Fresh Ground Rye Bread

We love Rye Bread.

A few years ago, my husband got me a Whisper Mill for Christmas, and that in it self was a miracle. My husband would normally look at me strangely when I requested a grain mill, and so I did my best to get one at a discount. I got my first grain mill about 8 years ago at a discount at the local health food store, by asking them to let me know when they were putting their demo model in the store up for sale.I got it for under the price of a hand crank one. It was loud, it took forever, but it worked, and it was purchasable with garage sale money. Fast forward several years, and my dh is now hooked on fresh ground wheat and rye bread...and so when the grain mill began to act up, he felt panicked about losing out on fresh ground bread...and found one of my catalogues and bought me a WhisperMill that they had on sale. woo hoo. The key, girls, is to get your man addicted first.


So, I have learned to make all varieties of bread with fresh ground grains.We love fresh rye too. I buy that, as I do my wheat, in 50 lb bags at Country View Bulk Foods in Snover, Michigan, for quite a deal, and I store it in Bakery Buckets (aka "Cannister Sets for Large Families").

In keeping with the theme of "what else can I bake to warm the house up until the Consumers Energy Guy fixes my furnace" I made a few loaves of fresh Rye Bread too. mmm mmm

I began by grinding about 8 cups of rye berries with 2T of caraway seeds thrown in for flavor, and mixing in about 1/3cup of vital gluten into the flour (rye is low in gluten). I also made 4 cups of warm water, with 1 T of yeast mixed well into it. I added 3 cups of flour to this and let it sponge for about 30 minutes while I made my tiramisu (see below).

Next, I mixed in enough flour/gluten mix to form a workable dough, as well as 1/3 c. of oil, and 2T of honey. I also mixed in 2T of onion flakes, and 1t of dried minced garlic for flavor. This is optional but I like the flavor it gives the bread.

I turned the dough out onto a floured board, and kneaded it for about 10 minutes. Because Rye is not high in gluten, it is important to knead it super long to get good gluten formation (even with added gluten). It will still be pretty stiff and dense when you're done.


I let it rise for about 1 1/2 hours sitting over the pilot light of the stove.

I formed two loaves, and slashed the tops for decoration and to help it rise without breaking the loaf apart. I let these rise for about another hour. With rye, all of this rising helps improve the flavor to a more sourdough flavor.

I baked it for about 45 minutes. The following day (Thanksgiving) I sliced it thinly and served at the table.