Brioche is a bread with an identity crisis. Simultaneously cakey, yeasty, bready, and sweet, brioche offers a unique richness that comes from being laden with butter. In fact, our master recipe uses 50% butter, though brioche can be made with as much as 100% butter for an even more decadent experience.

With its enriched dough, brioche serves as the foundation for many other breads, making it the granddad of sweet, enriched breads. From infused butters and cheese to nut butters and even olive oil, this versatile dough can handle a wide array of fats. Brioche can also be shaped into individual portions, baked into loaves, laminated like a croissant, or even fried or microwaved. The possibilities are nearly endless. As an additional bonus, brioche like other enriched breads has a longer shelf life than direct breads, making it a great option for holiday meals since it can be made a day ahead of time.

Despite its adaptability, brioche isn’t easy to master. Though you might see fast-food hamburgers served on brioche buns, a truly well-made brioche requires a careful balance of technique. It’s a dough that must be handled with care to ensure the crumb is strong enough to support the structure without overbaking, which would result in a thick, disappointing crust. Achieving that perfect, rich, and satisfying loaf means understanding how to develop the gluten while incorporating the butter without compromising the dough’s integrity. The reward, however, is found in tearing off soft, delicate strands of freshly baked brioche—a simple pleasure you won’t get from other breads. If you’re new to making brioche our sablée brioche recipe is a good place to start.

The Sweet Side of Brioche

It’s impossible to work with brioche dough without veering into sweeter territory. One classic example is panettone, which is essentially brioche dough packed with sweet additions like chocolate and dried fruit. Panettone’s sugar content is nearly double that of standard brioche, yet its preparation follows many of the same principles—although it also requires building a multiday preferment.

Beyond panettone, we’ve explored other sweet loaf breads like Colomba di Pasqua and Portuguese Sweet Bread. Many of these festive breads begin with a variation of brioche or sandwich bread dough, made special by the addition of toppings or a sweet crust. Traditionally tied to holidays, these breads celebrate the spirit of the season and showcase how brioche can be transformed into the dessert of the bread world.

In short, this endlessly versatile dough can take on many forms, both savory and sweet, which makes it an essential addition to any baker’s repertoire.

Attributes of a Well-Made Brioche

A well-made brioche is pillowy and tender, luscious and rich, and deeply satisfying. It should display these key features.

1. The crust color should be a barley-malt brown, not bien cuit. Brushing the crust with an egg wash or a starch glaze will help protect the surface from drying out while also creating some shine. However, too much egg wash can stiffen with heat and create tear marks.
2. The shape should be uniform, with no crumple zones that indicate trapped pockets of air. If the sides and the base look like they’ve imploded, it’s likely because the brioche cooled off for too long in the pan, leaving the steam with nowhere to go but into the crust. You should also avoid seeing drips or pools of dried egg wash at the base—this suggests an over-application of the wash.
3. When biting into brioche, the crust should yield easily and be tender. It shouldn’t shatter, and you shouldn’t hear a crunch. A thick and tough crust is a sign that the brioche has been overbaked. The color should be a deep brown, and for challah, the crust should have a noticeable shine. There should be no rips on the crust, as these are typically caused by underproofing or baking at too low of a temperature.
4. Traditional brioche contains a lot of butter, but it shouldn’t taste overwhelmingly like pure butter. Thanks to the Maillard reaction, the butter combines with other ingredients to create an almost nutty flavor.
5. Brioche has a rich, heady aroma, dominated by the scent of butter. It should not smell overly eggy, but you should be able to detect how the egg enhances the overall aroma of the bread.
6. The crumb of a well-made brioche shouldn’t have large alveoli; instead, the holes should be small and evenly spaced. It should be pillowy, tender, and delicate, with a light-yellow hue.

Keys to a Successful Brioche

• Start baking brioche at a higher temperature, then lower it to prevent the crust from setting too quickly and hindering expansion.
• In a home oven, position your rack just below the center for optimal heat distribution. Use an oven thermometer to verify the correct temperature.
• Prepare your loaf pan with oil and parchment, or oil and flour, unless using a nonstick pan, where oil alone is sufficient.
• Use a modified starch glaze to prevent drying during proofing and baking. It doesn’t need precooking and won’t retrograde like other starches.
• After bulk fermentation, chill the dough for 2 hours or up to 24 hours, or freeze for up to a month. Chill dough on an oiled silicone mat or plastic tray to prevent sticking and discoloration.
• Use flour that develops a strong gluten network to counteract the fat in the dough. Many of our recipes use bread flour or high-gluten bread flour.
• Start with cold milk and eggs, but room-temperature butter, to prevent it from separating during mixing.
• Use an electric mixer; hand mixing could melt the butter.
• Add eggs in stages to avoid a sloppy dough and ensure proper mixing.
• Begin adding butter when the dough has reached low-to-medium gluten development to avoid delays or difficulty incorporating the fat.
• Add butter in portions to create an emulsion, similar to making mayonnaise or vinaigrette.

