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1
Refresh the lievito madre at least twice before beginning, allowing a full fermentation cycle between each refresh. The starter is ready when it has doubled and smells sharply sour — a flat or milky smell means insufficient acidity; proceed only when the acid tang is pronounced.
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2
Combine the rye flour, salt, and whole caraway seeds in a large bowl and mix briefly to distribute. Add the lievito madre and the lukewarm water at 70–75% hydration (350–375 ml). Mix with a stiff spatula or wet hands until a cohesive, very sticky mass forms. Do not knead: rye dough cannot be worked in the conventional sense. The dough is ready when no dry flour remains and the mass holds together as a single, dense, porridge-like body.
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3
Transfer the dough into a sealed loaf tin, smoothing the surface with wet hands. Brush the top with water. Score decisively down the centre with a wet blade — rye's sticky surface requires the blade to be rewetted for a clean, unragged cut. Cover with a damp cloth and prove at room temperature until the dough has risen visibly and small cracks appear along the score; rye rises slowly and modestly — look for a surface that has shifted from flat to gently domed.
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4
This is where the bread lives or dies. Bake in the sealed loaf tin in a wood-fired or conventional oven at high heat. The tin must remain sealed throughout baking: the steam trapped inside creates the characteristic dense, even crumb. Open-baked rye collapses. The loaf is done when it has pulled fractionally from the tin walls, the crust is deep mahogany, and a tap on the base returns a hollow sound.
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5
Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack for a minimum of 12 hours before cutting. The interior of pure rye bread is gummy and unset until fully cooled — cutting early produces a wet, collapsing crumb. The loaf is ready when sliced cleanly without drag and the crumb holds its edge.