Rye bread
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Rye bread is bread made with flour from rye grain of variable levels. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour. It is higher in fiber than many common types of bread and is often darker in color and stronger in flavor. In the U.S., it is sometimes eaten with a variety of different meats, especially pastrami.
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[edit] Types
Pure rye bread contains only rye flour, without any wheat. German-style Pumpernickel, a dark, dense, and close-textured loaf, is made from crushed or ground whole rye grains, usually without wheat flour, baked for long periods at low temperature in a covered tin. Rye and wheat flours are often used to produce a rye bread which has a lighter texture, color and flavor than pumpernickel. 'Light' or 'dark' rye flour can be used to make rye bread. The flour is classified according to the level of extraction of fiber. Caramel or molasses for coloring and caraway seeds are often added to rye bread (in the United States, breads labeled as "rye" nearly always contain caraway). Typically, rye bread recipes also include ground spices such as fennel, coriander and aniseed.
[edit] Differences between rye and wheat bread
While rye and wheat are genetically close enough to interbreed (the resulting hybrids are known as triticale), there are some substantial differences in the biochemistry of wheat and rye that can drastically affect the breadmaking process. A key issue is amylases -- while wheat amylases are generally not heat-stable and have no effect on the stronger wheat gluten, rye amylase is active at substantially higher temperatures. Since rye gluten is not particularly strong, the main structure of the bread is based on complex polysaccharides, including rye starch and pentosans, and the amylases in the flour can break down the resulting structure, inhibiting the rise of the dough. [1]
There are two common solutions to that. The traditional manner, acidification, uses Lactobacillus cultures in a naturally-derived sourdough starter to inactivate the rye amylases, which cannot function in an acidic environment. In areas where obtaining wheat has traditionally been impractical, this has been the most important technique to creating lighter breads. As a byproduct of this intentional cultivation of lactic acid and acetic acid from the sourdough bacteria, standard baker's yeast is not often used, since Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known to be rather intolerant of acid environments. (Commercial yeast can, however, still be used; recipes substituting citric acid and commercial yeast for the sourdough culture are sometimes used in baking trades.)
In areas where high-gluten hard wheat is readily available, on the other hand, the need for a complex polyculture of bacteria and yeast can often be reduced or removed by adding a large proportion of hard wheat flour to the rye flour; the added gluten compensates for amylase activity on the starch in the bread, allowing it to retain its structure as it cooks. (The Jewish rye bread tradition in the United States is based upon this mixing of grains.) The use of high-gluten wheat flour also makes possible multi-grain breads such as the "rye and Indian" bread of the American colonies, which combined rye and wheat with cornmeal in one loaf.
[edit] Crisp rye bread
Rye is made into both loaf breads and crisp bread. There are three different types of rye crisp bread: yeast fermented, sourdough fermented and cold bread crisp bread. Most of the crisp bread produced in Scandinavia is baked following 3 to 4 hours of fermentation. Sourdough crisp breads are used in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and India. The third type of crisp bread is the so-called cold bread crisp bread, which is baked without the addition of any raising agent. The dough gets the right texture from a foaming process, where air is incorporated into the cooled dough, which also leads to the almost white color of the finished bread. Crisp bread owes its long shelf life to its very low water content (5-7%).
[edit] Sourdough
Rye bread can be made by the sourdough method, where leavening and flavour result from the addition of a small amount of old dough in which lactic-acid-producing bacteria have developed. These micro-organisms ferment some of the carbohydrates in the fresh dough batch, producing characteristic sour tastes and odours. Pure rye dough often produces a very heavy textured bread because rye flour lacks the gluten needed to create a crumb structure that traps bubbles of gas given off by the yeast as it ferments. Consequently some bakers add wheat flour to lighten the texture. The acidic environment created by sourdough culture helps to gelatinise rye dough and produces a lighter textured pure rye bread which has better keeping qualities. There are also natural leavening agents other than sourdough that can be used to make pure rye bread.
[edit] History
In 500 AD., the Saxons and Danes settled in Britain and introduced rye which was well suited to cold northern climates. Dark rye bread became a staple which lasted to the Middle Ages. Many different types of rye grain have come from all over Europe such as Finland, Denmark, Russia, and the Baltic countries but rye bread originates from Germany. In Finland, Estonia and Russia, rye is the most popular type of bread. A common saying in modern day Alaska is "eggs on rye" which is an expression used when something tastes delicious.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Wing, Daniel, and Alan Scott, The Bread Builders. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999.