In Modernist Bread, you’ll find even more exciting recipes, such as panettone, babka, and a range of brioches made with 25% to 100% butter, along with creative purée-infused variations like purple sweet potato, mango, hazelnut, and more.

Our books offer a rich assortment of brioche that cater to various tastes and preferences. Modernist Bread at Home features 12 unique recipes and variations, including our master brioche, Hazelnut Butter Brioche, Corn Brioche, Oil Brioche, and Sablée Brioche. We even provide gluten-free and vegan gluten-free options for those with dietary needs.

When it comes to bread, the term “brick-like” might not sound appealing at first. Although dense breads get a bad reputation, they offer something that lighter loaves simply can’t: a rich, complex bite that directly showcases the grains inside.

These breads aren’t simply dense for the sake of it. Many brick-like breads incorporate rye flour, whole wheat flour, or whole grains. Rye flour, especially in higher percentages, tends to create dense, compact crumbs due to minimal gluten development. Whole wheat flour contains bran and germ, which can interfere with gluten formation by cutting through the protein network, causing the loaf to rise less compared to those made with refined flour. These dense breads may also include whole grains, seeds, nuts, or dried fruits, all bound together by a very wet, claylike dough. Because of this, the dough won’t stretch or rise into an airy loaf. Instead, it’s pressed into a pan, more like a pâté of grains than a traditional dough. Once baked, these loaves have a solid, satisfying texture that pairs perfectly with strong, savory flavors.

For thousands of years, most bread was much like these “brick-like” loaves. Ancient grains like einkorn and emmer didn’t have the gluten content to create the lofty, soft bread we now associate with refined wheat flour. Instead, bread was coarse, hearty, and packed with grains, seeds, and bran. While modern milling technology gave rise to the popularity of lighter white breads, these dense breads remained a staple in many parts of the world, especially across northern Europe.

Baking Tips and Techniques for Brick-Like Breads

Brick-like breads require a bit of extra attention in the oven. Their dense structure necessitates a higher core temperature (around 100°C / 212°F) and more time to bake thoroughly, evaporating excess moisture and ensuring the bread isn’t gummy. Shaping these breads is a hands-on task. Rather than traditional kneading and folding, you simply press the dough into the pan with your hands like molding clay, ensuring an even spread. A single score down the middle is all that is needed—no fancy designs here, as these loaves don’t spring up like their lighter cousins.

Although these breads may be dense, they’re not lacking in flavor or complexity. On the contrary, brick-like breads have long shelf lives and capture the full depth of the grains, seeds, and nuts inside them. They’re also perfect for open-faced sandwiches, considering their hearty texture supports all kinds of toppings.

Explore Iconic Brick-Like Breads

Pumpernickel

Originating from Westphalia, Germany, traditional pumpernickel is known for its deep, almost black color and rich, complex flavor. Unlike its modern, commercial counterparts that often rely on coffee, caramel, or molasses for color and sweetness, true pumpernickel gets its hue and flavor from dark rye flour and a long, slow bake. This bread was historically baked in the residual heat of an oven overnight, allowing the dough to develop a rich, earthy sweetness through the Maillard reaction.

Today, bakers still opt for tin pans to help the paste-like dough hold its shape, resulting in a bread that pairs perfectly with smoked meats, cheeses, or a simple spread of butter. Pumpernickel is best enjoyed after it has “cured” for 12–24 hours post-baking, allowing the flavors to meld and the texture to firm up. You can find more information about pumpernickel in Modernist Bread vol. 4:446.

Whole-Grain Loaves

Brick-like whole-grain loaves differ from the typical “whole wheat” bread you’re probably thinking of. These breads don’t just have whole-grain flour—they use the entire grains, which are then bound together with a paste-like dough. The result is a hearty, rustic texture and a deep, satisfying flavor.

With combinations of grains, seeds, and nuts, whole-grain loaves like our Hazelnut, Cocoa Nib, and Apricot Loaf are packed with nutrients and natural flavors. They require a bit more time for preparation, particularly for soaking the grains, but the reward is well worth it. Modernist Bread vol. 4:416 and Modernist Bread at Home, page 309, goes into more detail about whole-grain brick-like loaves.

