideally overnight, so the crumb settles and slices into thin pieces.
TIP:
Tap the bottom of the bread with the back of a knife. A hollow sound means the bread is done. A dull sound indicates the internal structure is not yet ready, bake for another 5-10 minutes.