Recipe

Sourdough Rye Bread: The Danish Classic

Total time36 hours
Active time20 min
1 loaf

Ingredients

Day 1, soaker

  • 50 g flaxseed
  • 50 g sunflower seeds
  • 50 g sesame seeds
  • 150 g cracked or chopped rye kernels
  • 175 g water
  • 100 g sourdough, sour and active, ideally over a day old

Day 2, dough

  • 150 g whole grain rye flour
  • 150 g water
  • 15 g salt
  • 1 tbsp malt syrup, or 2 tbsp dark syrup

Method

Tap a step when it is done.

Day 1

  1. Mix all the soaker ingredients and cover with a cloth. Leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours, ideally a whole day.

Day 2

  1. Stir the soaker and the new ingredients together into a thick, grainy dough. There is no gluten to build, just stir until everything is combined.

  2. Put the dough in a greased rye bread pan and smooth the top with a dough scraper. Cover and let it rise at room temperature until the surface shows clear cracks and stretch marks, usually 8 to 12 hours.

Baking

  1. Bake at 165°C for 60 to 75 minutes, until the core reaches 98°C.

  2. Let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.

You do not need a rye starter. A wheat starter that has stood for over a day and smells sharply sour is ideal. Rye bread slices better and tastes better 1 to 2 days after baking. From Peter's Sourdough Book.

What we use

Bread Pan Bread Pan $30.00 USD
Kornby Mølle Rye Flour BIO 4,0kg Kornby Mølle Rye Flour BIO 4,0kg $16.00 USD
Bread Thermometer Bread Thermometer $21.00 USD
Dough Scraper Dough Scraper $4.00 USD

If there's one bread that defines Danish food culture, it's rugbrød. Dense, dark, slightly sour, and absolutely essential for a proper smørrebrød.

Made with sourdough, it has a depth of flavour that you simply can't achieve with commercial yeast.

The Most Important Step

Dough scraper for rye bread

Wait. Wrap the bread in a clean cloth and rest for at least 12 hours, ideally 24, before cutting. This lets the crumb set completely. Cutting too early gives you a gummy texture.

It's worth the wait. Every time.

Peter, Simpel Surdej

1 comment

    • Malene
    • August 5, 2026 at 8:18 am

    Virkelig godt rugbrød. Er ret vild med at opskriften er så simpel og nem at gå til. Det bliver et lækkert rugbrød, som er blødt, saftigt og dejlig rund smag – ikke så surt som meget købe rugbrød. Jeg er fan af den her “grundopskrift”, det bliver min go-to fremover. Tak for den!

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