Easy Light Rye and Caraway Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Light rye with caraway is a timeless combination, often overlooked but incredibly satisfying when done right. Rye bread, with its chewy texture and unique flavour, has a way of surprising me every time—I always forget how delicious it is until I take that first bite.
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While working with whole grains in bread can sometimes feel like a challenge, I’ve found ways to simplify the process to make it more approachable. This recipe focuses on creating a loaf that’s not only beautiful on the outside but also delivers the right texture on the inside—because, in the end, it’s all about the crumb.
One of the key techniques I like to use in this recipe is autolyse, while optional, it’s a practice that I believe makes a significant difference when working with whole grain flours. Autolyse involves mixing just flour and water (sometimes with the starter), while holding back the salt for a period of time. We’ll dive into the reasons why this technique is beneficial, but I highly recommend incorporating it into your baking routine—it truly elevates the final loaf.
Bronwyn’s Sourdough Notes
This is your loaf! I’m here to share my tips, experience, and what’s worked for me — but sourdough is wonderfully flexible. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, feel free to experiment and make this recipe your own. There are a bajillion ways to make a great loaf of sourdough, and my goal is simply to help you find the methods and rhythms that suit you best.
Water: If you can drink it, you can bake with it. I’ve used city, tap, well, and filtered water — all with great results. Don’t overthink it.
Salt: Use whatever fine salt you have. Unrefined salts like Himalayan or Redmond Real Salt support fermentation beautifully, but table salt works fine too.
Sourdough Starter: Start bread with an active, bubbly starter for best results. Learn more about your starter here.
Temperature: Dough rises best around 23–26°C (73–79°F) dough temperature.
Colder = Slower fermentation (6-12 hours)
Warmer = Faster fermentation (3-6 hours)
Adjust with warm or cool water depending on the season.
Flour: I always do a blend of standard all-purpose flour and freshly-milled whole grain flour. Use whatever flour works for you.
Hydration: In summer, I use cooler water and slightly less. In winter, warmer water and a touch more can help balance fermentation speed.
Autolyse: This step involves holding back salt and sourdough starter at the mixing stage. I prefer a simpler variation — I mix in the starter right away but hold back the salt for 30–60 minutes. This short rest gives the dough time to hydrate and relax, especially important when using whole grain flour, which takes longer to absorb moisture.
Is rye flour gluten-free?
No, it is not! It is lower in gluten than modern wheat but is not suitable for celiacs.
Where To Source Fresh-Milled Rye Flour
If you’re living in a city, you can mostly likely find a bakery or fancy grocery store that sells fresh-milled flour.
If you’re living in the country and you can source whole-grains, you may want to consider milling your own flour. You can start without making a large investment by using a powerful coffee grinder or blender that you already own. A step up would be purchasing a KitchenAid grain mill attachment.
If you’re really enjoying working with fresh-milled whole-grains and you have a reliable source of grain, you can also consider a Harvest NutriMill which is the one I use almost everyday and love both for its beauty and practicality.
When you’re ready to invest, get your Harvest NutriMill using this link and my discount code BRONSBREAD20 at checkout to get $20 off your order!
Scoring Your Sandwich Loaf
Scoring is the process of slicing into the top of your dough just before baking. This helps the bread expand in a controlled way as it bakes, allowing the loaf to rise evenly and develop a beautiful crust.
When you look around, you’ll notice many sandwich loaves with a smooth, unscored top. These loaves are typically enriched with butter, eggs, oil, or other fats, which soften the dough. The addition of these ingredients breaks down the gluten network, resulting in a tighter crumb structure that doesn’t need scoring for proper expansion.
This recipe, however, is simply flour, water, and salt like an artisan loaf which means the gluten is strong and can produce large bubbles. This is also known as “tunnelling” and can look like this:
Materials You’ll Need
Medium-Sized Mixing Bowl: A heavy set ceramic mixing bowl would work best.
Bowl Cover: Anything that covers and seals the bowl. I use these reusable elastic bowl covers but you can use a plate or wet kitchen towel.
Dough Whisk (optional): It is cleaner to get things started with a dough whisk but it’s definitely not necessary. I like using my hands to mix, it probably makes the dough better.
Plastic Bench Scraper: I find this tool very handy for cleaning and scraping the dough out of the bowl. It can also be used for dividing dough and pre-shaping.
Metal Bench Scraper: I use this tool for dividing dough, pre-shaping, and cleaning the table. Not essential though, as the plastic bench scraper can serve similar purposes, but I like using both.
Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups and Spoons: I prefer using a kitchen scale but if measuring cups and spoons is all you have then that’s all you need to get started.
Two Bread Pans: I really like 8″x 4″ size for this recipe but you can use a bigger bread pan, your loaves might just be a little shorter.
Razor Blade or Sharp Knife: I haven’t found a bread lame I really like so I just use razor blades as is. They’re cheap and sharp and easy to control, you just have to be cautious not to cut yourself.
You can also use a sharp kitchen knife or any bread lame of your choice. A bread lame is a tool used to hold razor blades for scoring.
Parchment Paper: For lining your pans so your loaf doesn’t stick. Or you can grease and flour your pans. I rigged up my own silicone loaf pan liners but I don’t think you can buy a product like that at the moment.
Cooling Rack: For cooling down your loaf.
Ingredients
White Flour: I use Rogers all-purpose flour, nothing fancy.
Rye Flour: I use fresh-milled organic whole-grain rye flour but any spelt flour from the store will get the job done.
Whole Wheat Flour: I add a little freshly milled whole wheat to my rye bread for more protein and complex flavour.
Active Sourdough Starter: An active sourdough starter is bubbly with large bubbles, a domed top, double to triple in size, sweet and sour smelling, and floats in water. A perfectly active starter is essential for the perfect loaf but it’s not essential to make sourdough bread. You can work with the starter you have even if it’s not perfectly active, just expect inferior results.