Vollkornbrot

Literally translating to “whole-grain bread,” Vollkornbrot is a German staple made with a dense blend of whole grains, primarily rye. In our version, we pack in rye berries, cracked rye, and sunflower seeds, creating a loaf that’s both hearty and nourishing. This bread is baked at a high temperature to avoid gumminess and, like pumpernickel, benefits from resting post-bake to ensure clean slicing and cohesive texture. Vollkornbrot’s nutty flavor makes it a great base for savory toppings like smoked fish or hearty stews. If you’re looking to experiment, this versatile dough can incorporate inclusions like dried fruits or even cocoa for a unique twist on the classic. You can find more information in Modernist Bread vol. 4:428 and Modernist Bread at Home, page 315.

These breads may take a bit more time and attention, but the reward is a loaf that’s unlike anything you’ll find in the grocery store—full of flavor, texture, and tradition. Try serving dense, flavorful varieties like Vollkornbrot alongside cheeses, smoked fish, or hearty spreads at your upcoming holiday gatherings, and you might just find that dense isn’t such a bad thing after all!

Learn more in Modernist Bread at Home.

Enriched breads are a delightful evolution from the simple, humble beginnings of flour, water, salt, and yeast. By adding ingredients like fats, eggs, milk, and sugar, bakers create a wide array of breads with unique textures, flavors, and aromas. Unlike lean breads, which are known for their crackly crusts and open crumb structure, enriched breads are soft, tender, and often slightly sweet. The main characteristic of enriched breads is that they contain fat. That fat content gives enriched breads the added benefit of staying fresher longer than lean breads. Some enriched breads, especially loaves that bake in a pan, can also be a good place to start if you’re a beginner.

Key Ingredients in Enriched Breads

The magic of enriched breads lies in the addition of a few key ingredients, each contributing to the dough’s structure, flavor, and texture.

Fats play a crucial role in enriched breads. Whether you’re using butter, oil, lard, or even coconut oil, the type of fat you choose will directly affect the final loaf. Fats tenderize the crumb, making it soft and velvety, but too much can weaken the gluten structure, leading to a dense or collapsed loaf. It’s essential to balance the fat content to achieve the desired texture.

Eggs are another vital ingredient, acting as emulsifiers that bind fat and water together. Without eggs, the dough can separate during baking, leading to an unsatisfactory texture. Eggs also add richness, moisture, and color to the bread, making them indispensable in recipes like brioche and challah.

Sugar isn’t just for sweetness—it also plays a role in tenderizing the crumb and helping the crust brown during baking. However, too much sugar can slow down fermentation by drawing water away from the yeast, leading to longer proofing times. Finding the right balance is key to successful enriched breads.

Milk contributes both fat and moisture to the dough. Whole milk, with its mix of fat, sugar, and protein, adds complexity to the bread’s flavor and helps create a tender crumb. Some bakers opt for milk powder to control hydration more precisely, but it’s essential to adjust the water content accordingly.

Techniques for Working with Enriched Doughs

• When mixing and kneading, remember that fat inhibits gluten development, so enriched doughs might take longer to knead. Be patient and allow the dough to reach the right consistency, where it’s smooth and elastic but not too stiff.
• Proofing enriched doughs can take longer due to the presence of sugar and fat, which slow down yeast activity. Keep an eye on the dough, and don’t rush the process—extended proofing is often necessary to achieve the right rise and texture.
• When it comes to shaping and baking, the high-fat content in enriched doughs makes them easier to shape, as the fat coats the gluten strands and prevents sticking. However, be mindful of the baking temperature—fats are sensitive to heat, and overbaking can lead to a dry, crumbly loaf.

Common Challenges & Solutions

Baking enriched breads isn’t without its challenges.

• One common issue is collapsed loaves, often caused by too much fat or improper proofing. To prevent this, ensure your dough has the right balance of ingredients and don’t rush the proofing process.
• Achieving a consistent crumb structure can also be tricky. To get a tender, uniform crumb, mix your dough thoroughly and allow it to proof fully. Proper kneading and gentle handling are key to avoiding dense or uneven crumbs.
• Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment with flavor enhancements. Infused oils, alternative fats like cocoa butter, and inclusions like dried fruits or nuts can elevate your enriched breads to new heights.

Some of the most beloved breads in the world are enriched breads. Brioche is a classic example, with its buttery richness and soft crumb. It’s versatile enough for both sweet and savory dishes. Challah is another enriched bread that’s both beautiful and delicious. And of course, White Sandwich Bread is a staple in many households, perfect for everything from toast to sandwiches—find the recipe in Modernist Bread at Home.

Enriched breads offer a world of possibilities for bakers, from the traditional to the innovative. With their rich flavors, soft textures, and beautiful crusts, these breads are a joy to bake and eat.

Sourdough starter (or what we call “levain”) is a living, breathing organism that plays a crucial role in the art of bread making. However, just like any living thing, it takes some work and commitment to take care of—and doesn’t come without its challenges. Starters, for example, can easily become inactive. This can happen for several reasons, such as neglect (forgetting to feed it) or exposure to unfavorable conditions (like overheating). Occasionally, even with diligent care, your sourdough starter might seem lifeless or develop off-odors, which can be distressing for bakers who have invested time and effort in nurturing it.

