Rye Bread

Steps

1. 1
   Step 1:

   Tip the rye flour, strong white bread flour, yeast, and salt into a bowl.

2. 2
   Step 2:

   In a jug, mix the honey with 250ml warm water.

3. 3
   Step 3:

   Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix to form a dough.

4. 4
   Step 4:

   If the dough looks too dry, add more warm water until you have a soft dough; rye flour can be quite dry and absorbs lots of water.

5. 5
   Step 5:

   Tip the dough onto your work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Rye contains less gluten than white flour, so the dough will not feel as springy as a conventional white loaf.

   10 min
6. 6
   Step 6:

   Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with cling film, and leave to rise in a warm place for 1–2 hours, or until roughly doubled in size.

   1–2 h
7. 7
   Step 7:

   Dust a 2lb/900g loaf tin with flour.

8. 8
   Step 8:

   Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles.

9. 9
   Step 9:

   If using caraway seeds, work them into the dough.

10. 10
    Step 10:

    Shape the dough into a smooth oval loaf and put it into the tin.

11. 11
    Step 11:

    Cover the tin with oiled cling film and leave to rise somewhere warm for a further 1–1.5 hours, or until doubled in size.

    5 h
12. 12
    Step 12:

    Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

13. 13
    Step 13:

    Remove the cling film and dust the surface of the loaf with rye flour.

14. 14
    Step 14:

    Slash a few angled incisions in the loaf, then bake for 30 minutes until dark brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.

    30 min
15. 15
    Step 15:

    Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

    20 min