Rye flour brings so much flavour and depth to sourdough and I love that it brings so many nutrients into the fold (literally!). What you get is a darker crust, a milky brown interior and a bespoke sour flavour, not to mention an innate sense of satisfaction that you’re hitting the nutrition bar high.

I’m heading to The Sourdough School in May to get deep into the learning about fermentation, flour and it’s impact on the gut and part of that learning is to create the perfect loaf for my lifestyle.

This is quite a tricky question as my bread mood does have a habit of shifting with the seasons (and is greatly influenced by the stock of flour residing in my cupboard), but I’m fairly confident it will include rye flour in some shape or form.

Rye has a lower gluten content than conventional white flour which makes it easier to digest. I also love that you can control the digestibility of this bread even more by leaving it to ferment for longer. This isn’t unique to rye breads of course, but I find that when I leave it to cold prove for a day or more, it becomes even more gentle on the stomach, with a deeply complex flavour that is so satisfying to eat.

I remember visiting Copenhagen where colourfully adorned Smørrebrød (open Danish rye sandwiches) would line bakery windows - the sight of them pulling you in to pick your favourite and enjoy it street side with a coffee. It felt like a wonderful way to celebrate nutritious bread with great quality ingredients. Because, really, rye deserves nothing but the best accompaniments.

This appreciation for rye was echoed by Troels Bendix of SODT Bakery when I interviewed him back in 2023 for The Real Bread Association. He cited the Donker Rye as his personal favourite, adding that it was his dream to see rye bread become a firm staple with UK consumers one day. With an increase in quality regenerative UK rye flours, I don’t think this vision is too far off - especially when baked into a beautiful loaf like this.

INGREDIENTS:

• 350g Cotswold Flour Eight Grain Strong Multigrain Flour

• 50g Shipton Mill Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Flour

• 50g Stoate & Sons Organic Stoneground Dark Rye

• 50g Sharpham Park Organic White Spelt Flour

• 370g warm water (warmed to around 37.5 degrees)

• 120g levain (or 80g mature starter)

• 12g salt

METHOD:

1. Mix 350g of water and levain and whisk to combine. Then add the flours, mixing with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to combine fully and ensure no dry bits of flour remain. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes-1 hour

2. Add the salt with 20g of water (warmed up to the same 37.5 degree temperature) and use your fingers to pinch it into the dough, moving it around until you feel the texture start to change and the dough come together. Leave for half an hour.

3. Perform 2 sets of stretch and folds half an hour apart, followed by 2 x coil folds another half an hour apart, so you've performed 4 folds in total. After the final fold, leave to rest for the final hour of bulk fermentation.

4. Turn the dough out onto a bench top and pre-shape, using a dough scraper and your hand to work it into a round. Leave for 20 minutes.

5. Perform the final shape and place in a floured banneton. Leave at room temperature (covered) for a further 2 hours if you're baking same day, otherwise retard in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking.

6. Bake in a preheated baking vessel on 240C for 30 minutes, then for a further 15 minutes (lid off) on 215C.