To
make the Sponge: Stir together ¾ cup bread flour, ¾ cup dark rye flour and ½
teaspoon (from the envelope) instant yeast, sugar, molasses, warm water and
pickle juice in a medium bowl. Stir until thoroughly blended. This dough will
be like thick cake batter. Set aside.
In
a large bowl, mix together bread booster, remaining bread flour and rye flour, the rest of the yeast envelope,
ground caraway and salt. Sprinkle evenly over top of the sponge mix, covering
it completely, do not stir in. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and
let sit 1-4 hours or overnight, and up to 24 hours at room temperature to
ferment. The sponge will become frothy, bubbles will start to crack through the
flour.
When
ready, stir to combine the flour and sponge, add in the oil, mixing well either
by hand with a wooden spoon or transfer to a stand mixer with a dough
hook. Mix on low speed at first, then
increase speed to medium-low and knead for 6-8 minutes with dough hook
attachment. If the dough is sticky,
knead on a lightly floured surface with a tablespoon of bread flour at a time
or until smooth and elastic. Place dough
in a lightly greased bowl and cover and let rest until doubled in size, about 20-30 minutes.
Turn
the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently press to deflate
dough. If the dough is too sticky, dust
the surface lightly with bread flour and use a dough scraper to pick up and
fold over dough several times then retry shaping. Knead the dough several times
before flattening out to a 8 x 12” rectangle, roll dough up jelly-roll style
from long edge, pinch seam to seal and place seam side down on a parchment
lined baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal, cover with a large lid (like a
roasting pan lid) or oiled plastic wrap.
Let rise until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
Preheat
the oven to 450°F, place a cast iron or oven-proof pan on the bottom rack of
the oven. When it's time to bake, toss ½
cup ice cubes into the pan to create steam in the oven. If desired before baking, lightly brush loaf
with water and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Score loaf with 4 slashes ½“ deep
using a sharp knife or blade. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature
to 400°F and continue to
bake 35 minutes more, or until
an internal temperature of 190°F is reached. Remove from oven; cool completely
on a wire rack before slicing.