Here you go! This is courtesy of "Mini-Oven" on The Fresh Loaf forum. I've also added a bunch of rye meal, rye chops and flax to this to make a volkornbrot which was even better! Just maintain the same starter, flour and water ratios and it will work great. For the spices, I use 1tbsp of caraway, 1 tsp of fennel and 1 tbsp of onion. This fits into a large Pullman pan (King Arthurs is what I use) perfectly at the same amounts that Mini used. The last time I baked this as a volkornbrot I actually baked on 250 degrees (more or less, in the camper) all through the night! This was the most amazing loaf yet. I don't bulk proof and shape. I simply mix up the dough and spread into a pullman pan, letting it rise to almost the top of the pan (no more than 8 hours or you'll have enzyme starch attack) and bake. If you want to make it in a different pan and need a spreadsheet to figure the ratios email me and I can send you a spreadsheet. Here it is, Thanks Mini!: "I've been playing with rye loaf ratios (starter/water/flour) and I came up with one using any amount of rye starter that when refreshed is a paste (100% hydration) and as it ferments loostens to a thick batter. I was looking for basic numbers (like 1/2/3) and I found them they're 1/ 3.5/ 4.16. It makes Rye so much easier! The starter should be generously refreshed 8-12 hours before and mixed into the dough just before peaking and in a 22c room (72°F) the dough ferments 7-8 hours before baking. Dough should not be folded or shaped 4 hours before going into the oven. Basic Ratio> 1 part starter: 3.5 parts cold water: 4.16 parts rye flour 4 tablespoons bread spice for 500g flour Salt 1.8 to 2% of flour weight Hydration of dough aprox 84%. Handle dough with wet hands and a wet spatula. Combine starter and water then the flour, stir well and let rest covered. Add salt about one hour after mixing and any other ingredients. If room is warmer add salt earlier. Three hours into the ferment lightly fold with wet hands and shape into a smooth ball. Place into a well floured brotform or oiled baking pan. Cover and let rise. Don't let it quite Double for it will if conditions are right. Before placing in the oven, use a wet toothpick and dock the loaf all over to release any large bubbles. Bake in covered dark dish in cold oven Convection 200°C or 390°F (oven can reach 220°C easy with the fan on.) Remove cover after 20 to 25 minutes and rotate loaf. Reduce heat by simply turning off convection and use top & bottom heat at 200°C. Remove when dough center reaches 93°C or 200° F. All kinds of combinations are possible including addition of soaked & drained seeds and or cooked berries or moist altus and whole or cracked walnuts or a little spoon of honey. How it works: I have 150g rye starter at 100% hydration. I figure for water: 150 x 3.5 gives the water amount or 525g. I figure the flour: 150 x 4.16 gives 624 g Rye flour. For salt: 2% of 700g (624g + aprox. 75g in the starter) makes salt 14g or one level tablespoon of table salt. This amount of dough took 1 1/2 hours to bake and included moist rye altus. It was baked in two non-stick cast aluminum sauce pans (20cm diameter) one inverted over the other . The rounder of the two on the bottom. No steam other than what was trapped inside. Top removed after 25 minutes. It has a beautiful dark crust with a light shine. Aroma is heavenly"

