Rye Bread: Tips, Techniques & Recipes

[tillie baker]

Does anyone have a decent rye bread recipe? I've been trying to work out a 2 1/2# loaf for my bakery and am having very little luck. We bake a multigrain and a white sandwich bread that works great but the rye recipes I've tried are either like bricks or don't taste like rye at all (I've even bought the king arthur rye flavoring to add but don't think it improves the flavor all that much). I need to be able to make the dough a day ahead and proof and shape it then leave it overnight to proof the next day to bake (at least this is what I do with my other breads).

Any advice would be very welcome!!!

thanks stacey

[takomabaker]

Try Nancy Silverton's from Breads from La Brea Bakery.

amazon link

I have NOT tried her rye starter breads yet (still working my way through the white and whole wheat starter recipes) but I have amazing success with her other breads and her proofing method sound perfect for you.

Does anyone have a decent rye bread recipe?  I've been trying to work out a 2 1/2# loaf for my bakery and am having very  little luck.  We bake a multigrain and a white sandwich bread that works great but the rye recipes I've tried are either like bricks or don't taste like rye at all (I've even bought the king arthur rye flavoring to add but don't think it improves the flavor all that much).  I need to be able to make the dough a day ahead and proof and shape it then leave it overnight to proof the next day to bake (at least this is what I do with my other breads). 

Any advice would be very welcome!!!

thanks stacey

←

[glennbech]

Are you looking for a 100% rye bread, or a mixed wheat/rye?

[tillie baker]

either or...I'm thinking a rye /wheat blend would rise higher but I still want something that when you eat it you think rye....

[Kent D]

I'm no help, my last sourdough rye, while flavorful, caused my family a significant amount of digestive distress, and they have asked me not to re-attempt.

[Beanie]

I made a Jewish rye a few weeks ago based on this recipe and it was very good. The instructions are quite lengthy, but very informative. I had heard about the use of old bread ("Altus") in rye, but had never used it myself. The use of a cornstarch solution to make the crust shiny was also new to me. This recipe may not meet your needs, but I think you'll find it interesting nonetheless.

[glennbech]

There is a recipe if I remember, in "The hand made loaf" by Dan Lepard, for a 100% rye bread whole meal rye is boiled. The boiled rye goes into the dough, and the outside of the loaf is also treated with this.

I've seen Dan lurking in this forum, he can correct me If Im wrong. Maybe I'll try the recipe out, and post results in this Thread :-) Maybe we all should chip in, and have a "Rye baking contest" .-)

[glennbech]

I'm no help, my last sourdough rye, while flavorful, caused my family a significant amount of digestive distress, and they have asked me not to re-attempt.

←

Lol ! :-) Call me a french snob (even if Im norwegian), but I I find that Rye tastes a little bit like animal fodder :-) I also find Rye very difficult to manually handle as it sticks to bl**dy everything, and is impossible to get of your hands after baking ! :-) Even a 20-30% rye dough will mess up my kitchen

[tillie baker]

Thanks, I'll have to give this a try?

Any one with other suggestions?

[glennbech]

I got a little enthustiastic about rye baking, and before I knew it I had a 800g loaf in the fridge for baking tomorrow. I'll post a complete picture sequence tomorrow, even if the whole experiment goes bad, promise! :-)

My loaf is based on Dan Lapard's 100% sour rye recipe, using a rye leaven. Since I had none, I made a wheat sponge whith instant yeast. If I had a bit more time, I would have activated my dormant wheat leaven that has separated in it's Jar in the fridge... Next time maybe.

The recipe reserves no time for initial fermentation, only proofing, up to 5 hours room temperature. That is timing for natural leaven, my guess is that my yeasted loaf will proof faster.

I'm going to do no initial room temperature proofing and 12 hours+ in the fridge. Tomorrow the loaf will get 2-3 hours of "wake up" time before baking.

The trick wit hthis recipe is to boil water, and when it cools to about 90 degrees c, whisk in rye flour to get a gelatinous mass that will help the elasticity of the loaf. The loaf will aslo get a treatment of this flour before baking, to improve crust.

I've said this before... working with rye is a mess! On the positive side, I've just found a good technique for removing it from hands etc. It seems that the only thing that really works is hard mechanical scrubbing with a brush :-)

I'll post my results tomorrow :-)

Edited March 14, 2007 by glennbech (log)

[panini]

Does anyone have a decent rye bread recipe?  I've been trying to work out a 2 1/2# loaf for my bakery and am having very  little luck.  We bake a multigrain and a white sandwich bread that works great but the rye recipes I've tried are either like bricks or don't taste like rye at all (I've even bought the king arthur rye flavoring to add but don't think it improves the flavor all that much).  I need to be able to make the dough a day ahead and proof and shape it then leave it overnight to proof the next day to bake (at least this is what I do with my other breads). 

Any advice would be very welcome!!!

thanks stacey

←

I am so new I don't even know how to post properly. I wanted to mention clear flour if you are mixing the day before. I've always used a percentage blend with rye depending on my needs.

pan

[glennbech]

I know the original post requested a recipe for a rye bread to use in a bakery. This post might be a bit "off topic", I guess I got a little carried away , I hope you all don't mind!

