Dark Rye Bread (German) using 100% Rye Flour - Ivo's recipe and tips

Today I share my recipe and tips for making an amazing, German, Dark Rye Bread, using 100% rye flour! A delicious and nutritious bread that is not your typical "gummy" "Sticky" bread - in fact, the crumb is dry and amazing!! Just follow the recipe noted below and the related notes below it. Enjoy :)

00:00 intro
01:12 starting the dark rye dough
09:47 30 mintues later kneading again
12:33 11.5 hours later, into banneton
16:02 1.5 hours later, preheating oven
17:04 oven preheated, rye dough into dutch oven and oven
19:25 30 minutes later, lid off now
20:04 20 minutes later out of the oven, let cool
21:37 2 hours of cooling later
24:38 dark rye taste test
26:20 outro

Vital Wheat Gluten Flour:

Ivo’s Dark German Rye Bread using 100% Rye Flour
Ingredients:
• 400 grams (14.2 oz) Dark Rye Flour (my flour was 9.3% protein)
• 2 TSP (8 grams) (.28 oz) Diastatic malt Powder (optional but preferred)
• 1 1 /2 TSP salt (10 grams) (.35 oz)
• 34 grams (1.2 oz) Vital Wheat Gluten (this brings the flour to 15% Protein)
• 1/8 TSP (.50 grams) (.017 oz) instant or active dry yeast
• 200 grams (7.05 oz) of active sour dough starter
• 225 or 250 Grams (7.9 oz or 8.8 oz) Dark (German) beer at room temp

Process:
• Mix all dry ingredients together, then add the sour dough start and the beer. Mix to form a dough and then knead for 3 – 5 minutes.
• Cover dough and let rest 30 minutes, then knead again for 3 – 5 mins
• Place dough in a container with a lid, and let rest, covered, for 11 – 12 hours, until about doubled in size
• Remove dough from container and shape the dough by doing a gentle “4-fold” (i.e. lift up one side and fold it on top of the dough- work your way around the dough doing this lift and fold, 3 more times.
• Then shape the dough into a round, then place it into a banneton that has been lined with flour (the flour will prevent sticking and whole wheat flour works best). Cover and let rest for 2 hours
• (After 1 1 /2 hours have passed, put an empty Dutch oven with a lid, into your oven and start to preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 C) )
• Remove Dutch Oven (using Oven Mitts) from oven and carefully place the dough inside. With a bread lame (or blade) score the top of the dough, ¼ to ½ inch deep (6 mm to 12 mm) making 3 - 4 cuts in any shape you want
• Place lid on Dutch oven and return to main oven. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 C) for 30 minutes with the lid on
• After 30 minutes, remove lid and continue to bake for 20 more minutes at a minimum, up to 30 minutes
• Remove bread and let cool on a cooling rack (or on a wooden board) for a minimum of 4 hours, but a longer cool down period is preferred, in fact, let it cool over night or 8 – 12 hours is even better!!
• Enjoy

NOTES: The crumb of your bread should be dry and not sticky nor “gummy”. This is one of the advantages of this recipe 😊
If for some reason your dough is sticky or “gummy” then try using the lower amount of beer (i.e. 225 grams or even can go as low as 200 grams) and also make sure your cook time is long enough.
If you are using sour dough discard, then be sure to use more yeast, such as at least ¼ tsp instead of the 1/8 tsp.

My Kitchen Gear
Here are a few things I mentioned in the video. Please shop and support your local shops! If you cannot find them there, here are some links to help out.

"My Bread Book" by Jim Lahey

Lagostina Tuscan Collection Orange Oval Casserole Dish / Dutch Oven, 5 Quarts

Thank you!

[rickbooher]

I like to toast my rye bread; as that gumminess you talked about will dry out even more in the toaster. Also I like caraway seeds in my rye bread. It is the way my grandmother made it. She used a dark German beer in her rye bread. She also made a delicious pumpernickel as well. Sandwiches just taste better on a rye or pumpernickel. And a hamburger patty melt on rye is my favorite burger.

[FelicitaFlores-Santana]

I'm doing this bread right now. It was really easy to work with the dough. Can't wait to bake it tomorrow. I promise to wait until the following day to cut it. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. Greetings from Arizona.

[gloschmitz]

I'm going to do this. Christmas is bringing me a Dutch oven! I've done a lot of bread, but always dreamed of all rye flour rye. Thank you.

[TheNortheastAl]

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Ivo, you take something basic, like bread, and turn it into a masterpiece. I would love to try it someday.

[emmahilburn]

Gorgeous loaf. As a fan of rye bread I think yours looks fantastic.

[Amy-qbyl]

I can’t wait to try this! It looks like Lithuanian rye bread too, there’s a really delicious garlic bread recipe with rye bread called “kepta duona”

[eileenhaskins]

Merry Christmas to you and your wife and family. I want to try that bread! I have the rye flour, but I don't have the sour dough starter yet or the dark German beer etc. Even more important my oven is kaput, but I have a new one on order and the wonderful things I will bake in it are lining up. I really enjoy your videos.

[judyl]

Wow and thank you for adding budda. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Best present ever. Budda

[anna]

next time i will try your recipe. I was looking for this process to understand rye dough and it makes sense to me. My rye bread when cur it is sticky inside and after a day or two it is dry and easier to cut without leaving dough patch on the knife

[WhatWeDoChannel]

Thanks for this! I just found your channel. I see you are a fellow winemaker and bread baker! I have been looking for a German rye bread recipe, it’s the next bread I want to perfect! Your recipe looks great! I’m expecting the delivery of a Mockmill today and want to mill my own grains, I do have a sifting machine, I wonder if that flour you used is whole grain or sifted? I already have the vital wheat gluten ready for whole wheat flour from my mill, I understand that it makes the difference between a brick and a nice airy loaf! I bet liverwurst and a slice of pickle would be awesome on your rye bread!

Klaus

[hans-georggrim]

Your loaf of rye bread looks extremely good! Would you have an idea of the internal temperature of the loaf once baked completely in the oven? I normally bake sourdough loaves to 205°F and would expect this to perhaps require a slightly higher final temperature due to the density.

[samuelsutrino]

May I ask the Brand Name of your electric oven?
Looks excellent for bread baking
Thank you for your response.
Merry Christmas

[scottweaverphotovideo]

Thanks for the informative video, sir! Sorry if I missed it but what is your countertop oven? I could use one of those. Thank you!

[SArthur]

it's very slightly undercooked in the middle, but with rye, that's acceptable and even yummy

[Msmosholu]

Do you have a recommended substitution for the starter? In terms of water / liquid or flour and dry yeast? Thank you for the video!

[AshkenaziChristian]

I recently purchased some "dry malt extract" which I'd like to know whether or not is the same as malt powder? Thank you.

[vsejdini]

Thanks for the video. I want to make this bread but I don’t have starter, I have everything else . What should I do ? From Tampa USA

[mimilonsky]

What is active sour dough starter ? Thanks a lot. Well explained . Greetings from Canada.

[bluesky]

German bread always only sauerdough no yeast. No beer no nothing we make it original. The only thing you can put on there is a spoon full of molasses. Dunkel Beer means it is stronger hat nothing to do with bread. Sorry I am German

[davidcolin]

Thanks for this excellent video! Do you think this could be made in a bread machine?