This article is about the bread. For the Catalan film, see Black Growing black currants. This article is about the European bread.

For the Jewish rye bread, see Jewish rye bread. Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. 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. Rye bread was considered a staple through the Middle Ages. Timelapse of a fresh rye sourdough culture rising over a 10-hour period at roughly 25.

The key issue is differing amylases, the enzyme which breaks starch down into sugar. There are two common solutions: The traditional manner, developed where obtaining wheat was impractical because of marginal growing conditions or supply difficulties, uses dough acidification to impede the function of rye amylases. In areas where high-gluten hard wheat is readily available, 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. Its added gluten compensates for amylase activity on the starch in the dough, allowing the bread to retain its structure as it bakes. The “deli rye” tradition in the United States is based upon this mixing of grains. Rye bread contains phenolic acids and ferulic acid dehydrodimers. 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 a low temperature in a covered tin. Rye and wheat flours are often used to produce a rye bread with a lighter texture, color, and flavor than pumpernickel. As stated above, all-rye bread may have a very long shelf life, measured in months rather than days, and is popular as storage rations for long boat trips and outdoor expeditions. Such bread is sliced thinly because of its density, sometimes only a few millimeters thick, and is usually sold sliced in this manner. All-rye bread from Scotland with treacle, currants and spices is sometimes called “New Year gingerbread”.

It is fairly common to combine rye with other grains and seeds. In southern Germany and Switzerland, for example, it is not uncommon to find a variant of Vollkornbrot with sunflower seeds instead of the rye seeds, and some traditional recipes also substitute whole wheat grains for the rye grains. There are three different types of rye crispbread: yeast-fermented, sourdough-fermented, and crispbread. Most of the crispbread produced in Scandinavia is baked after three to four hours of fermentation. One of the largest producers of rye flatbreads, and one of the most prominent in overseas markets, is the Swedish-founded company Wasabröd. American pumpernickel, and the combination of the two as marbled rye, is closely associated with Jewish cuisine and Jewish-American cuisine, particularly the delicatessen.

High-gluten wheat flour can be used with rye flour to make a dough suitable for bagels. The Jewish-American variety has Eastern European Jewish antecedents, including Russian Jewish style brown bread, Polish Jewish style rye bread and Latvian Jewish style rye bread. In Israel, rye bread is very popular due to the large population of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. In Canada, there are several different types of Jewish rye bread available in the country. There are mass-produced, prepackaged brands such as Oroweat. Winnipeg-style rye bread which does not actually contain much, if any, rye flour.

Instead, this Jewish-influenced bread is made from cracked rye or coarse rye meal, added to wheat flour. Winnipeg-style rye bread does not contain caraway fruits. Rye bread contains a large amount of fiber, a wide variety of bioactive compounds, and a small amount of fat. Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Growing Grains: Wheat, Spelt, Oats, Barley, Rye and More”.