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Danish Sourdough Rye Bread (Rugbrød)

28th October 2020 By Louise 24 Comments

 Rugbrød

Danish Sourdough Rye Bread (Rugbrød)

I’ve been making this loaf for longer than I care to remember, a consistent sellout at Marlow’s Artisan Food Market and a family favourite. This is a delicious and nutritious wholegrain loaf.  It’s much healthier than your average sourdough bread.  Contains less carbohydrate, it’s lower in gluten, has more fibre and in general keeps you fuller for longer.

Rugbrød, this seeded-sourdough loaf is a staple of Danish cuisine, served at lunch and celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.  It is a dense and long-lasting loaf, with malty and slightly sour notes, with a ragged crust and moist but textured crumb. It is just perfect for open sandwiches. The huge advantage of this bread is that it stays fresh for days, the reason being it contains so much water. Not only that it’s lovely toasted too.

Essentially this is the easiest sourdough loaf to make.  No kneading, stretching or folding.  It’s important however to use a starter that has recently been refreshed, so it’s really active.  I don’t use a leaven for this loaf, I just increase my maintenance starter.

Rye starter

Rye sourdough starter

seed blen

My seed blend

Here you can see I have a seed blend.  It consists of golden & brown linseeds, sesame, buckwheat, millet, sunflower & pumpkin seeds.  Soaking them in freshly boiled water aids easier digestion.

Cracks have appeared on the surface of the loaf, indicating it’s ready to bake.

Proving time can vary, for me this took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to this stage, with a room temperature of 21.5C.

Danish Sourdough Rye

Danish Sourdough Rye Rugbrød

If you’re new to sourdough baking, this loaf is a great place to start.  The method is very simple with delicious and impressive results.

Smørrebrød

Smørrebrød

Open sandwiches require a sturdy, wholesome bread base for generous toppings such as smoked salmon, prawns with egg or sliced cheese and tomatoes.  The options are endless…..

Danish Sourdough Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Danish Sourdough Rye Bread (Rugbrød)

Prep Time25 mins
Cook Time40 mins
14 hours proving time14 hrs
Total Time15 hrs
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Servings: 1 loaf

Equipment

  • 900g loaf tin

Ingredients

Day 1 – Pre-ferment

  • 125 g active rye starter 100% hydration
  • 230 g dark rye flour
  • 290 g cold water

Seeds & chopped rye grains

  • 50 g chopped rye grains
  • 150 g seed blend ie. golden & brown linseeds, sesame, buckwheat, millet, sunflower & pumpkin seeds
  • 200 g boiling water

Day 2

  • Pre-ferment as above
  • 330 g dark rye flour
  • 12 g fine sea salt
  • 2 tbls molasses (black treacle)
  • 220 g water tepid
  • 2 tsp caraway seeds optional
  • a few mixed seeds for sprinkling on top the loaf

Instructions

Day 1

  • Place the starter in a large bowl and add the cold water and flour. Stir with a spoon to form a nice loose mixture, cover. In a separate bowl place the seeds and chopped rye, pour over the boiling water, cover. Leave both at room temperature for 10-12 hours. (Overnight).

Day 2

  • Uncover the pre-ferment. It should be nice and bubbly and have a pleasant, slightly fruity, alcoholic aroma.
  • Now add all the ingredients to the pre-ferment, including the soaked seeds (they will have absorbed all the water). With a large rubber spoon, bring the mixture together and continue mixing for a couple of minutes, until it’s fully combined. Leave for 10 minutes so the flour can fully absorb the water. The wet dough will become slightly firmer.
  • Lightly oil a 900g loaf tin and line the base with baking paper. Dust with rye flour.
  • Pour the loose dough in the tin. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with mixed seeds and heavily dredge with rye flour.
  • Leave to rise. This can take 1½-3 hours (this largely depends on the temperature of your kitchen) when the surface of the bread starts to crack. It’s ready to bake.
  • Pre-heat the oven 30 minutes before baking to 230°C fan° *See notes or as high as it will go. Place a tray of water at the bottom of the oven. Put the loaf in the oven and bake for 40 minutes turning half way through baking.
  • Remove from the oven and tip it out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
  • Slice when the loaf is completely cold, it's important to let the crumb set. Best left for 4-5 hours or even overnight.

