Rye sandwich bread

Sliced sandwich loaf is one of the easiest breads to make, and today Miriam (El Invitado de Invierno) brings us one with rye, perfect to enjoy at breakfast in a healthy and delicious way. Will you dare to try it?

Today we have a lot of information available to achieve making good bread at home, it’s all a matter of getting started and being a bit studious, because it’s not one of humanity’s great mysteries. And among homemade breads, sandwich loaves are the easiest to make because they don’t require a perfect shaping; the pan already gives them their form.

This rye sandwich loaf uses only a portion of rye flour, while the rest is wheat, because although 100% rye breads have a unique flavor, many never get used to the very dense crumb of a true rye bread, not what many shops pass off as rye. However, even with this small proportion the flavor that rye contributes is magnificent.

For this sandwich loaf I used a Kitchen Craft perforated loaf tin (the 21cm one is perfect for the proportions I give), which in addition to being non-stick makes it possible for the crust to become crispier by increasing the bread’s contact with the hot oven air through the little holes. A real success.

Kitchen Craft perforated loaf tin (21cm), Bra Magna coffee maker, MastarClass round cutting and serving board and Textured Design plates

Ingredients

Preferment

• 100gr whole rye flour
• 100gr water
• 1gr dry baker’s yeast

Final dough

• All the preferment
• 400gr strong bread flour
• 100gr whole rye flour
• 10gr salt
• 300gr water
• 1 tbsp sugar or honey or sweetener
• A good handful of walnuts (optional)
• Oat flakes or nuts for decoration

Method

1. The night before in a bowl we mix the preferment ingredients. Cover and let ferment overnight at room temperature. This long fermentation helps develop the bread’s flavors.
2. The next day we mix the preferment with all the other ingredients and knead until the dough smooths out somewhat, although with a rye dough you never get the fine, silky dough you have with wheat flour. Rye doughs are always sticky and rather awkward to handle. To work them, wet hands often do the trick.
3. We form a ball, place it in a container greased with oil, cover and let it roughly double in size.
4. We remove the gas from the dough by flattening it on the countertop into a square or rectangle. We roll it up and place it in the chosen rectangular tin.
5. We cover the tin with a cloth or plastic and let it rise; it doesn’t need to double, in fact rye breads rise less than wheat breads.
6. When the bread has risen and clearly protrudes from the tin, we brush it with a little water and sprinkle the oat flakes or seeds.
7. We bake it in the oven at 210° for 20 minutes, only with top and bottom heat. After this time we can turn on the oven fan, if available, and bake the bread an additional 15 minutes at 170°. If we don’t have a fan, continue baking the 15 minutes at 190°, until the bread is well browned on top.
8. We remove the tin and carefully unmold the bread without burning ourselves and transfer it to a rack to cool.

This rye loaf turns out very airy and with all the flavor this grain provides. Rye breads are perfect to accompany all kinds of smoked foods and for hearty sandwiches. Try them.

NOTE: Because of the humidity conditions created by ceramic, it is also a perfect recipe to make in the Emile Henry ceramic sandwich loaf tin.