• In mixing bowl or KitchenAid mixing bowl, combine water, bootstrap molasses, seeds and orange flavouring.
• In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (Instant Yeast, rye flour, bread flour, salt) to ensure dry ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Gradually stir in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, mixing by hand or by stirring using KitchenAid dough hook for about 5 minutes until all ingredients thoroughly mixed. The dough should be sticky and should not be wet like a batter nor too dry.
• Troubleshooting #1: If too wet, stir in 1/4 cup of bread or all-purpose flour. Repeat if the dough is still too wet.

  Troubleshooting #2: If the dough is too dry, stir in one tablespoon of water. Repeat if the dough is still too dry.

Kneading:

• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a tea towel. After 15 minutes, knead the dough again for 2 minutes by KitchenAid or 4 minutes by hand. Repeat the previous step twice more as it will help strengthen the dough so gluten forms and the bread can hold its shape.

Bulk Proofing:

• After the final kneading, cover the dough with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Omit tea towel if you are baking on a hot day. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 12-14 hours for the bulk proofing.

Shaping:

• After the 12-14 hour proofing period, the dough should have doubled in size. Shape the dough into a boule (round) or batard (oblong) shape. My technique is to stretch and fold the dough in the mixing bowl. However, since this dough is so wet due to the rye flour, I scrape the dough out onto a floured board to fold the dough about 4-6 times and then shape it into a boule or batard.

Final Rise:

• After shaping, place the dough into a proofing basket or a bowl lined with a well floured towel. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and tea towel. Let the dough rise for 1 or 1 1/2 hours. How to tell how long to do final proof: If you poke the dough and it does not spring back up right away, then the dough is ready for baking. Conversely, if you poke the dough and it springs back quickly, then you need to let it proof for longer.

Baking:

• Boil a few cups of water for the steam bath. The boiling water will be used to create steam in the oven which will create the perfect crust. Place pizza stone/baking vessel and a NON-GLASS baking dish/pan into oven.
• NOTE: Use a NON-GLASS baking dish. Adding boiling water to a glass dish, even a Pyrex dish, can cause the glass to shatter on contact inside your hot oven.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 45 minutes to get the stone very hot. Rub the dough with rice flour or a corn starch and water wash to get that authentic bakery artisan bread look. The rice flour or corn starch wash will provide a nice contrast to the dark rye when scored. Score the dough with a lame (razor blade with a handle) or a sharp serrated knife. Place bread onto the stone or into baking vessel. Add the boiling water to the non-glass baking dish. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes or until thermometer reads 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cooldown:

• Remove bread from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for at least one hour. It will be worth the wait! Otherwise, the inside of your bread could still be gummy straight out of the oven. The bread should "sing" when you tap the crust of the loaf. Tapping on the bottom of the bread should sound hollow.
• Troubleshooting: If the bottom of the bread feels too soft, the pizza stone may have not been hot enough. Place bread back in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for an hour