Many bakers become quite attached to their sourdough starters. After all, it’s a creation they’ve nurtured from scratch. Yet it’s essential to remember that while sourdough starter is integral to baking, it isn’t irreplaceable or magical. If your starter isn’t performing well, don’t be afraid to start anew. Flour and water are inexpensive, and starting a new sourdough starter can often be simpler than trying to revive one that’s problematic. Moreover, even if you do manage to revive an old sourdough starter, it might have a different composition of yeasts and bacteria, leading to varying results in your bread.

That being said, here are some common issues that someone managing their own sourdough starter might encounter, along with some proposed solutions, to see whether you should throw in the towel.

Troubleshooting Common Sourdough Starter Problems

SOURDOUGH STARTER THAT WON’T START AT ALL

Getting a sourdough starter started is usually straightforward, but if you’re struggling, it might be best to discard the attempt and begin again. Ensure you’re feeding it on a regular schedule and maintaining a stable temperature. Warmer environments may require more frequent feedings to keep the sourdough starter active.

SOURDOUGH STARTER THAT BECOMES SLUGGISH

If your sourdough starter was once thriving but now seems to have lost its vigor, there are a couple of steps you can take to address this.

Start by checking for obvious issues like abnormal temperatures. Using insulated coolers or heating blankets on a low setting can help stabilize the environment during temperature fluctuations. In warmer conditions, use cold water during feedings or store the sourdough starter in a wine refrigerator.

Your sourdough starter might also need more frequent feedings in the summer. A min/max thermometer can help monitor temperature spikes, allowing you to make necessary adjustments. Once conditions are optimal, resume regular feeding and observe if the sourdough starter regains its activity.

Some bakers recommend using diastatic malt powder (0.5%), instant dry yeast (0.05%), Florapan (0.1%), or rye flour (10%–20%, reducing the bread flour by the same amount) to revive a sluggish sourdough starter. However, this process essentially creates a different environment and composition, akin to beginning a new sourdough starter.

SOURDOUGH STARTER THAT SEEMS LIFELESS OR INERT

If your sourdough starter appears completely lifeless despite addressing temperature and feeding issues, it might be beyond saving. You can still use it for baking by adding 0.5% instant dry yeast to your recipe, or freeze it for use as dough flavoring in other recipes. This approach allows you to salvage some of the unique flavors developed in the sourdough starter. We also have a recipe that uses inert sourdough, Second Chance Sourdough, available on our website.

OFF-ODORS

Occasionally, a sourdough starter can be overtaken by unwanted bacteria, resulting in unpleasant odors. In such cases, it’s best to discard the sourdough starter and start fresh. Trying to save a contaminated sourdough starter is often more trouble than it’s worth and may not yield desirable results.

Working with sourdough starter can be a rewarding experience, teaching patience and the importance of maintaining a nurturing environment. If you encounter issues, don’t be disheartened. Starting fresh can often be the best solution, providing a new opportunity to cultivate a robust and healthy sourdough starter.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the world of sourdough and fermentation, we offer a completely free email course at the Modernist Bread School. Throughout this course, we cover various topics, such as how to begin your own sourdough starter, tips for starter maintenance, how to store or freeze your starter, and more.

Further Reading

• Modernist Bread School
• Five Easy Tips for Freezing Your Sourdough Starter
• Second Chance Sourdough
• How to Start a Liquid Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough Science
• Chocolate and Cherry Sourdough
• The Cast-Iron Combination Cooker
• Optimizing Your Home Oven for Bread
• How to Rescue Overproofed Dough
• Is Fresh Yeast Best?

When it comes to making crusty loaves of bread, one of the biggest challenges home bakers have to contend with is home ovens. If you simply bake a loaf of bread in your oven, as water evaporates from the surface of the dough, it will begin to dry out and thicken. Even if all the water in the dough evaporates, it won’t result in the shatteringly crisp crust. To create that, you need steam.

When steam is injected into the cooking environment while bread is baking, it condenses on the dough, which instantaneously and significantly raises the dough’s surface temperature. When this happens, the starch on the surface gelatinizes into a thin skin called a pellicle. It is this thin skin that will dry into a super-crisp crust. This gelatinized coating also gives the final crust an attractive shine.

Many professional bakers have ovens that inject steam at the touch of a button. Baking the dough in a cast-iron combination cooker, one of our favorite tools, creates the same kind of steamy environment in a home oven, with excellent results. This versatile kitchen tool is a game changer for making hand-shaped, perfectly crusty loaves of bread at home—all at an incredibly wallet-friendly price of less than $40. This tool is perfect for almost any crisp-crust breads.

