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Rye bread formed into two loaves and glazed
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German Rye Bread (without sourdough)

A simple but authentic recipe for making good, solid German rye bread in North America.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 10 minutes
Rising time (if done by hand)2 hours 40 minutes
Total Time4 hours
Course: Bread
Cuisine: German
Servings: 1 loaf
Calories: 2879kcal
Cost: $1

Equipment

  • Bread machine
  • Braided basket (optional)

Ingredients

Main

  • 2 tsp yeast rapid rise or as recommended
  • 500 g rye flour (30 oz)
  • 250 g white flour (13 oz) all-purpose or bread
  • 20 g dark brown sugar (4½ tsp)
  • 2 tsp salt or to taste
  • 3 tsp vegetable oil safflower, olive, or other
  • 420 ml water

Glaze/topping

  • 1 egg white OR
  • white flour

Instructions

Bread machine

  • Follow the instructions for basic dough; try another setting should the results not be satisfactory.

By hand

  • Place yeast and water into a bowl suitable for mixing the dough (in this instance, one's yeast preference may be used). Leave to site in a warm place until the yeast begins to foam slightly.
  • Mix the dry ingredients together in such as fashion that sugar and salt and well distributed; sift if necessary.
  • Combine yeast-water mixture, dry mix, and oil. Dump onto a suitable surface and knead well.
  • Form the dough into a ball, cover with a bit of vegetable oil (to prevent it drying out and forming a crust), and return it to the bowl
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep out draught and foreign matter, and and place in a warm location to rise for ca. 2 hours.
  • Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, return it to the work area, punch down, knead once more, and form into a loaf ca. 1'/30cm long.
  • Place on parchment paper, cover once more and leave to rise ca. 40 minutes or until it has once again doubled in size.

Glazing/topping

  • There are two typical ways to finish off the loaf: glazing and flouring. The former is a little more complicated but produces a very nice result; the latter is straightforward, and also very nice.
  • A. For glazing, beat an egg white (dilute with a little water as desired) and brush the loaf, then slash diagonally several times. Bake at 375℉/190℃ for 20 minutes; reglaze and bake another 20 minutes; reglaze a final time (optional toppings such as sesame seeds or the like can be added here) and bake a final 30 minutes or until the crust has achieved a suitable browning.
  • B. Alternatively, sprinkle white flour over the loaf and press it into an appropriately-sized braided basket, place it on the baking surface, and remove the basket—this will leave a nice patter on the loaf. Bake at 375℉/190℃ for the full 70 minutes or until the crust has achieved a suitable browning.