There's probably no one single answer to your question, but here are some things to consider: 1. Exact measures (cups or weight) for flour in recipes for bread making is only a good guess. You must go by the feel of the dough and only add as much flour as is required to make a nice soft dough. Depending on the bakers' percentages (of dry to liquid) and the type of bread, it may even need to be a very well-hydrated, loose dough and "wetter is better" in that case. Wet dough = a holey texture. Because of differences in the moisture level of the flour, the differences in the protein levels of flour from one bag to another (gluten really soaks up a lot of hydration), even the differences in the amount of humidity in the air in the kitchen from one baking day to another, all influence the hydration of the dough and you may need more or less flour than the recipe calls for. I make sourdough bread and NEVER measure the flour - it's by "feel". 2. Depending on how much rye flour you are adding (it suggests 1 c. or 1/2 c., or more) the stickier your dough will be. That's a characteristic of rye flour in bread dough. If you don't know this, you may be adding more flour to compensate for the stickiness and have actually added too much flour. Dry dough = dry bread and occasionally, a "brick". It certainly won't have that nice open texture you are looking for. Expect a lot of stickiness in rye bread dough. Always err to the side of a wet dough. 3. Doubling the recipe... You may be getting different results because you haven't kneaded it enough (due to the additional bulk) to develop the gluten. It may take more kneading time. Are you doing a test, such as windowpaning (aka membrane test) to see if the gluten has developed enough during kneading? 4. Dough does NOT rise to a clock, rather to the amount and strength of the yeast, as well as the moisture and ambient temperature. I use a dough rising bucket with a tight-fitting lid on it (aka dough doubler) for accurately knowing when dough has "doubled". If you put 1-qt./1-L in a dough rising bucket, when the dough is up to the 2-qt./2-L line (there are usually graduated measurements on these plastic tubs), you know the dough has doubled. It eliminates the guess work and it's the ONLY accurate way to know how much your dough has risen. Certainly not an inacurate slant-sided bowl, nor by using the poke-it-with-your-fingers test method after playing peek-a-boo with the dough hidden under a towel. A straight-sided dough rising bucket is accurate and it holds the moisture in to prevent the dough from drying out, with the lid. If you don't cover dough properly, the air can create a skin on the dough surface and it will prevent the dough from rising properly. In this particular recipe, I suspect "double" is allowing it to rise too much. Because our flour is no longer bromated, it doesn't have the extensibility it used to have when "double" was the normal standard for how long to allow the dough to rise. You also have the addition of rye flour that has very little gluten, therefore going to "double" may actually be slightly over-proofing the dough. "Double" for a rustic loaf is also probably allowing it to rise too much. Double again for the final proofing, and you may end up with a shorter loaf due to over-proffing the dough twice. You also don't say what type of flour you are using. I'd suggest a high-protein bread flour such as King Arthur or Robin Hood, in combination with rye. If you are using all-purpose flour, you may need to add some gluten to the recipe. 5. How are you adding moisture to the oven? Because of the additional bulk in the oven (2 loaves instead of 1) you may not be getting as much oven-spring from the method you are using to add moisture. I'd suggest Christopher Kimball's method (as described in "The Cook's Bible". Place a small cast iron skillet on a separate (low) rack in the oven during pre-heating. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Wear thick oven mits and long sleeves to protect your arm, and pour the boiling water from a (new/clean) long-spouted watering can into the skillet. Shut the door and no peeking. If you open the door in the first 20 minutes of baking, you'll let out the steam. No spritzing necessary. The "dash of water" in the oven, and the continual spritzing method aren't enough moisture for a good amount of oven spring to the loaves. Another bad method is tossing ice cubes in the oven.... See if there is something there that makes some sense to you. Good luck! -Grainlady

Hey JoAnn! I've had this recipe for Jewish Rye for quite a while. Don't remember where I got it, nor have I ever tried it. If you do, please post the results. ABM JEWISH RYE BREAD 1-1/8 cup water 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tblsp. sugar 2 cups white flour (for darker rye, substitute whole wheat flour for up to 3/4 cup) 1 cup rye flour (for lighter rye, substitute white flour for up to half the rye) 1 Tblsp. olive oil (optional -- it seems to make the bread stay fresh longer and some people prefer the texture) 1 Tblsp. caraway seeds 1/4 cup chopped onions (optional) 2 tsp. yeast Place all ingredients in bread machine in recommended order on the dough cycle. After first rise, remove dough, place on a bread board and punch down. If dough is too sticky, covering your hands or the bread board with corn meal or white flour usually is enough to bring it to the right consistency. If using a bread pan, shape loaf and place it in oiled bread pan. If you have a pizza stone, don't use a bread pan; shape the dough into a loaf or a ball or as you like and place it on a floured board (or the pizza peel). In either case, slash top with a sharp knife, cover the dough with a tea towel and leave it to rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven (preferably with pizza stone) to 450° F. The stone makes the bread crustier and gives a better contrast between the crust and the interior crumb. Spritz walls of oven with water twice before putting loaf in. (Omit for a less crusty bread). Bake thirty minutes at 450° F., spritzing the oven walls once more after five minutes, or, alternatively, bake fifteen minutes at 450° F., then reduce heat to 350° F. and bake thirty minutes more. Remove and allow to cool on rack.

I'm probably not the person to reply, but I agree that maybe the ham would be better not chopped very fine, shouldn't make a dif with the machine. I have made a pepperoni bread with slight chunks & liked to bite into the pepperoni. The cheese will probably melt anyway so I don't really think larger pieces will make much difference. I don't know that cubing would make it less likely to burn, seems like it would be more likely. I think the rye could very well overpower other flavors, just add a bit more mustard & onion. I have made a bread using fresh onion & liked it quite well, although it might have even less flavor than dried? I know dried herbs have more flavor than fresh. Of course, I could be nudging you entirely the wrong direction, but that is what I would try. Sounds tasty, I may have to give this a try, but will be a while before I get a chance. If you try again with alterations, please let us know how it turns out.