Rúgbrauð - Icelandic Rye Bread

A particular specialty of Icelandic cuisine is the Icelandic rye bread, i.e. rúgbrauð. It is a bit similar to pumpernickel, but it is soft and fluffy and tastes sweet. 

Baking bread with the heat of the earth

Traditionally, this bread is baked in Iceland’s geothermally heated ground, then usually in a tin can, which is buried in the ground for 10 - 24 hours (depending on the temperature on site). This bread is known, for example, from Heimaey after the volcanic eruption in 1973, from the region on Mývatn or from the geothermal bakery at the swimming pool "Fontana" in Laugarvatn.

An oven of the village community

In some places, however, there are also communal "ovens" where the inhabitants can bake their rye bread in special devices with the hot steam of geothermal energy. 

A friend of ours lives here, and she showed me her "oven". In this steaming "tin barrel", there is a grid, on which you place a milk carton filled with your dough. Then you push the lid down again and screw it down. Then the bread bakes in hot steam. On the next day the rúgbrauð is ready. 

But in fact, you need at least two people when you put your dough in here, because the barrel is really hot, and I would have had big problems to screw down the lid on my own. 

Slow baking - baking time 12 to 24 hours

If you don't have geothermal energy available, you can also bake your rúgbrauð in the oven. Here I have  a recipe for you, which  is prepared with ab-mjólk (a special probiotic thick milk) or alternatively with yogurt. The bread is baked classically in empty, washed-out milk cartons (32 fl. oz. resp. 1 l) - here for about 11 hours at 200 °F (90 °C). 

Ingredients for 3 loaves of bread

460 g rye flour

260 g wholemeal wheat flour

3 tsp coarse sea salt

3 tsp baking soda

1 l ab-mjólk (or plain yogurt)

350 g syrup

oil for greasing

Preparation

Preheat the oven (circulating air) to  200 °F (90 °C).

In a very large bowl, mix the rye and wheat flour with the salt and baking soda.

Then add sour milk and syrup.

Mix everything thoroughly to a smooth dough.

Wash the milk cartons thoroughly, cut open the upper end, grease a little bit their insides.

Then fill the dough evenly into the prepared milk cartons, which should then be almost half filled (be careful, the dough really rises properly when baking!).

Cover the milk cartons thoroughly and firmly with two layers of aluminum foil. 

And bake in a preheated oven at 200 °F (90 °C) circulating air for about 11 hours.

Then take the bread out of the oven, carefully remove the aluminum foil and let the bread cool. Finally open the milk carton carefully and tear it off.

Cut the bread into slices and serve with fresh butter as an accompaniment to soup or fish dishes.

I had baked this bread here for a forum meeting of Iceland fans in Germany, where I had arranged an Icelandic lunch: meatless meat soup (we also had vegetarians with us) with rye bread with butter and for dessert cinnamon rolls and ástarpungar ("loveballs"). 

The bread tastes best fresh, but you can also cut it into slices and freeze it in portions if there is anything left.