I think Bernard Clayton would love to have this recipe tried more. I made 2 round loaves out of this, but I'm sure you could shape it to suit your needs. Also, this is a three day 'sour' or 'sponge', but the only maintenance is a daily stir. I used a food processor, and learned that it wasn't recommended for a reason (!), so I'll just post the 'by hand' way.
I just wanted to add a thanks to those that tried and loved this recipe, and decided to review it and add pictures. Thank you, and I'm glad you derived as much pleasure out of it as I did.
This can be used as little as 6 hours after mixing, but I went the full three days with wonderful results.
04On the day you're baking, uncover and add the water, molasses, 1 tbsp caraway, egg, salt,rye flour, and about 2 cups of the white flour. Beat until smooth, about 100 strokes and add the shortening.
05Add the remainder of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time and stir or mix by hand until the dough is somewhat sticky still.
06Kneading:.
07Turn the dough out on a floured work surface and knead by hand with a strong push, turn and fold method for 8-10 minutes. Use a dough scraper to help and add sprinkles of flour to control stickiness.
08First Rise:.
09Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with wrap again. Leave at room temp until doubled, about an hour.
10Punch down and let rise an additional 10 minutes.
11Shaping:.
12I shaped mine into 2 round loaves as I mentioned, but I'm sure this could be panned or shaped how you'd prefer.
13Second Rise:.
14Cover loaves and let them double, about 40 minutes.
15Preheat oven to 375F 20 minutes before baking.
16Baking:.
17Rye loaves should be cut on top. Diagonally for long loaves, or tic tac toe for rounds, but it's up to you.
18Brush tops with the egg/milk mixture and sprinkle with the last tbsp of the caraway seeds.
19Bake for 40 minutes until they pass the thump test or until they're done by your method of testing.
20Cool on metal racks.
21Keeps for a week in a plastic bag, or you can freeze it for months!