WHY THE CAST-IRON COMBINATION COOKER IS OUR TOP RECOMMENDATION

EXCEPTIONAL HEAT RETENTION: Composed of a skillet and a deep pot that lock together, the cast-iron combination cooker creates a miniature oven within your kitchen oven by absorbing and retaining heat. This makes it perfect for trapping steam and achieving that coveted crisp crust.

STEAMY BREAD-BAKING ENVIRONMENT: By preheating the lid of the cooker, you’ll create a steamy environment that mimics professional steam-injected ovens. This technique ensures your bread develops a crisp crust and an attractive shine, just like those from your favorite bakery.

AFFORDABILITY AND MULTIPURPOSE FUNCTIONALITY: We love how this economical option doubles as a skillet and a Dutch oven, making it a versatile addition to any kitchen. Whether you’re baking bread, braising meats, or searing steaks, the cast-iron combination cooker has got you covered.

PERFECT FOR HOME BAKERS: With a capacity ideal for loaves weighing 800 g to 1 kg, this cooker is tailor-made for home bakers. Its compact size fits seamlessly into most home ovens, ensuring consistent and reliable results.

How to Use the Cast-Iron Combination Cooker

There are several options for preheating and baking with the combination cooker. Which method you pick depends on your level of experience. Today, we’ll cover the beginner method, but keep in mind that there is a more advanced and better method that produces more steam.

In this method, the lid of the combination cooker is preheated.

1. The skillet will function as the bottom of the pot; the deeper pot is the “lid.” Put the lid in the oven as you preheat it as directed by your recipe.
2. When the oven is preheated, gently transfer the proofed dough to the base (skillet) of the cooker, which you have not preheated, and score if necessary.
3. With heavy-duty oven mitts, remove the hot cast-iron pot from the oven. Use caution: it’s heavy and very hot.
4. Set the hot lid over the skillet, and lock the two pots together. Put the entire combination cooker in the oven, and bake as directed. The radiant heat coming off the preheated pot will interact with the surface moisture on the dough to create steam.

Once you’ve done this several times, we recommend exploring the advanced method, which will generate more steam and get the best results. You can find this on page 131 of Modernist Bread at Home.

Which Recipes are best for the cast-iron combination cooker?

• Breads with thin, crispy crusts, especially in the shape of boules and bâtards
• Most of our lean bread recipes from Modernist Bread at Home (see pages 161–231), including French lean bread, sourdough, country-style bread, wheat breads, and more. However, we don’t recommend this technique for focaccia and ciabatta.

Our recipes in Modernist Bread at Home also include temperature adjustments when using the cast-iron combination cooker.

In the world of bread, wheat flour dominates. Rye, the next most popular bread flour, doesn’t even come close. Part of the issue is that rye flour behaves differently than wheat flour, and it can be more difficult to make a lofty loaf of bread with rye. That’s what we thought, anyway, until we began looking into rye more closely (see how American rye and European rye are different from one another). Here, we’ll walk you through some of the differences between rye and wheat flour and help you understand how to get the most out of your rye.

Why Rye Is Different from Wheat

Rye and wheat are both grains, and they’re so closely related that they can form a hybrid, which is called triticale. Flours made from both wheat and rye have some similarities in terms of their bran-germ-endosperm makeup. Rye flour also contains water, just like wheat, as well as proteins, starches, and enzymes. But the way these components work is different in rye and wheat.

Protein

Like wheat, rye contains proteins that are not suitable for people with celiac disease. But rye’s proteins, called secalins, are different from wheat’s proteins (glutenin and gliadin) in significant ways. In fact, in terms of making bread, rye’s proteins are irrelevant. Whereas wheat’s gluten proteins form a webbing that helps bread rise and hold its structure, rye’s proteins don’t form this kind of structure.

That’s why rye is often thought of as inferior to wheat for making bread. Rye is frequently mixed with wheat to make what we call rye-flavored bread. That is, it has a crumb structure built from wheat, but with a touch of rye flour for flavor.

Pentosans and Polysaccharides

Ever wonder why making dough from rye flour requires more water than wheat flour–based doughs? It’s because of its polysaccharides. Simple sugars, called monosaccharides, are the most basic forms of carbohydrates. When those sugar molecules are bound together in long chains, they’re called polysaccharides. The amylose and amylopectin found in starch granules are polysaccharides.

The two main non-starch polysaccharides in rye are pentosans and beta-glucans (β-glucans), and together they bond up to one-third of the water in dough. The more water-binding polysaccharides a flour contains, the more water the dough will need. Rye flour contains higher levels of pentosans and β-glucans than wheat, varying from 6% to 12%. This gives rye better water-binding abilities than wheat flour, and it’s why rye dough needs more water than wheat dough. In other words, rye is a thirsty ingredient.

