Finnish sourdough bread with caraway seeds

Here's how:

• 1

  Days 1–2

  Mix together the water, caraway seeds, yeast, and stone-ground rye flour in a stainless-steel bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for 2 days.

• 2

  Day 3

  Mix the sourdough starter with the flour. Add the salt, rye sourdough starter (the mixture from step 1), and yeast.

• 3

  Knead into a dough, about 6 minutes in a mixer or 12 minutes by hand. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 1 hour, until it doubles in size.

• 4

  Divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape them into round loaves. Roll the loaves in rye flour and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel and let them rise for about 1 hour.

• 5

  Preheat the oven to 250 °C and place a pan with 0.5 L of water on the bottom rack of the oven.

• 6

  Place the baking sheet with the loaves in the oven and lower the temperature to 200 °C. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the core temperature reaches 97 °C. Keep the pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven throughout the baking time.