This high-hydration deli-style rye bread is soft, chewy, and full of that classic caraway flavor. Made with a blend of rye flour and bread flour, it has a moist, slightly airy crumb and a lovely thin crust with just the right amount of crispness. A simple caraway seed tea infuses the loaf with the tangy, earthy flavor, you expect from a seeded deli rye bread, and baking it in a loaf pan ensures a perfect, sandwich-ready shape.
Make the caraway tea. Heat water in an electric kettle or on the stove until it reaches a low simmer (160°F). Pour the 355 grams of water over the caraway seeds and let steep for 10 minutes.
Autolyse. In a large mixing bowl, combine bread flour, rye flour, and all of the caraway seed tea. Mix until a sticky, messy dough forms. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.Bloom the yeast. In a small bowl, mix together 25 grams warm water, yeast, olive oil, and honey. Mix to combine. Set aside until the dough is done autolysing, at least 5 minutes. The mixture will become quite foamy and bubbly.
Add salt and mix. Sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough, followed by the yeast mixture. Use your hand to squish and pinch the dough between your fingers until you no longer feel the grit from the salt and the liquids have incorporated into the dough. It will be quite wet, sticky, and messy. Gather the dough into a loose ball in the bottom of the bowl.
Bulk ferment. Let the dough rise for a total of 2 hours, with a set of stretch-and-folds every 30 minutes, a total of 3 sets of folds. The first set of folds is counted after the first 30-minute rest.
Shape. Dust the top of the dough in the bowl with flour, then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently deflate the dough with your fingertips, tugging it into a loose square shape. Fold the right third of the dough in across the middle and gently press down along the edge to seal. Fold the left third of the dough in, overlapping just slightly with the first folded flap of dough. Again, press down along the edge to seal. You should now have a narrow vertical rectangle of dough (about 5" wide). Starting from the top, roll the dough toward your body until the seam is tucked neatly underneath. You will have a thick coiled loaf of dough. Cup your hands behind the dough and gently pull it toward your body to tighten it up.
Final rise. Transfer the dough to a greased 9x5" loaf pan. It will likely already be crowning over the top rim of the pan but will not fill the length. Cover and let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes, until the dough has filled out the length of the pan.
Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Score and bake. Immediatelybefore baking, slash the top of the loaf 4-6 times diagonally with a lame or sharp knife. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until an internal temperature of at least 200°F is reached.
Cool. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.
RECIPE NOTES
If you want the flavor of caraway but don't want the seeds, use a strainer to remove the seeds from the tea when you add it to the flours to autolyse.
To keep track of your folds, place 3 candies or pretzels or something in a small bowl. Eat one each time you do a set of folds.
Set a 2 hour timer and a 30 minute timer at the start of bulk fermentation. Reset the 30 minute timer until there's only 30 minutes left on the 2 hour timer. When the 2 hour timer goes off, it's time to shape the bread.