When pentosans mix with water, they form a viscous solution that traps carbon dioxide. In fact, rye’s pentosans can absorb up to 16 times their weight in water, which is why rye doughs are notoriously sticky and slack.

Pentosans also play a big role in rye’s structure-forming properties. When the dough is baked, pentosans cling to the water they absorbed. They then thicken to form a mucilaginous liquid, which is how rye bread gets its structure. The carbon dioxide that’s produced by the yeasts and trapped inside this viscous liquid is what ultimately determines the consistency of the crumb. Interestingly, pentosans delay starch retrogradation, which is why rye bread can stay moist for days and sometimes weeks.

We find it fascinating that for all the grains humans grow, there are two ways of making bread—pentosans versus gluten—and the mechanisms couldn’t be more different.

Particle Size

When you’re making bread with wheat flour, particle size isn’t generally an issue. But with rye, its ability to make a good dough strongly depends on particle size. We love a good dense rye bread, but we also can’t get enough of the light, voluminous ryes that you find in northern Europe. The secret to making a flavorful and less dense 100% rye bread is using finely ground flour—really finely ground (see our method, in Modernist Bread vol. 2:226). It’s a secret we learned after a number of tests with rye flours from Europe, where rye flour is much different from that produced in the United States (see our blog to learn more). Here, your best bet is to start with the lightest rye you can find and then sift it to make it even finer.

Understanding Different Rye Flours

In North America, rye flour isn’t regulated, but there are some rules of thumb. Generally, how the grains are sifted roughly correlates to how much bran and germ are in the flour. The less bran and germ, the lighter the flour, so color can be a visual cue for the rye. There is a notable difference between American rye and European rye, which we explore in detail in our blog: The Difference Between American Rye and European Rye.

Type of Flour Composition

• WHITE OR LIGHT RYE FLOUR: germ and bran are removed; milled from the endosperm
• MEDIUM RYE FLOUR: similar to light rye flour, but with more of the bran included; more rye flavor than white or light rye
• DARK RYE FLOUR: includes all parts of the rye kernel; some millers use 100% of the whole grain; others use smaller proportions of the GERM AND BRAN; still others use the leftovers from sifting white, light, or medium rye flour and label it as “dark rye”
• RYE MEAL: whole grain milled in proportions of the harvested berry; sometimes labeled “whole-grain rye flour”; can be ground fine, medium, or coarse
• PUMPERNICKEL FLOUR OR MEAL: coarse-ground whole-grain rye flour; also the name of a traditional German bread

Rye breads have a longer shelf life than bread made with wheat flour because rye stales at a slower rate than wheat; that’s because of differences in starch, protein, water absorption, pH, and other factors.

Rye flour contains many nutrients for yeasts and enough microorganisms to get the fermentation process going quickly. This explains why a levain made with rye is the easiest to make—and also why breads made with rye levain and rye flour move fastest during fermentation.

Want to learn more about the science behind common bread ingredients? We have an entire email course that addresses how ingredients like flour, salt, water, and more affect the bread-making process. Learn more at the Modernist Bread School.

A year or so after starting our research for Modernist Bread, we thought we knew a fair amount about rye. Much of it was based around one central theme: rye bread is dense and brick-like. It took a cross-cultural mix-up to help us see rye flour, and rye bread, for all its nuance. And what a revelation it was! It proved to be one of the most eye-opening discoveries we made in the course of developing Modernist Bread.

Here, in the United States, it has long seemed like there is no such thing as a 100% rye that’s as fluffy as a wheat bread but made without wheat flour or gluten. But in rye-loving countries such as Austria, you’ll find those breads everywhere. We call these “high-ryes,” and we’ve wondered why these breads are so elusive outside Austria, Germany, and Scandinavia.

While working on the book, we brought two renowned bakers from Austria, both famous for their rye bread, to our lab in a sort of international baking exchange. We set them up with the ingredients, but when they tried to work our American rye flour into a proper dough for their signature bread, they struggled with it. Something was clearly wrong. But what?

It turns out it was the rye flour. We learned that rye flour can be profoundly different depending on where you buy it. We use the flour that’s available to us—that is, American-made rye flour. They use the flour that’s available to them, which is milled in Austria. They had come here assuming that our rye flour would be essentially the same as theirs, so they didn’t bring their own. It turns out they were wrong.

We also had assumed that all rye flours around the world share similar characteristics—and that those characteristics make it difficult, if not impossible, to make an open-crumb bread. All we knew was that rye flour made brick-like breads. It turns out that we were wrong too.

