I love rye and I treat this amazing grain with great respect. My preference for black bread instead of white leads from the childhood.
Because bread includes an acidic environment, I cook it not often, but simple rye flat cakes have become my favorites! But now let's talk about bread.
The whole secret of its splendor is in a durable, steady starter/sourdough. The longer the shelf life - the sourdough is stronger and more qualitative, so therefore, dear hostesses, "all the best come at their intended time")

Here is a very simple recipe, which I personally tried using a young  sourdough/starter:

Ingredients:

- Spoiled milk (for sourdough/starter)
- Rye flour
- Warm water

Sourdough/starter:

1st day: 1 cup sour milk + 1 cup rye flour (put in a warm place for 2 days)
3d day: supplement - add 1 cup of milk powder + 1 glass of rye flour (and leave for 2 more days)

Note:
- Put the remaining sourdough/starter  in the refrigerator (cover the jar with a dense gauze, so that the sourdough would breathe).
- When you need to bake again - get the sourdough/starter one day earlier to feed and activate.
- For sourdough, instead of spoiled milk it is possible to use a warm water (did not personally try it)

Conclusion: The bread turned out delicious, baked well, crusty crust. It rised by 25% because of a young, not yet strong sourdough.

Notes:

- To prevent the dough from sticking to your hands, moisten them with water or sunflower / olive oil.

- To pierce the dough or make decisions necessary that it doesn't lose the shape.

- For the splendor of the bread - sift flour through a sieve.

- Rye bread, for some reason, is always better the next day.

- If you want to diversify the taste of bread, then you need an opara.

- If you mix rye flour with wheat flour in proportion of 1: 2.5, you will get grayish bread / a bit drier than a rye bread, but also delicious/. The proportions can be changed according to preferences.

- Most often, the bread called rye, almost always has mix rye and wheat in it.