Milwaukee's Beer Rye Bread-World of Baking, 1968

The original recipe called for fresh yeast. I substituted dry without any problems. Mr. ETB particularly liked the crust on this bread which is crackly and light-unusual for a rye. I froze and defrosted half a loaf for comparison, and it held up perfectly. I used Becks beer, but anything will do (that was what we had).

The recipe calls for baking the bread an hour and a quarter. Mine was done in 45 minutes, so watch the bread. I used strong flour for the plain flour in the original recipe as well.

You Will Need:

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups strong flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
3-4 cups light rye flour
1 cup buttermilk (room temp)
3/4 cup beer (room temp)
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2-3 tablespoons caraway seeds
Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water-stir and let stand until foamy-about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the strong flour and let stand, covered 30-45 minutes or until very bubbly. Add remaining white flour and wholemeal. Add the buttermilk, beer, salt, and caraway. Mix well. Add enough of the rye to make a flour that can be kneaded. The dough starts sticky, but should become elastic after a good five minutes of hand kneading. Place in a greased bowl, brush lightly with oil, and cover. Let rise until doubled-about 2 hours. Punch down and divide in two loaves (I have a Pullman pan which I used without the top for one large loaf). The tin should be greased really well with butter. Cover, let rise again until nearly doubled-about 45 minutes. meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake loaves 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and bake at least 45 minutes longer (but as long as 75 minutes longer). I baked mine to an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. After removing the loaf from the tin, I let it sit on the rack in a turned-off oven for another five minutes to help with crust. Cool completely before slicing.