Notes

If your oven doesn't go up to 230°C/fan, bake at 220°C instead and add 5 minutes to the baking time.

 

Tips:

  • I like the addition of caraway seeds, this is of course optional.
  • Store sourdough wrapped in a linen tea towel, then a waxed wrap.  Sourdough needs to breath however if you wish to freeze it, pop it in a plastic freezer bag.  It freezes incredibly well.

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Filed Under: Baking, Bread & Buns, Scandinavian, Sourdough Baking, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: baking, gut friendly, healthy, nordic, scandinavian, sourdough starter

Previous Post: « Healthy Swedish Chocolate Balls (Chokladbollar)
Next Post: Swedish Mocha & Rye Slices (Mockasnittar) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer Boos

    2nd December 2020 at 2:12 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Louise,

    Thanks for this recipe – it is absolutely delicious and also easy to follow!
    I needed more time for the pre-ferment and for the proofing, but that was fine as I made the bread over the weekend and was in no rush!

    Best wishes,
    Jen
    @tasteimpressions

    Reply
    • Louise

      2nd December 2020 at 2:33 pm

      Hi Jennifer,
      I’m delighted you like this recipe because this is my favourite sourdough. You’re right, room temperature plays a big part in the proving of this loaf. However the maturity of the starter does too. So the good news is the more you bake, the more lively your starter will become.
      Thanks for taking the time to comment.
      Best
      Louise

      Reply
  2. Andrea

    10th December 2020 at 7:17 pm

    5 stars
    I was looking for a better 100% rye bread and I have found it in this! It is so flavourful and not claggy like past loaves I have made. I used more steel cut rye, replacing the same weight of seeds with it. Thank you so much for a great recipe.

    Reply
    • Louise

      10th December 2020 at 7:47 pm

      Hello Andrea, thank you so much and I’m so pleased you like my recipe. Glad you found the percentage of grains you like.

      Reply
  3. Helena

    11th December 2020 at 5:49 pm

    Dear Louise,

    Absolutely love this Danish Rye loaf, easy to follow recipe and so much fun baking it. I didn’t have chopped rye grains but I replaced it with little extra flour. It worked well. This loaf has become a family favorite. Thank you for all your sourdough baking ideas, you are a star.

    Love, Helena

    Reply
    • Louise

      11th December 2020 at 6:14 pm

      So glad you like it Helena and thanks for taking the time to comment☺️

      Reply
  4. Nili Benazon

    28th December 2020 at 1:49 am

    This was awesome! Such a success. I omitted the molasses because I don’t like the bitterness of that flavour.
    I have 2 questions. First, can I substitute molasses with honey or maple syrup? They are more runny than molasses. Second,
    When I baked it for 40 min, the temp was well below 190, which is the temp I usually take bread out of the oven at, or even 200 F.
    My question is whether I should trust the 40 min and not worry about the temp, or make sure that my bread reaches temp before
    taking it out. I baked mine about 50 min to get it to 195 when I took it out. I am pretty sure that my bread turned out drier than yours, but it was still SO terrific. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Louise

      28th December 2020 at 8:02 am

      Hi Nili, so glad you like my recipe. You can certainly substitute molasses with honey or maple syrup, they’re all liquids so it wouldn’t make any difference to the loaf. Have you ever tried molasses in a loaf like this? It’s a small amount and in my opinion, doesn’t taste bitter. It also comes with health benefits of iron and magnesium.
      Secondly your question about temperature. I have never checked the internal temperature of sourdough, however if you have your oven set at the correct temperature of 230C or 450F (and it helps to turn it on 30 minutes before baking so the walls of the oven are really saturated with heat) then yes I would trust the timings. All the best. Louise

      Reply
  5. Nili Benazon

    28th December 2020 at 1:52 am

    p.s. I should have clarified that I baked it at 450 F (oven temp), and I used a meat thermometer to test the temp inside the
    bread about 2 inches in. When I bake sourdough, I always use a meat thermometer to check the interior temp of the bread
    to decide when to take the bread out of the oven.

    Reply
  6. Nili Benazon

    28th December 2020 at 2:42 pm

    Thank you SO much Louise, I am going to make this loaf again tomorrow and I am going to trust the timing you suggest to see if I can get a slightly more moist loaf by following the 40 min guideline with no thermometer readings.
    Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Louise

      29th December 2020 at 7:59 am

      Great, I’m sure it’ll be lovely.

