Rye Bread Recipes From Scratch

CLASSIC RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle or dough-hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups water and 3 tablespoons honey. Whisk flour with salt; add 3 cups to yeast. Mix on low speed until smooth. Mix in 2 tablespoons caraway seeds. Add remaining 4 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.
• Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.
• Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. Butter two 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.
• Shape 1 dough half into an 8 1/2-inch-long rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush tops of loaves with egg wash (beaten egg white mixed with water), and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing.

REAL NY JEWISH RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Place bread flour, rye flour, potato flakes, caraway seeds, demarara sugar, yeast, and sea salt in the bowl of a large stand mixer. Turn mixer to low and thoroughly mix dry ingredients. Beat warm water, canola oil, and pickle juice into dry ingredients. Fit dough hook onto mixer and beat until dough is rough and shaggy-looking.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for exactly 30 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and knead dough in stand mixer with dough hook until smooth, firm, and only slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth, 1 to 2 more minutes.
• Form dough into a ball, place dough into an oiled bowl, and turn dough around several times in bowl to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set into a warm place, and let rise until nearly double, about 1 hour.
• Grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Turn dough onto a lightly oiled surface, shape into a log, and place into prepared loaf pan. Cover with a cloth kitchen towel and let rise until top of dough has risen slightly over top of pan, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Place rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake loaf until golden brown and cooked through, about 35 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 190 degrees F (90 degrees C). If loaf browns too quickly, cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil with shiny side out. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

OLD-WORLD RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, the mashed potatoes (dry), brown sugar, salt, 3/4 teaspoon caraway seed and the yeast. In 1-quart saucepan, heat buttermilk, water and oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until very warm (120°F to 130°F); stir into potato mixture until blended. Stir in rye flour and enough remaining all-purpose flour to make dough easy to handle.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead about 8 minutes or until smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover; let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. (If using fast-acting yeast, do not let rise 1 hour; cover and let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.)
• Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into rope, about 3 inches thick and 25 inches long. Curl dough into coil shape; tuck ends under. Place on cookie sheet. Cover; let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Brush water over dough; sprinkle with cornmeal and additional caraway seed. Bake 23 to 28 minutes or until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool.

100% RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Refresh a portion of your sourdough starter using equal parts rye flour and water. This will give you a rye starter that you can maintain like your other starter if you wish.
• This dough is very sticky and cement-like. I find that frequently dipping spoons, scrapers and your fingers into water helps reduce the mess that this dough loves to make.
• Make the sponge using a cup of the refreshed starter, the 3 cups of water, and the 4 cups of flour. Let this ferment, covered in a 70F to 80F area for 4 hours or until it doubles in volume. I use a clear, straight sided container to know when the fermentation is complete.
• After fermentation, place the sponge into a large bowl and add the sugar, salt, molasses and caraway. Add the rye flour a portion at a time until all is well mixed. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
• Scrape the dough onto a wetted counter. Traditional kneading is not possible. Using a wetted bench scraper and wet hands, just fold and mix as well as you can for a few minutes.
• Divide the dough in half and form two balls of dough.
• Spray two 8" x 4" bread pans (standard loaf pans) with oil and line with parchment paper. I spray the parchment paper as well.
• Preheat your oven to 375°F.
• Press the dough into the pans, smoothing with wet hands. Seeds or white flour can be added to the surface if desired. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. and let rise in a 70F to 80F area until the loaves rise about 30% (about 2- 3 hours).
• Bake for 45 minutes or longer until the internal temperature is 200°F I rotate the loaves in the oven after 20 minutes of baking.
• Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a rack thoroughly before slicing. The taste improves with time and the bread will last for several days or more at room temperature.
• Slice thinly - enjoy.

QUICK RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking sheet on center rack. Butter four 6-by-3-by-2-inch loaf pans, line with parchment, and butter parchment.
• Mix flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and seeds. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Whisk together yogurt, milk, honey, and eggs. Make a well in center of flour mixture, and pour in yogurt mixture. Stir well to combine (batter will be sticky). Spoon batter into pans, smoothing the tops. Scatter mixed seeds on top of batter.
• Transfer pans to baking sheet, and bake until loaves are slightly cracked and golden brown, about 1 hour. (A skewer inserted into centers should come out clean.) Let cool in pans for 15 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks, and let stand for 2 hours.

GERMAN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In a 4-qt. glass bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water; whisk in rye flour until smooth. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm place for about 4 hours or until batter falls about 1 in. and surface bubble activity is reduced. Stir in the sugar, caraway seeds, salt, 5 cups all-purpose flour and remaining water; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes., Divide dough into four portions. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Shape into four round loaves, about 6 in. each. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray; sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon cornmeal. Place loaves on pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes., With a sharp knife, make several slashes across the top of each loaf. Brush with egg. Sprinkle each loaf with 1 teaspoon caraway seeds. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes, rotating pans after 15 minutes, or until browned. Cool on wire racks.