Rye Sourdough Bread Recipe

This rye sourdough bread combines bread flour and rye flour with molasses and optional caraway seeds. You can use your regular active sourdough starter or prepare the rye levain described below.

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Ingredients

  • 100g active, fed, bubbly sourdough starter
  • 250g bread flour
  • 200g rye flour, light or dark
  • 350g water
  • 25g molasses
  • 10g salt
  • 15g caraway seeds, optional (approximately 2 tablespoons)
  • Rice flour for dusting the work surface and proofing basket

This recipe contains wheat and rye and is not gluten-free. Weigh the ingredients for consistency.

Optional: Build a rye levain

You do not need a rye starter for this loaf. If you would like to prepare a rye levain, mix 20g of your established sourdough starter with 50g warm water and 50g rye flour. Let it become active and roughly double before using it.

This makes 120g levain; use 100g in the dough. Keep your original starter separately so this build does not replace your working culture. For general care, see our starter feeding guide.

1. Mix and hydrate

In a large ceramic or glass bowl, briefly mix the starter, water, and molasses. Add the rye flour, bread flour, and salt, then mix with the end of a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.

Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and rest for approximately 1 hour to let the flour hydrate. The original recipe calls this an autolyse; because this mixture includes starter and salt, it is more precisely a hydration rest.

2. Bring the dough together

Work around the bowl, lifting the outside of the dough and folding it over itself until a rough ball forms. The original recipe suggests approximately 20–25 folds.

Expect the rye dough to feel sticky. Cover and rest for another 30 minutes.

3. Stretch and fold

Over roughly the next 2 hours, perform 4–6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, lift and fold the dough over itself from four sides.

The original instructions mention both 15-minute gaps and spreading the sets over 2 hours. Treat the intervals as approximate, allowing the dough to relax between sets rather than forcing it when it resists stretching.

If using caraway seeds, add them during the second set so the remaining folds distribute them.

4. Bulk ferment

Cover the dough and let it ferment until it is nearly doubled, wobbly, and visibly aerated, with bubbles beneath the surface. Avoid waiting beyond doubling.

Timing depends on your kitchen temperature and starter activity. It may take a few hours in a warm kitchen or much longer in a cool one. Watch the dough rather than the clock.

The original recipe offers reducing the starter to 50g to slow fermentation. This changes the formula and timing, so begin with the listed 100g before experimenting.

5. Shape

Lightly dust your counter with rice flour. Gently ease the dough out with a silicone scraper so the smooth side faces down and the sticky underside faces up.

Shape into a round or oval, building surface tension without unnecessarily pressing out the gas. Transfer to a generously rice-floured banneton, smooth side down and seam-side up.

A suitably sized bowl or basket lined with a well-floured clean towel also works. Rub rice flour into the towel to help prevent sticking. Handle the dough gently and use additional dusting flour only where needed.

6. Cold proof

Cover the shaped dough and refrigerate. The original recipe gives a window of approximately 5–36 hours. Longer is not always better: choose the duration according to your dough's fermentation and refrigerator temperature, checking for overproofing.

7. Preheat and score

Preheat your oven to 450°F (approximately 230°C) with the Dutch oven inside for about 1 hour. Check that the cookware, lid, handles, and parchment are rated for the temperatures you use.

Keep the dough refrigerated until you are ready to bake. Turn it onto a suitably sized piece of parchment, score with a lame or sharp knife, and carefully lower it into the hot pot. The original recipe optionally suggests lightly spritzing the dough with water before covering.

8. Bake and cool

  1. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 450°F (approximately 230°C).
  2. Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 410°F (approximately 210°C), and bake for another 10–15 minutes.
  3. Carefully remove the loaf from the pot and cool on a wire rack.

Allow plenty of cooling time before slicing. The original recipe notes that this moist rye loaf can take up to 12 hours to cool fully. For a softer crust, it offers wrapping the cooling loaf in a clean tea towel.

Notes on flour and baking

Light rye and dark rye can both be used; dark rye gives a more pronounced color and flavor. Rye dough handles differently from an all-wheat dough, so do not expect exactly the same texture or stretch.

The original recipe also suggests resting a loaf in a switched-off oven with the door ajar if concerned about the interior. Treat this only as an optional drying step after baking, not a substitute for ensuring the loaf is baked through.

Starter help and more recipes

If your starter is sluggish, see why a sourdough starter may not rise. Between baking days, follow our starter storage guide.

For an all-bread-flour loaf, try our Classic Sourdough Bread Recipe, or return to all sourdough bread recipes.