Rugbrod Norwegian Rye Bread Recipes

NORDIC WHOLE-GRAIN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• On Day 1, make the starter: In a medium-size bowl, mix 3/4 cup warm water with the buttermilk or yogurt. Whisk flour and yeast together, add to the buttermilk mixture and use your hands to mix together until sticky and moist; add more warm water as needed. Cover tightly and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• Also on Day 1, soak the grains: Mix 4 cups cold water with the rye berries (or meal) and sunflower seeds. Cover and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• On Day 2, make the bread: Drain the soaked grains in a colander. Measure 35 ounces/1,000 grams of the grains and place in a deep bowl. Add 14 ounces/400 grams of the starter and mix well. (Any remaining starter can be saved to use with other bread recipes.) Add the flour, salt, malt (or molasses), yeast and 2 cups water. Mix dough firmly by hand to combine. The dough should be grainy, but quite runny and wet, almost like a thick batter. To achieve that texture, add cold water, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. To test: When a walnut-size piece of dough smeared on the rim of the bowl slides slowly and smoothly down the inside, like a snail leaving a trail, the dough it is wet enough.
• Thickly butter 3 medium or 2 standard-size loaf pans. Divide the dough evenly among the pans, filling them about half full. Cover and let rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 2 hours. (Dough will not rise more during baking.)
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 360 and bake until firm and glossy brown, 80 minutes to 2 hours more depending on size and moisture content of loaves. Let cool completely in the pans before turning out. Bread freezes well, and lasts for at least a week at room temperature, wrapped in paper.

DANISH RUGBROD (RYE BREAD) FOR THE BREAD MACHINE

Steps:

• Put water, honey, butter, salt, rye flour, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, rye flakes, sugar, and yeast, respectively, into the pan of your bread machine.
• Select Basic setting and press Start.

RUGBROD NORWEGIAN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
• Add brown sugar, milk, and water.
• Add 2 cups white flour; beat well; let double in bulk.
• Mix anise seeds and dark syrup in saucepan; bring to a boil; cook 1 minute; strain out seeds.
• Add butter; cool.
• When lukewarm, add rye flour, graham flour, and salt to the yeast mixture.
• Add grated orange zest; and knead on floured board, adding enough flour to make a stiff dough.
• Let rise until double in bulk.
• Divide dough into 4 parts; place each in well greased pan; let rise until double in size.
• You can brush the tops with a mixture of Karo syrup and water; put in caraway seeds in last knead.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 1 hour. Some start with 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for first 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

DANISH RUGBRøD

Steps:

• Hydrate and sprout about 175g (1 heaping cup) rye berries, which makes approximately 260g when hydrated. Or hydrate 175g already-sprouted rye berries.
• To sprout rye berries, soak them in water in a bowl or jar for about 6 hours, then drain the excess water, rinse and drain again, and cover with a towel or sprouting lid (mesh screen). Sprouts will form after an additional 6-18 hours. Rinse and drain every twelve hours while sprouting. Then refrigerate for up to 5 days in a ventilated jar.
• To rehydrate already-sprouted rye berries, soak in water for 12-24 hours, then drain the excess water.
• Build 160g of 100% hydration mature starter.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until everything is incorporated. (Stand mixer with dough hook or paddle attachment works well.) The dough will have a thick batter consistency, not flowing off a spoon but still scoopable.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment. This takes about 5 hours at warm room temperatures (78F/26C) and longer if the ambient temperature is cooler, or if you refrigerate the dough for any portion of time. Make sure to flip the dough in the bowl after a long refrigeration to redistribute heat and moisture. The bulk fermentation is finished when you shift the dough with a spatula and see web-like strings of gluten.
• Pour/scrape the batter into a greased loaf pan. Smooth the surface of the dough with wet fingertips and cover.
• Proof 12-20 hours in the refrigerator, or 2-3 hours at room temperature, or a combination of cold and room temperature. (See the gallery for examples.) The dough will be rounded-puffy at the edges and have holes from popped bubbles when it is ready to bake.
• Preheat your oven to 425F.
• Decorate the top of your proofed dough with extra seeds or a flour stencil.
• Bake the bread uncovered for 70-85 minutes, until the internal temperature is about 210F.
• Let the bread cool for about 30 minutes, then remove it from the pan.
• If possible, wait 24 hours before slicing the bread to allow the crumb to set.
• Store the bread wrapped in parchment paper, a bread bag, bee's wrap or a flour sack towel for about a week outside the refrigerator. You can also slice and freeze the bread tightly wrapped in plastic.

NORWEGIAN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Beat in as much hot water as the flour will absorb, making a stiff batter.
• Cover and let stand until lukewarm.
• Disolve yeast in the warm water, add to the dough with enough flour to knead.
• Knead.
• Let sit, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
• Shape into loaves.
• Put into bread pans, or not, your choice, and let rise again, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 75 minutes.