Norwegian Rye Bread Recipes

Steps:

• On Day 1, make the starter: In a medium-size bowl, mix 3/4 cup warm water with the buttermilk or yogurt. Whisk flour and yeast together, add to the buttermilk mixture and use your hands to mix together until sticky and moist; add more warm water as needed. Cover tightly and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• Also on Day 1, soak the grains: Mix 4 cups cold water with the rye berries (or meal) and sunflower seeds. Cover and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• On Day 2, make the bread: Drain the soaked grains in a colander. Measure 35 ounces/1,000 grams of the grains and place in a deep bowl. Add 14 ounces/400 grams of the starter and mix well. (Any remaining starter can be saved to use with other bread recipes.) Add the flour, salt, malt (or molasses), yeast and 2 cups water. Mix dough firmly by hand to combine. The dough should be grainy, but quite runny and wet, almost like a thick batter. To achieve that texture, add cold water, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. To test: When a walnut-size piece of dough smeared on the rim of the bowl slides slowly and smoothly down the inside, like a snail leaving a trail, the dough it is wet enough.
• Thickly butter 3 medium or 2 standard-size loaf pans. Divide the dough evenly among the pans, filling them about half full. Cover and let rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 2 hours. (Dough will not rise more during baking.)
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 360 and bake until firm and glossy brown, 80 minutes to 2 hours more depending on size and moisture content of loaves. Let cool completely in the pans before turning out. Bread freezes well, and lasts for at least a week at room temperature, wrapped in paper.

Steps:

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Beat in as much hot water as the flour will absorb, making a stiff batter.
• Cover and let stand until lukewarm.
• Disolve yeast in the warm water, add to the dough with enough flour to knead.
• Knead.
• Let sit, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
• Shape into loaves.
• Put into bread pans, or not, your choice, and let rise again, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 75 minutes.

Steps:

• Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
• Add brown sugar, milk, and water.
• Add 2 cups white flour; beat well; let double in bulk.
• Mix anise seeds and dark syrup in saucepan; bring to a boil; cook 1 minute; strain out seeds.
• Add butter; cool.
• When lukewarm, add rye flour, graham flour, and salt to the yeast mixture.
• Add grated orange zest; and knead on floured board, adding enough flour to make a stiff dough.
• Let rise until double in bulk.
• Divide dough into 4 parts; place each in well greased pan; let rise until double in size.
• You can brush the tops with a mixture of Karo syrup and water; put in caraway seeds in last knead.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 1 hour. Some start with 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for first 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.