Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
The yeast was probably slow and you didn't allow enough time for it to rise.
Andy, thank you. I did everything as I usually do, but it just would not rise, I let it seat for 2 hours. I finaly gve up and decided that I can always throw it away after it bakes. And all of a sudden in the oven it rose like it has nevr done before.
... Rye bread without caraway seeds is just ... wrong!
Not in my book it is not. I hate, really hate, did I say how much i hate caraway seeds. The one of most disgusting flavors there is, Brrrrrrrrrrr...
Okay, now I gotta say something. I like a bit of caraway in what North Americans call rye bread, but not too much.You can't have really good Jewish rye without caraway. To each their own ... but rye without caraway just isn't very good.
Charlie, is the bread in the above picture, that I call Danish rye bread, the same as what you think of as rye bread? I can find plenty of recipes for that one. I'd be happy to translate a recipe if you want.Rye bread in America is nothing that I am used to. I have never had anything even remotely similar back in Soviet Union as far as rye bread goes. And both Russia and Ukraine are famous for the rye breads. As the matter of fact rye breads are not only staple in many regions some places it was the only type of bread you could get. I only wish I was interested in baking back when I was there so I could have found the original recipes. As far as caraway seeds go, I only heard of them and have never seen or tasted them until I came to America. So what you call real Jewish Rye is Real American Rye and has very little to do with the real rye, same as bagels. American bagels have nothing in common with Russian bagels which supposedly were brought to America by Jewish people.