      Reply
  7. Marina

    13th January 2021 at 7:00 pm

    Hi Louise!
    Loved your website and this recipe!
    I have one question, perhaps you can help me with it…
    My loaf turned out with a really nice crumb and texture, but the sourness was a little too strong.
    I reduced the proofing time, since the room temp in my kitchen it’s about 26ºC (or more) these days. One hour after pouring the dough in the loaf tin, it was overflowing and i had to transfer it to another tin.
    Do you think this adjustment in the sour flavour should be done by reducing the proofing time even more, or at the first stage, after feeding my starter? Maybe the preferment could be left less than overnight? My rye starter’s been really active and the preferment more than tripled in volume (and deflated) by the end of the 12h period…. I’ll keep testing it, since i loved the overall taste and texture, but if you have any thoughts on that matter, it would be lovely to learn from your experience.
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Louise

      13th January 2021 at 7:54 pm

      Hi Marina, there are so many factors here, let’s try and break it down.
      It sounds as if you have an extremely warm kitchen. Sourdough is happiest between 18-23C. Most households drop temperature overnight, this is why I suggest an overnight preferment. I think you will have to cut this time down + you have a really active starter. I can’t give you exact timings on this as, with all things sourdough it takes a little practice to get it right. That said your instincts are right, cut down on the timing for the preferment and the second proving. Good luck and happy baking! Thank you for taking the time to comment :-))

      Reply
      • Marina

        13th January 2021 at 11:18 pm

        Hi Louise!
        Thanks for your reply! Yes, i’m from Brazil and the room temperature in my kitchen’s been around 26º to 28ºC, these days. I’ve been succeeding with wheat sourdough for years, but just began experimenting with rye!
        Just so i can have an idea for what i’m looking for in the pre ferment fase, should i use it when after it doubles in volume, or do you use it while still very “young”? I love the taste of rye! I’ll keep practicing, thank you so much! Be well!

        Reply
        • Louise

          14th January 2021 at 7:54 am

          Did you leave the preferment for 10-12 hours originally? If yes try cutting that time in half and see how it turns out? You could also try using it when it’s doubled in size. Sorry there isn’t one clear answer. In the second stage, when you see a few cracks appear on the surface of the dough in the tin, it’s ready to bake. I hope this helps! Be well too 🙂

          Reply
  8. Jackie Jardine-Moore

    2nd February 2021 at 9:00 pm

    In the process of baking this now – wondered if you had ever tried shaping and baking in a dutch oven. I’m excited and hope this turns out – will be the first use of my freshly made rye sourdough starter!

    Reply
    • Louise

      2nd February 2021 at 9:04 pm

      It’s too wet to shape I think. I make a similar loaf, I prove in a basket then bake in a Dutch oven, it’s lovely but quite different in looks and the crumb is slightly dryer. Hope that helps answer your question.

      Reply
      • Jackie Jardine-Moore

        3rd February 2021 at 1:53 am

        Thanks so much!

        Reply
  9. Daniel

    9th April 2021 at 6:03 am

    Hi, should I add the water tray just when I add the bread or when I start preheating the oven?

    Reply
    • Louise

      9th April 2021 at 6:20 am

      Hi Daniel, add the tray of water to the oven 5-10 minutes before putting the bread in. If you put it in there too early all the water will evaporate.

      Reply
      • Daniel

        9th April 2021 at 7:15 am

        And another question – I have a loaf pan with a lid. Should I cook it with it, without it?

        Reply
        • Louise

          9th April 2021 at 8:15 am

          On second thoughts you will have to see how much it rises when you prove it in the tin. It may be better to revert to my method of adding the tin of water to the oven.

          Reply
          • Daniel

            9th April 2021 at 5:52 pm

            5 stars
            I didn’t add water, and baked with a lid for 30 mins and 15 without. Came out great!

          • Louise

            9th April 2021 at 5:54 pm

            Really pleased to hear it!

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About Louise

Hej, I'm Louise, a food enthusiast living in Marlow, Bucks, UK. Welcome to my culinary adventures in my Nordic Kitchen. Read More

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