Caraway Seeds: For that traditional German rye bread flavour.
Salt: I use Himalayan sea salt but any salt is good. Avoid highly processed table salt. The more mineral content, the better.
Water: Any drinking water can be bread-making water.
How To Make Light Rye and Caraway Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Mix the Dough: In a sturdy mixing bowl, combine lukewarm water and active sourdough starter. Break up the starter into small, shaggy pieces using your hands or a spatula.
Add Flours and Salt: Add white flour, rye flour, whole wheat flour, caraway seeds, and salt. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated, and there are no dry bits. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
Stretch-and-Fold: After the rest, perform the first round of stretch-and-folds, gently stretching the dough and folding it over itself until the dough becomes tight (4-8 times).
Second Stretch & Fold (optional): After 30 minutes, repeat the stretch-and-fold process, making sure the dough becomes tight. This makes a total of 2 rounds of stretch-and-folds.
Bulk Fermentation: Let the dough rest until it has doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 4-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your house. If your house is cold, it will take longer, and if it’s warm, it will take less time.
Shape the Dough: After bulk fermentation, turn the dough onto the counter. Shape into a round ball and let it rest for 30 minutes. If the dough still feels tight after 30 minutes, let it rest for an additional 30 minutes.
Prepare Loaf Pan: Use either a non-stick pan, grease with butter and flour your pan, or line with parchment paper.
Final Shaping: After resting, flip the dough ball over so the smooth side is down. Gently shape the loaf by folding in the sides and creating tension to form a strong oval loaf. Place the shaped dough seam side down into loaf pan.
Cold Proof: Cover the loaf pan and place in the fridge for 8-24 hours for a cold proof. The longer the cold proof, the more complex the flavour.
Preheat the Oven: After the cold proof, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C). Place a metal baking tray or muffin tin at the bottom of the oven to pour hot water into later to generate steam (this is optional but highly recommended for a good rise and crisp crust).
Score the Loaves: Once the oven is preheated, take the loaf out of the fridge. Lightly flour the top of the loaf and score with a sharp knife or lame.
Bake the Bread: Open the preheated oven and carefully place the loaf inside. If you added a steam tray, pour 1 cup of hot water into the vessel at the bottom of the oven immediately after placing the loaf in. Close the oven door to trap in the steam.
Lower the Temperature: Drop the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and crispy.
Cool the Loaves: Once baked, remove the loaf from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Let them cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Enjoy: Once cooled, slice your light rye and caraway sourdough sandwich bread and enjoy with a generous amount of butter, or use it for sandwiches, toast, or any other delightful dish!
Light Rye and Caraway Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 250g White Flour
- 100g Whole Rye Flour
- 25g Whole Wheat Flour
- 250g Water
- 150g Active Sourdough Starter
- 10g Salt
- 1 tsp Caraway Seeds
Instructions
- Mix the Dough: In a sturdy mixing bowl, combine lukewarm water and active sourdough starter. Break up the starter into small, shaggy pieces using your hands or a spatula.
- Add Flours and Salt: Add white flour, rye flour, whole wheat flour, caraway seeds, and salt. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated, and there are no dry bits. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
- Stretch-and-Fold: After the rest, perform the first round of stretch-and-folds, gently stretching the dough and folding it over itself until the dough becomes tight (4-8 times).
- Second Stretch & Fold (optional): After 30 minutes, repeat the stretch-and-fold process, making sure the dough becomes tight. This makes a total of 2 rounds of stretch-and-folds.
- Bulk Fermentation: Let the dough rest until it has doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 4-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your house. If your house is cold, it will take longer, and if it’s warm, it will take less time.
- Shape the Dough: After bulk fermentation, turn the dough onto the counter. Divide the dough into two equal portions using a scale or by eye. Shape each portion into a round ball and let it rest for 30 minutes. If the dough still feels tight after 30 minutes, let it rest for an additional 30 minutes.
- Prepare Loaf Pans: Use either non-stick pans, grease with butter and flour your pans, or line with parchment paper.
- Final Shaping: After resting, flip each dough ball over so the smooth side is down. Gently shape each loaf by folding in the sides and creating tension to form a strong oval loaf. Place the shaped dough seam side down into loaf pans. Repeat with the second loaf.
- Cold Proof: Cover the loaf pans and place both loaves in the fridge for 8-24 hours for a cold proof. The longer the cold proof, the more complex the flavor.
- Preheat the Oven: After the cold proof, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C). Place a metal baking tray or muffin tin at the bottom of the oven to pour hot water into later to generate steam (this is optional but highly recommended for a crisp crust).
- Score the Loaves: Once the oven is preheated, take the loaves out of the fridge. Lightly flour the loaves and score them with a sharp knife or lame.
- Bake the Bread: Open the preheated oven and carefully place the loaves inside. If you added a steam tray, pour 1 cup of hot water into the vessel at the bottom of the oven immediately after placing the loaves in. Close the oven door to trap in the steam.
- Lower the Temperature: Drop the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and crispy.
- Cool the Loaves: Once baked, remove the loaves from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Let them cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
- Enjoy: Once cooled, slice your light rye and caraway sourdough sandwich bread and enjoy with a generous amount of butter, or use it for sandwiches, toast, or any other delightful dish!
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Learn the basics, avoid common beginner mistakes, learn why you’re doing what you’re doing and finally bake an edible loaf!
Recommended Reading
What a wonderful layout. Very well presented and in great detail. The loaf looks so good! I’m sure it makes the best sandwiches!
Thank you! It is delicious:)
How much salt, please?
Thanks for catching that! It’s 20g salt or one heaping tablespoon 🙂
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