Rye bread, attempt four

Writing this down mostly for myself, because attempts one to three were not written down and I could not remember what I had changed.

The goal is a dense, dark, slightly sour rye loaf that keeps for a week and slices thin. Not a light sandwich bread with a bit of rye in it.

What I used this time:

• 300 g whole rye flour
• 100 g strong wheat flour
• 320 g water, warm
• 120 g rye starter, fed the night before
• 9 g salt
• 1 tablespoon dark malt syrup
• a handful of caraway seeds

Everything goes in one bowl and gets stirred into a sticky paste. There is no kneading with rye; it just turns into clay. Smooth it into a greased tin with a wet spatula, cover, and leave it somewhere warm until it has risen by about a third and the surface shows small cracks. In my kitchen that was a little under four hours.

Baked at 240 °C for fifteen minutes, then 200 °C for another forty-five. Out of the tin for the last ten minutes so the sides firm up.

The important part: do not cut it the same day. I always want to, and the inside is always gummy when I do. Wrapped in a cloth and left overnight, it was the best one yet. Slightly too sour, so next time the starter gets fed in the morning instead of the night before.