It was pouring rain yesterday so I annihilated the gloom by making rye bread. 

This is by far the most delicious recipe for rye bread I have ever tasted. I have been through years of trying to find that one great Jewish deli rye bread with the crispy crust but had failed to find it. Then one day.... THERE IT WAS  !!!    Here is the web site.    https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/new-york-deli-rye-bread/           While the recipe is given, let me walk you through it with pictures so that it makes sense and is easier if you have never tried this method before. You can buy rye flour online if you can't find a store that sells it. I got mine on a WalMart website. They mailed it to me but I had to buy a few bags, You can also buy bread flour online too or anykind of flour for that matter.

FIRST  you must make a sponge .  A sponge is a batter and is used as your base. Check out the website given for the recipe,  The sponge contains the secret wonderful ingredient that gives it the unique taste. That ingredient is MALT  that is used in beer brewing. You can bye it online or at a local place that sells beer brewing and wine making supplies and ingredients, This is NOT the same malt used to make ice cream malts, shakes & malted milk that you get in the grocery store.Once you open the bag store in in a zip lock bag and press the air out.You only need 1/2 TB so bye a small bag. It will last you FOREVER !

Next , mix the secondary flour mixture in a separate bowl and then gently cover the top of the sponge with the flour mixture,  DON'T MIX IT IN. Cover bowl with a plate and wait about an hour or so until the sponge starts to bubble up through the flour mixture. Also DO NOT ADD THE OIL YET,  That gets added during the kneading process.

You can see the sponge bubbling through the flour in the picture below.

I  use my mixer with the dough hook. Add the oil to the mixing bowl then dump the sponge and flour mixture into the mixing bowl. 

Let the mixer do the kneading and let it keep going until all the caraway seeds and little bits of loose flour are well mixed in but if you don't have a mixer with a dough hook just check out Youtube on how the knead bread dough. Rub a little oil onto your hands to keep the dough from sticking. I learned that from making pasta.I use olive oil. (  Rub it on your face too. It gets rid of dry skin fast and is better than anything.) While this is mixing wash out your bowl and dribble a little oil around the side walls of the bowl. About 1 TB  more. Take the dough and put it in the bowl to rise.Flip it over ( the dough, not the bowl) so that the oil in the bowl coats the outside of the dough. This keeps it moist  and adds the perfect amount of oil to the recipe. If you don't have a warm area you can heat your oven to 170F  and SHUT IT OFF then place your dough in the warmed oven and let it rise.  

I cover the bowl with a plate while it rises. It takes about an hour or so. The bowl will probably be filled with the risen dough when ready. It will be moist when you dump it out on a floured board. Knead it into a loaf shape ,sprinkle corn meal lightly on baking sheet (ungreased) and let it rise on the baking sheet. I place warm bottles or containers of hot water on the sides of the loaf to keep it from spreading out sideways. The warmth also helps the loaves rise faster.I want it to rise vertically to make nice size loafs for sandwiches. 

The recipe calls for 450 F  for the first 15 min. but mine started to burn. I just bake my loaves on 

400 F the whole time for about 45 Min.  Put an egg white wash over the loaves and make 2-3 superficial  slices across the top of the loaf before you put it in the oven, I make the dough the day before I bake it because I make a lot at one time. This way it doesn't take up my whole day.  You can put it in the refrigerator overnight .   I made 6 loaves yesterday, cut them in half and froze them in zip lock bags, That will last me a long time.

SO  GOOOOOD  !!!!!  My husband woke up for a nap and said, "It smells like a Jewish bakery  down here ".   (:> He always says the right thing.