Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Rye
The practical reference for buyers, sellers, and users of rye grain, flour, and finished goods
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Rye
What Rye Is
Rye (Secale cereale) is a cereal grain in the grass family, closely related to wheat and barley but distinct in both its botanical character and its chemical composition. It is a cool-season annual that tolerates poor, sandy, acidic soils and cold, dry climates better than wheat, which is why it has historically been the staple grain of Northern and Eastern Europe. In practical terms, rye is the grain that produces dark, dense, sour-tasting breads in Germany and the Baltic states, the base for American rye whiskey and many Canadian whiskies, and a feed grain for livestock. Its agronomic hardiness is real: rye grows where wheat struggles, and it is often planted as a winter cover crop to prevent soil erosion. But the same compounds that make it hardy in the field are the ones that make it difficult for the baker and the miller.
What sets rye apart from wheat is not appearance, which is similar, but the chemistry of the endosperm. Wheat flour, when mixed with water, forms an elastic network of gluten proteins that traps gas and gives wheat bread its open, airy crumb. Rye also contains gluten proteins, but they are different in type and amount. The storage proteins in rye, secalins, form a much weaker, less extensible network than wheat's gliadins and glutenins. If you try to make a loaf of bread using only rye flour and the same technique you use with wheat, you will get