From scratch · Yeast breads
Deli-style rye bread
A light rye with caraway seeds, the kind for corned beef or turkey sandwiches.
✋ 30 min hands-on
⏱ 5 hr 18 min start to finish
🍽 One oval loaf (or a 9 × 5-inch pan loaf), about 16 slices.
ContainsWheat.
Ingredients
- 300 g bread flour
- 150 g rye flour
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 7 g active dry yeast
- 9 g table salt
- 2 tbsp molasses, or honey
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (soybean)
- 1⅓ cup water, about 110°F
Time
Hands-on time is when you’re busy; the rest is rising, simmering, chilling or cooling, when you can do something else.
| Step | Hands-on | Waiting |
|---|---|---|
| Mix and knead the dough | 20 min | 1 hr 20 min |
| Shape the loaf | 10 min | 50 min |
| Bake at 375°F | – | 38 min |
| Cool completely | – | 2 hr |
| In all | 30 min | 4 hr 48 min |
How long it keeps
- Counter: wrapped, about 3 days (NDSU’s figure for bread and rolls). Cornell Extension advises against keeping bread in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: cool completely, wrap in plastic and then foil or a freezer bag, up to 3 months (University of Missouri). Slice first so you can take out what you need; a whole loaf thaws in its wrapping on the counter in about 3 hours (Cornell).
Nutrition
Estimated from the ingredients’ USDA FoodData Central numbers.
Steps
You’ll need: large bowl, baking sheet or 9 × 5-inch loaf pan, cooling rack.
- Stir the yeast and molasses into the warm water and let it stand 5 minutes.
- Add the oil, salt, caraway, rye flour and bread flour and mix to a soft dough. Rye dough is stickier than wheat dough; wet your hands instead of adding much flour.
- Knead about 6 minutes until fairly smooth. Cover and let it rise until about doubled, 1 to 1½ hours.
- Shape into an oval loaf on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal or flour (or into a greased loaf pan). Cover and let it rise until puffy, 45 to 60 minutes. Heat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the top with water and slash it 3 times. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until it sounds hollow underneath and reads about 190°F.
- Cool completely, 2 hours, before slicing; rye stays gummy while warm.
⚖️ ScalingKeep rye at about a third of the flour; more rye makes a denser loaf that needs a different method.
🛡 SafetyDon’t taste raw dough or batter, and wash your hands and the counter after handling flour: raw flour can carry germs that only baking kills (FDA).
🛡 SafetyRye has gluten, and this bread is mostly wheat flour: it isn’t gluten-free.
Sources
- Food Storage Guide (FN579), NDSU Extension, reviewed January 2023. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Tips for Storing Bread, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Herkimer County, 2020. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- How to Freeze Home-Prepared Foods (GH1505), University of Missouri Extension. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to Know, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed 2026-10-25.