Directions

1. I use about 150 grams of starter for the bread loaf. As I usually don’t have that much starter, the first step is to make the necessary amount. To do that, I mix some of the existing starter, about 90 grams, with 30 g of flour and 30 g water, so that I have 150 g in total. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature. If I have less of the existing starter, I will add more flour and water. If I use wheat bread flour for the starter, the package of a kilo of rye flour will be sufficient for 2 bread loaves. Ideally you would use rye flour for the starter as well. I usually do this the evening before the day I am planning to bake the bread so that the starter grows during the night and is active by the morning.
2. I bake the rye bread in a glass loaf pan. It helps to keep the bread shape and I can also see what happens with the dough. I have also baked this bread in a cast iron pot. As the dough does not hold shape that well, the baked rye bread turns out flatter and looks somewhat like a gigantic chocolate crackle cookie. 
3. I grease the baking dish quite generously with butter, especially corners, and spread about a tablespoon of seed mix on the bottom of it. That way the bread does not stick to the dish and is easy to remove. You can also use cooking oil. For me butter has worked better, as it seemed that the bread absorbs the oil and does not separate from the dish as well.
4. Put in a big bowl the brown sugar, salt, and half a litre of slightly warm (not hot) water. And stir so that the sugar starts to dissolve.
5. Add the prepared starter and stir to dissolve it in the water. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave for about an hour at room temperature.
6. Add flour in the bowl and mix everything well. I usually mix with a wooden spoon or with my hands. This dough is hard to mix. It’s like very dense mud. If needed, I take a minute of break. And try to mix for about 10 min in total. The dough does not really visually change. There have been occasions when I just mixed the dough to get it together. But usually the result was better when the dough was mixed for a bit longer. 
7. If you want, you can add some seeds and spices to the dough. For example, sunflower, linseeds, pumpkin seeds or others. I usually add a teaspoon of dried garlic, a teaspoon of cumin or thyme and spread a little bit of seeds on top of the bread.
8. Put the dough in the prepared baking dish. And push it down, so that there are no gaps and level it. Wetting your hands will help to prevent the dough from sticking and also help you to make the dough smooth. 
9. Cover the dish with a towel and leave at room temperature for the dough to ferment. It does not need to double in size. I usually wait till it reaches almost the top of the dish and bake. So it needs to grow a few cm. The waiting time will vary a lot. In summer when it was above 25 degrees inside, I baked after about 3 h. In winter, when it’s 20 degrees inside, I need to wait for about 6 hours.
10. When getting ready to bake, set the oven to heat to 150 degrees Celsius or 340 degrees Fahrenheit and put a small dish with water in the oven to create steam.
11. Put the bread to bake for 1 hour.
12. After 1 hour, remove the dish with water from the oven, increase the oven temperature to 200 degrees Celsius or 430 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 30 min. 
13. Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open and leave the bread in the oven to cool for about an hour or two, till it’s warm, but can be touched.
14. Remove the bread from the baking dish, wrap in a clean towel and leave it till the next day before cutting and eating. The bread is still “cooking” in a way. If you cut it now it will be gooey inside. And if you have cut it, it will not change anymore. So patience is important here. 🙂
15. The bread should be crusty. If you want it softer, you can wrap it in a towel while it’s warm, put in a plastic bag and leave it to cool. The evaporating moisture will soften the bread.
16. And enjoy your homemade rye bread!