Naturally Leavened Rye and Oat Bread - Breadtopia

Rye flour has different chemistry and a whole lot less gluten than wheat flour so it is difficult to get it either to rise or to cook through. This Rye and Oat bread made with freshly milled rye flour and oat flour milled from oat groats was never kneaded. I mixed the flour with water, honey, salt, and my rye starter according to the Breadtopia formula, added some oat groats I cracked in my new mortar and pestle and then baked a lot longer than the recipe suggested: ninety minutes in a covered Pullman pan.

After coming from the oven, rye breads need to continue to release moisture or their innards will be gummy and I let this one sit untouched for 36 hours and it was still super moist in the interior. The upside is that rye bread is generally very sour, dense enough to cut into very thin slices, sweet like molasses,  resists staling for more than a week, and when toasted produces a crackly exterior, soft interior, and deepened sweetness that pairs with any topping of cheese or canned fish.