Here is my atempt at a rye, heavily inspired by Dan Lepard's 100% sour rye recipe from the Handmande loaf. I say "Inspired by" because I have no natural rye leavin, and my wheat starter needs activation.

I baked this as a yeasted bread, with an instant yeast sponge of wheat, making it about 72% non-sour rye instead... Now that I think of it, I regret not using rye for the sponge as well...

You might say that it's not even the same bread as in the original recipe.

You are probably right, but for me this was all about trying out the incorporation of a gelatinous water/flour mix, obtained by mixing rye flour into near-boiling water, into the dough, to improve rising capabilities and elasticity in the dough.

The results where pretty good, but the loaf looks like a brick. I would have liked it to proof more like a baton in a basket, or a couche. But the taste was excellent, and the crumb pretty open and light for such a loaf.

Here goes... Water is boiled, then quickly reduced to 80 degrees c

After mixing in the rye flour (i used fine flour here), you end up with something like this picture. Please note that mine is a bit thick, because I let too much of the water evaporate from my boiling pot.

My instant yeast sponge ... (100g water/100g Wheat flour, 1 teaspoon of instant yeast) One hour later, the flour/water mix is a bit colder, and the sponge has grown "a bit" :-)

... All ingredients are combined, and my work surface looks like a mess :-) This loaf is going to be a baton.

...

...

....

... Here we are ready for the fridge....

After an overnight stay in the fridge, it took it out and let it proof for about 5 hours.

I had to make some extra water/rye mix

glazed....

... And baked...

... After cutting it...

Edited March 15, 2007 by glennbech (log)

[qrn]

Trying to make some rye that tastes like the really goodf tasting "dark "stuff in the groceries..

Their bread has things like "rye flavor" and things to make it really black.

I have found recipies that have coffee and cocoa etc in them.

Is there a rye that has that taste ,without all of that "stuff" in it...The ryes that I have made have been less than flavorful. The last that I made had mostly caraway seeds in it for flavor...It was "OK" but not great,,,

Any direction would be appreciated...

Bud

[Kerry Beal]

Find a copy of 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker' by George Greenstein. It will tell you everything you need to know. I've made great jewish rye and pumpernickle from the directions in this book.

[tino27]

I'm confused. You want all of the flavor, but don't want to add any of the ingredients that give you the flavor? True, a light rye won't have the coffee/cocoa additions to it, but a dark rye has to get the color and the flavor from somewhere. Is there some reason you are looking to avoid certain flavor additives?

Note ... I am not a big believer in grocery store breads. They add way too many additives and preservatives for my taste. But adding things like coffee or cocoa powder in a homemade loaf doesn't bother me if those are the colors/flavors I am looking to highlight in the final loaf.

[Sif]

I bake my own rye, but probably not what you are looking for, being 100% rye and very dense (Danish rye). I just wanted to add that I put beer in my rye to give it more flavor. I use one that is very dark and sweet. Maybe that would be worth trying if you don't want too much rye but still want flavor.

[jackal10]

Here is a wonderful recipe from my Danish friend Marianne, who makes very good bread. The long slow cooking is important.

Danish Rye Bread

Starter

3-4 Tbsp. Salt

1 ½ litre (1500 ml) water

750 g rye flour

750 g wheat flour

1000g cracked rye kernals

1 lager beer + water

100ml rye starter

Mix the starter with salt. Add the water and stir till almost dissolved.

Add rye and wheat flour and turn with a spoon till blended.

Let rest covered overnight, preferably at a cool space.

Next day mix in cracked rye plus beer and water. The consistency should be sticky and quite stiff. (Ex. 333 ml beer + 200 ml water or 250 ml beer + 280 ml water).

Fill a jam jar ¾ up with mixture for new starter and keep it refrigerated

till next baking.

Scrape the dough into 2 greased bread tins and let rest at room temperature for at least 4 hours.

Bake in bottom of oven for 1 hour at 100 degrees Celsius.

Turn temperature to 200 degrees and bake for another hour.

Brush the bread with butter and bake for a further ½ hour at 200 degrees.

Remove from tins after 5 minutes and let cool on a rack.

[Kerry Beal]

The dark colour comes from burnt sugar. You cook sugar until it is black, dissolve in a little water and add that to get your dark.

[qrn]

I'm confused. You want all of the flavor, but don't want to add any of the ingredients that give you the flavor? True, a light rye won't have the coffee/cocoa additions to it, but a dark rye has to get the color and the flavor from somewhere. Is there some reason you are looking to avoid certain flavor additives?

Note ... I am not a big believer in grocery store breads. They add way too many additives and preservatives for my taste. But adding things like coffee or cocoa powder in a homemade loaf doesn't bother me if those are the colors/flavors I am looking to highlight in the final loaf.

←

I really dont care if its real dark or not, the flavor /consistancy is my goal...The store stuff is very fluffy and has a good "rye " flavor., which may not really be rye, but caraway or what ever flavor they put in it. As light as it is, I suspect it is mostly a wheat bread with maybe a bit of rye so they can call it rye.It is definately not a naturally levaned product. I have made a real sourdough rye with a real s/d starter and it a completely different animal. I will re read this thread and try some things and report back....

