Sourdough NY Deli Rye Bread

Mixing and Bulk Fermentation

Thoroughly mix the dough ingredients in a bowl, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a floured workspace and knead for 5 minutes or do several rounds of stretching and folding in the bowl, separated by 20-30 minutes.

Let the dough rise until it has expanded by 75% (see photo gallery below). This took my dough 4-5 hours on the Raisenne dough riser at 80-85F. Expect longer rising time at lower dough/ambient temperatures.

Shaping and Final Proof

Scrape the dough out of your bowl or bucket onto a floured work surface and shape it to suit the form of your proofing basket and baking vessel. If your dough is lacking tension (not holding its shape), feel free to do a pre-shape and 15 minute bench rest to strengthen it before the final shaping.

Place the dough seam-side up in a floured proofing basket. Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature for 20-40 minutes, then refrigerate overnight (8-16 hours). If your dough is warm like mine, you may want to refrigerate immediately; and if it is cold, you may want to refrigerate the basket after closer to 1 hour. You can also bake the dough the same day if you proof for 1-2 hours at room temperature. And you have the option to place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes to stiffen it during some of the oven preheat.

Baking

About 30 minutes before the end of the final proof, begin preheating your baking vessel and oven to 500F.

Flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper. Brush off excess flour on the dough, then brush on the egg white (or starch glaze described in the notes), sprinkle with caraway seeds, and score lines or any other pattern you like.

Place the dough in your preheated baking vessel, cover and return the vessel to the oven. Immediately lower the oven heat to 450F.

If your baking vessel is a ceramic cloche, bake at:

450°F for 30 minutes, lid on

450°F for 10 minutes, bread out of the baking vessel, for even browning

If your baking vessel is cast iron, bake at:

450°F for 30 minutes, lid on. At the 15-minute mark, place a baking sheet directly under the cast iron on the same shelf. This will prevent the base of the bread from burning.

450°F for 10 minutes, lid off. Keep the bread in the vessel on the sheet to prevent the base from burning.

When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature over 205F and it should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.

Let the bread cool for at least a couple of hours before you slice it.