Rye bread

Method

• step 1

  Tip the ingredients into a bowl with 350g of tepid water. Bring together with your hands into a sticky dough, then tip onto a worksurface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will seem sticky but should pull away from the worksurface, so keep on kneading and eventually it will become tighter – there is less gluten in rye, so it will never be as elastic as white dough. Tip the dough back into the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere fairly warm for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

• step 2

  Tip the dough back onto the worksurface and knead a few more times to knock out some of the air, then mould into a tight round and sit on a square of baking paper. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave again for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. Alternatively, leave to rise in the fridge overnight.

• step 3

  For the best results, heat the oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9 with a round casserole inside. Dust the loaf with a shake of rye flour, if you like, and slash a few times with a sharp knife. Use the paper to lift it into the heated dish, then bake for 20 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and bake for 20 minutes more until the loaf has browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Alternatively, heat a tray in the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 then dust, slash and bake the loaf for 30-40 minutes or until browned and sounding hollow when tapped. Cool completely before slicing.