Bread Machine Light Rye
It doesn’t get much easier than this Bread Machine Light Rye. The blend of two types of flour keeps it less dense than using 100% rye while the caraway seeds add that nutty bittersweet flavor that screams for pastrami and spicy mustard.
This one is done in a bread machine. While I do make some breads in pans or a dutch oven, I make my weekly loaves in the bread machine. If you make the bulk of your households bread, it’s the most efficient way to do it. It requires less tending on your part and produces a loaf that’s more regular shaped so I find that there’s less waste. My weapon of choice is the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme.
Ingredients (2 lb loaf)
I start with my water and yeast. Dump the water into the pan of your bread machine, it should be warmer than room temperature but not hot (this helps the machine during the pre-heating phase). Then sprinkle in the yeast. I’m using rapid rise (instant) yeast in this with my machine on the “quick” setting.
Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions of your machine, there’s generally a difference in settings depending on whether you are using rapid rise vs. dry active yeast. Rapid rise doesn’t need to soak and your dough will only need one proof. Again, this is a weekly loaf so I’m all about getting it done.
Next you just load ‘er up. It’s that simple. Place all you ingredients into the pan. As always, I swear by King Arthur flours. Be sure to melt the butter first, hard butter won’t get evenly incorporated during the kneading process.
Set the machine on the coarse for “wheat”. This will be a “quick wheat” coarse as I’m using rapid rise yeast. Again, follow the instructions for the machine you have. And that’s it…well almost. Let the machine do it’s thing, warm up and start kneading. You’ll want to check it in the beginning as it mixes. If your dough seems dry and crumbly add a bit more water one tbsp at a time. The dough should come together into a smooth ball as it gets tossed around inside the machine.
Once you know the ratio that works for your machine, you’ll be able to just adjust the recipe from the start, load and walk away. A couple hours later, you’ll have a hot fresh loaf of bread. My general rule is to pull the pan from the machine (use mitts, it’s freakin hot!) and let the whole pan set on a rack for about 30 minutes. Then I flip the loaf out. You may need to give it a shake or tug at the edge so that’s why letting it sit a while so the crust can harden is key. Otherwise the super hot bread will pull apart coming out of the pan.
You can slice and serve right away of let it cool completely and bag for the next day. You can get plastic bread bags on Amazon (they come with fancy twist ties!). They keep it fresh and soft, it stays good for 2-3 days. I usually do a loaf on Friday afternoon for the weekend.
I enjoyed this one with pastrami, swiss and whole grain mustard. Being a “light rye” it’s also great for toast in the morning or grilled cheese sandwiches.
