Basic Rye Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Weigh out ingredients for the starter in your mixing bowl and whisk together. They should be the consistency of pancake batter.
• Measure out the remaining bread flour into the mixing bowl with starter (on top of starter).
• Make two wells in the dry bread flour, add the salt and caraway seeds in one, the yeast in the other.
• Place mixing bowl on its stand, cover (loosely with plastic wrap or a lid), and let ferment for 1-4 hours. The yeast will become active during this time.
• Measure out vegetable oil and reserve until ready for use.
• After the preliminary ferment, add oil to bowl and mix with a dough hook until a smooth, elastic dough ball is formed, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a greased countertop (olive oil or Pam Spray works well).
• Knead into a ball (1 minute) and place into a dough riser lightly coated with oil. Spray top of dough with oil, cover and let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size*.
• Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 450°F Be sure that the stone and a cookie sheet (bottom shelf) are in the oven when you start pre-heating it.
• Turn bread dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and divide into two pieces.
• Form loaves and place them on a sheet of parchment paper that is roughly the same size as your pizza stone.
• Cover** and let rise for 45-60 minutes.
• After rising, slash the tops of the loaves using a serrated knife.
• Place the rolls in the oven using a pizza peel.*** At the same time, put a cup of ice on the cookie sheet to humidify your oven.
• Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 F and continue baking for another 40 minutes. If your oven has a convection bake setting, switch to convection for the last 10 minute of baking.
• Cool on wire racks and enjoy!
• *If you are not ready to form the loaves after the first rise, you can punch the dough down and let it rise again until doubled in size. **I use a plastic storage container that is designed to store things under my bed. It is the perfect size and keeps my dough safe from cats, dogs and other critters. ***An inverted cookie tray works in a pinch. ****If smaller loaves are desired, divide dough into four pieces and reduce baking time by 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Tip the flours, yeast and salt into a bowl. In a jug, mix the honey with 250ml warm water, pour the liquid into the bowl and mix to form a dough. Rye flour can be quite dry and absorbs lots of water, if the dough looks too dry add more warm water until you have a soft dough Tip out onto your work surface and knead for 10 mins until smooth. Rye contains less gluten than white flour so the dough will not feel as springy as a conventional white loaf.
• Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hrs, or until roughly doubled in size. Dust a 2lb/900g loaf tin with flour.
• Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles. If using caraway seeds work these in to the dough. Shape into a smooth oval loaf and pop into your tin. Cover the tin with oiled cling film and leave to rise somewhere warm for a further 1 - 1.5 hr, or until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove the cling film and dust the surface of the loaf with rye flour. Slash a few incisions on an angle then bake for 30 mins until dark brown and hollow sounding when tapped. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool for at least 20 mins before serving

Steps:

• In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add remaining 1 3/4 cups water to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, along with remaining 3 tablespoons honey, butter, caraway seeds, and salt. Mix on low to combine. Gradually add both flours, one 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 doubled 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 and divide in half.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a 7-by-7-inch square. Fold dough into thirds; press seam to adhere and pinch ends to seal. Place seam-side down in loaf pan. Repeat process with remaining piece of dough.
• In a small bowl, mix egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush mixture over tops of loaves; sprinkle with caraway seeds.
• Spray two pieces of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray; drape loaves with prepared plastic wrap and let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees on a conventional oven or 425 degrees on a convection oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees (conventional) or 375 degrees (convection).
• Uncover loaves and transfer to oven. 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.

Steps:

• Place all of the ingredients in the breadmaker in the order listed. Set the machine for the regular cycle and light color. Start the machine and go somewhere and do something else.
• When the cycle is finished, removed the bread from the pan and let it cool on a rack. This is wonderful while still slightly warm with sweet unsalted butter, or refrigerate it and slice into thin even slices for sandwiches.

Steps:

• Cook on light cycle in your bread maker machine.