Finding Better Rye Flour

When we managed to get a 30 kg / 66 lb sack of Austrian flour and used it in our recipes, the result was extraordinary. Whereas our American-made rye flour makes a blobby, cement-like dough, Austrian flour mixes into something that can be stretched, almost as if there was gluten in it (which, functionally, there isn’t. Rye’s proteins, called secalins, are different from wheat’s proteins – glutenin and gliadin – in significant ways. However, rye contains proteins that are not suitable for people with celiac disease, so it isn’t exactly gluten-free. Learn more about the science behind rye in bread). Once baked, the Austrian rye bread had a nice crown and an open crumb structure with some of the chew and springiness that’s associated with gluten. It also had a depth of flavor, with notes of licorice and molasses, while many American-made ryes taste more like wet grass.

The Keys: Grain and Particle Size

What made this flour so different? We consulted baking experts, cereal chemists, and millers, but no one could explain it. Finally, we found the answer in a paper written by German cereal scientists. The paper actually helped us understand two things: first, rye grown for the Austrian market is different from that grown in the United States; second, particle size matters.

In Austria and other countries where rye is a staple of the diet, considerable research goes into improving the rye grain to make better rye bread. In the United States, most rye is grown as a cover crop, so varieties are chosen with that in mind, not the grain’s baking characteristics. When it’s time for harvest, more rye is used for animal feed than for human food. That’s how we in the United States have wound up with subpar ryes.

In Austria, rye flours are tested and classed by their Amylograph numbers, which predict baking behavior by evaluating enzyme activity and starch gelatinization. Millers in the United States do extensive testing on wheat flour, but when we asked them about tests for rye flour, most of the millers said, essentially, “Why test? It’s rye.”

The other key difference between Austrian and US rye flour is the way it’s milled. The Austrian flour is often milled finely, down to a very small particle size, with almost all the bran and germ sifted out. It’s much finer than American bread flour. American rye flour, by contrast, isn’t ground so finely. It’s often marketed as a coarsely ground “meal.” In addition, most US rye flour also contains bran and germ, making it analogous to whole wheat flour.

The closest thing we found in the United States to the Austrian flour was the Pure White Rye from Bay State Milling.

If you have your own grain mill, we also developed a method to turn other coarser American rye flours into something resembling the magic Austrian flour, which you’ll find on page 226 in Volume 2 of Modernist Bread.

To be clear, we don’t think dense rye bread is bad. In fact, we enjoy it. But if you’re interested in trying to replicate our Austrian flour experience and you live in the United States, most supermarket rye flour won’t make the cut. That’s why it’s important to know how finely a rye flour is milled.

Understanding the nuances of rye flour, including grain quality, milling techniques, and particle size, can empower you with greater control over the outcome of your next loaf of rye bread or broaden your horizons about what rye bread can be. As always, we would love to see your baking results, so be sure to tag us on social media. If you’re looking for any rye recipes to try, you can find a wide variety of recipes in Modernist Bread or Modernist Bread at Home, including 100% High-Ryes, German Sunflower Seed Rye Bread, Farmer’s Bread, Landbrot with Pressure-Caramelized Cherries and Almonds, and more.

Learn more about rye and how it functions in bread in our blog How Rye Works.

Understanding the science behind making bread can help you control the quality of your bread or adjust the recipe for different circumstances. Below, we’ve detailed exactly what is happening in every step of the process to help you get that better scientific understanding. From the initial mixing of ingredients to the final rise in the oven, each stage plays a crucial role in shaping the perfect loaf.

INGREDIENT PREPERATION

STARCH: The Role of Starch Damage in Flour

When flour is milled, around 12% of its starch granules become damaged, creating cracks on their surfaces. These cracks are important for baking because they allow access during the mixing process to enzymes like amylase and starch molecules that contain amylose and amylopectin. Before milling, these components are locked away, but the cracks make them available for the baking process to begin. The damage will affect the amount of water a dough will require, how long the dough will need to mix, and even the browning of the crust.

YEAST: Activation Begins

Active dry yeast is desiccated and coated in dead cells to form granules, which is why this commercial yeast needs to be reactivated by blooming in lukewarm water (40–43 °C / 104–109 °F). Activation is not required for instant yeast because it is made with a fast-acting strain of S. cerevisiae, and the noodle-shaped granules are finer than those of active dry yeast. The surface layer of dead cells is also more porous than that of active dry yeast, which allows the granules to rehydrate more rapidly. Compared with the active dry form, the instant variety produces more gas during fermentation. You can also build a preferment like a poolish or levain where the yeast will be actively bubbling away before you use it in the mixing process.

GLUTEN: Flour’s Protein Content

Flour made from bread wheat contains proteins called glutenin and gliadin. These proteins form gluten when hydrated, which will begin to develop during the mixing process. Gluten gives body and structure to dough, holding all the components in place (especially if the dough contains inclusions). It’s what makes bread pleasantly chewy and springy. The more gluten a flour can produce, the more able the dough is to hold gas bubbles, and those gas bubbles are what gives bread an open crumb.