Thanks

Bud

[jupe]

For some reason I've always had terrible luck making rye breads. Not any one thing in particular, but it seems like it brings out the worst bad habits for me--loaves sticking to pans like cement after baking, not giving enough time for bulk rising or proofing, shaping badly, and so on. On the one hand it's been driving me batty, but on the other hand I've learned a ton of what not to do (drinking wine while cooking usually works for me, drinking while baking is a disaster in the making).

So yesterday I decided to make a couple loaves, and I decide, "dangit, it won't win this time!" and start up a batch of 60% white, 40% dark rye. After applying all the painful lessons I've learned in the past three years baking bread as a hobby, I can now say I've baked a loaf of rye I'm really, really proud of.

It is far from perfect--I didn't score the tops of the boules deep enough so I got larger holes than I wanted, but all in all it's the tastiest, most attractive rye I've ever baked. Not as good as some of the sourdoughs I've done (must--revive--starter!!), but it's moments like this that really reinforce this hobby.

I used 600kg white flour, 400kg dark rye, a large handful of oats, two tbsp of honey, 20g salt, and a little grapeseed oil. I finished the top with oats and the bottom with corn meal. The crust is pretty thin (which is what i was shooting for), and the crumb is airy, fluffy, and dee-lish-us.

next up has *got* to be pumpernickel.

[wesza]

Traditional American Rye Breads were of 2 types originally from the east coast.

"Jewish Rye Bread", and one very rarely baked currently, but more delicious, long lasting and tasty, "CORN BREAD". Corn Bread was baked in 1 pound rounds or 5/6 pound rounds where pieces were cut off at the bakery and sold by weight. Both Breads were made with or without seeds.

Both breads contained very little rye flour. There also evolved from these 2 breads, "PUMPERNICKEL", with or without seeds.

I believe the largest "Jewish Rye Bread" ever baked was 8 feet long about 20 + pounds sent via air freight from Kasanoff's Bakery in Boston to Lindy's in Hong Kong. Photos were shown in NY, Boston papers and magazines.

Irwin

[jupe]

Traditional American Rye Breads were of 2 types originally from the east coast.

"Jewish Rye Bread", and one very rarely baked currently, but more delicious, long lasting and tasty, "CORN BREAD".  Corn Bread was baked in 1 pound rounds or 5/6 pound rounds where pieces were cut off at the bakery and sold by weight. Both Breads were made with or without seeds.

when you say corn bread are you referring to the style of rye that reinhart mentions in the bread bakers apprentice--rye completely encrusted with corn meal?

[thegreatdane]

My grandfather was a Danish baker. He made a very dense 100% rye bread. I did my version with a rye levain, rye flour, rye meal, and whole rye, and enough water to hold it together. It was medium brown, not dark, with a nice full rye flavor, and very dense. It was very good sliced thin, about 3/16ths of an inch, with any number of things piled on top, for open-faced sandwiches. A smear of butter, some mustard greens, and a slice of ham... Wow, I wish I had some now.

[weinoo]

I'm currently in the process of experimenting with rye breads using no yeast.

I recently bought Ed Wood's Classic Sourdoughs and have been following his template, which in one form or another basically is fermenting starter with a cup to a cup and a half of flour and a cup of water for 8 - 12 hours (depending on temp), adding another cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water and fermenting that for 8 - 12 hours, followed by shaping, proofing and finally, baking the dough. Here's what the dough looked like after the second long fermentation.

Additionally, for rye bread, I have been baking in loaf pans - I want something that I'm able to slice and freeze and that will basically give me nice even slices.

The first recipe I tried was a German rye bread - very light on the rye, like 5:1. Came out great, if lacking a bit of rye flavor I'm looking for.

Then, yesterday I baked a couple of loaves, with double the amount of rye flour; one in a pan and the other free formed. I have a feeling I over - proofed; check out the holes in the proofed bread Sorta forgot the loaves were proofing and by the time I went in to pre-heat the oven, this is what the loaf looked like.

The boule separated dramatically while baking.

But the loaf pan baked up pretty nicely, though the crumb doesn't look as nice as the one above. The flavor of the rye is much more pronounced - perhaps 50-50 is the way to go on the flours.

So - over - proofed or what? Anyone else baking sourdough ryes.

[abooja]

I'm starting to dabble with the idea of baking that "great loaf of rye bread" that I talked about in Recipe Challenge 2010. I will follow George Greenstein's (Jewish) Sour Rye recipe, substituting my wheat sourdough starter for the rye starter, and making up for the loss of rye flavor with the addition of altus, or soaked and mashed old (rye) bread. Only problem is, and this is a biggie -- if I don't have a loaf of old rye bread laying around, having never made it, what the heck do I use for the altus? Do I pick up a loaf of rye at Moishe's when I'm in Manhattan next week and save a portion, bake an inferior loaf of rye bread, wait a week, and use that, use a hunk of Beefsteak rye, or just forgo the altus altogether?

I may have just answered my own question, but suggestions would still be appreciated.