I've used Rye Bread Improver and Deli Rye Flavor, but not Caramelized Coloring. I thought they were a waste of money.

When you look at the ingredients in Rye Bread Improver, you can use potato flakes, or potato starch or flour, your own vital wheat gluten, malt, etc... You can use potato water from boiled potatoes for all or a portion of the water in a recipe, instead of potato products. I sometimes malt my rye and dry it before I mill it to add that malty flavor. Malting the grain also makes it easier to digest. King Arthur used to sell malted rye grain and I used to mill it into flour and use it occasionally.

If you do purchase the ingredients you mentioned above, try to use them in King Arthur rye bread recipes that call for these ingredients first, so you can see how they work. They are designed for these products.

I mill my own rye flour and it is superior in flavor to using commercial rye flour. I can also mill it anywhere from fine to coarse, which allows for a variety of rye breads.

There are also several types of rye flour... If you use light rye flour, it has the bran and germ removed and is akin to using unbleached white flour and has little flavor and color. I use freshly milled rye for making cookies and quick breads as well.

Much of the flavor and color people associate with "rye bread" is from the add-ins, rather than the flour. Add-ins like coffee, molasses, cocoa, etc. Some even incorporate copious amounts of food coloring to darken them. The use of seeds and flavorings such as caraway, onion, anise, flax, and orange is traditional in various cultures.

As far as I'm concerned, more people associate the flavor of caraway with rye bread, not rye flour. You can add caraway seeds to white bread and people will assume it's rye, that's how dominate the flavor is in the bread and how it is associated with rye. If you want more flavor from your caraway seeds, grind a portion of them into a fine powder (using a spice mill, a suribachi and pestle or a mortar and pestle) and add it to the dough.

American pumpernickel has little to do with traditional pumpernickel. Traditional pumpernickel is a very dense mixture that is pressed into a pan (sometimes with a lid) and steam-baked for as much as 20-hours. The Germans call these varieties "kastenbrots", which translates as "box bread." If you have an Aldi store near you, they sell loaves of this type of bread - usually in the fall.

Danish ryes tend to be lighter and sweeter than most German ryes. Molasses and malt extract are popular ingredients in Danish rye. Danish ryes tend to contain either buttermilk or butter, or both, which helps preserve the loaves and gives them a richer and more open texture.

Rye bread is associated with a tighter crumb than wheat bread due to less gluten. You can get a more open texture by incorporating a slow-rise technique and using a high percentage of wheat flour, or additions of vital wheat gluten.

Because rye flour has little gluten in it, you need to mix your wheat flour into the liquid FIRST and beat it very well in order to develop the gluten while the mixture is still in the bowl. THEN add the rye flour.

If you want that "sour" flavor, use a rye flour based starter and make a naturally-leavened bread. When you use a typical direct dough method, which is the fastest way to make bread and the one most people use these days, you'll also give up a lot of flavor that can only develop from long, slow, cool rises.

The larger the percentage of rye flour you have in your recipe, the stickier the dough will be - even with the correct hydration. Sticky dough often means people add too much flour to their rye bread recipes while kneading and get a "brick" for a loaf. If you find you have difficulty kneading the sticky dough, place it in a large freezer-style zip-lock bag. Press out all the air, zip it shut, and knead the dough in the bag from the outside. You can still adjust the hydration, if necessary. Turn the bag inside out to remove the dough. This is one bag you won't be able to clean and reuse. Handle the dough with oiled hands. You can also knead the dough with wet hands (keep a small bowl of water handy to dip your hands in). This will help keep the dough well-hydrated. It's better to err on the side of a wet dough than a dry dough from adding too much flour to compensate for the stickiness.

You might enjoy some of the rye bread recipes associated with Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Seeded rye is also known as Jewish rye and is another popular rye bread.

Be sure to keep us posted on which rye bread recipes you like!

-Grainlady

Thank you Grainlady! What a ton of information.

T

Here's a Rye Bread recipe that I have used for years and quite enjoy.

RUSSIAN RYE BREAD

1 1/4 Cups Lukewarm Water
1/4 Cup Barley Malt Extract or Dark Honey
2 Teaspoons Active Dry yeast
1 1/2 Cups Medium Rye Flour
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoon Caraway Seed
3 Tablespoons Butter, melted
3 Cups Unbleached All-purpose Flour

Pour the Warm Water into a mixing bowl and add a teaspoon of the Malt Extract. Stir in the Yeast and the Rye Flour. Let the sponge work at least 20 minutes until it is expanded and bubbly.

Add the Salt, Caraway Seed, Butter and enough of the Unbleached Flour so that the dough begins to pull away from the sides as you mix it. Cover the dough and let stand for 5 minutes. Turn the dough onto a floured board and kneed until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding only enough additional Flour to keep the dough from sticking. Rye dough’s are always a bit sticky so resist the temptation to add more Flour. After kneading, shape the dough into a ball and place in a buttered bowl, turning to coat. Cover and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough and kneed briefly. Shape each half into an oval and place on a buttered baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375 o F oven for 45 minutes, or until crust is dark brown and the loaves sound hollow when thumped. Cool before slicing. Makes two loaves.

Steve

I use the deli rye flavor and caramelized color when I make dark rye bread and they are both great. The deli rye flavor is very strong. I keep it in my freezer, but it really does make the bread taste wonderful. The recipe I use is a KA recipe.
Sherry