MIXING

STARCH: Enzymatic Breakdown

Before flour and water (and other ingredients) become bread, some of their chemical components need to be broken down. Enzymes in grain play that scissor-like role and create the chemical reactions that make turning flour into bread possible. They snip glucose bonds to make food for the yeast, to help the flour absorb water, aid gluten development, and to produce other chemical reactions.

The enzymes’ job is essentially to break things down. In bread, four of the grain’s natural enzymes are key:

1. Amylase breaks down amylose and amylopectin, which makes food for the yeasts.
2. Pentosanase breaks down pentosan, which affects the dough’s ability to absorb water.
3. Protease breaks down protein, which can make the dough more extensible.
4. Lipoxidase breaks down lipids (fats), which affects the color of the crumb.

During mixing, water and amylase enter damaged starch granules through cracks. The granules become hydrated, and the enzymes break down starch molecules into sugars. Intact starch granules are broken down much more slowly. Since yeast can feed only on simple sugars, not on floury starch, fermentation wouldn’t happen without enzymes performing their chain-cutting act.

You can learn more about using added enzymes for customizations in our blog about adjusting the extensibility of pizza dough.

YEAST: Aerobic Fermentation and Cell Division

During the stage that bakers refer to as fermentation—from the time the dough is mixed to just before baking—yeasts swing between their two metabolic modes each time their environ­ment changes. As a baker kneads and degasses the dough, more oxygen flows into it, so the yeasts can respire for a while. They then switch back to fer­menting as the oxygen gets used up and more fer­mentable sugars become available. Specifically, two important processes kick off in dough once commercial yeast is activated during mixing (this also occurs in preferments as they ripen):

1. Aerobic fermentation
   • Mixing disperses yeast cells and air throughout the dough. Using available oxygen to metabolize sugar, the cells respire, which rapidly produces water and large quantities of CO₂.
2. Cell division
   • Under aerobic conditions, the yeast buds and creates more yeast cells.

GLUTEN: Gluten Development Begins

When flour is mixed with water and the gluten-forming proteins in the flour (glutenin and gliadin) are hydrated, they then almost immediately bind and form gluten. Your mixing method matters but not because it is necessary to develop gluten; you can develop gluten with minimal mixing.

The point of mixing is that it can speed up the process, which has practical importance to bakers. Using an electric mixer can make many breads feasible that would otherwise be difficult to mix by hand, like challah.

The amount of water in the mix influences this process. The more water you add, the more extensible the dough will be, which can make it harder to handle. The stiffer the dough, the stronger it will be. Often, the area in between those extremes is the best. The amount of water also has a direct effect on both enzymatic activity and fermentation: more water means increased activity and vice versa.

BULK FERMENT

STARCH: The Enzymatic Breakdown Continues

Enzymes in flour continue to break down starch, providing fuel for the yeasts’ activity.

YEAST: Bulk Fermentation

Yeast, along with bacteria, uses dough as food and the medium in which they grow. When oxygen is present and sugars are in short supply, yeast expels carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water in a process known as respiration.

Respiration continues, but the oxygen supply is depleted quickly, so yeast cells begin a shift to anaerobic fermentation. The cells produce ethanol, aromatic compounds, and CO₂, all of which gather into tiny air bubbles made during mixing.

The yeast can switch back and forth between those modes depending on the dough’s environment or perform both simultaneously (see Modernist Bread Vol 2:270). The CO₂ produced by the yeast dissolves into the aqueous phase of the dough, as in a carbonated drink, and then migrates to join the air bubbles in the dough that were formed during mixing. As fermentation proceeds, the bubbles grow.

GLUTEN: Gluten Matrix

As the gluten further develops through the bread-making process, the chains become more numerous and elongated, and they organize into a crosslinked net that is both extensible and elastic. That rubbery framework will give the dough structure and allow it to expand as the yeast creates gas. Proteases (protein-snipping enzymes) cut the gluten strands into smaller pieces that are able to make additional connections. Chains of gluten grow longer and stronger as more and more molecules stick together. The long chains form a flexible, weblike matrix that traps bubbles full of CO₂, air, ethanol, and other compounds.

SHAPING

STARCH: Enzymatic Breakdown Continues

The starch in the flour progressively transforms while bread is being shaped by further breaking down and making itself available to the yeast and other ingredients in the dough matrix.

YEAST: Redistribution

Like with folding during bulk fermentation, shaping equalizes the temperature of the dough throughout its entire mass, redistributing simple sugars and making them more readily available for yeasts to eat during final proofing. It also restarts the fermentation process, releasing carbon dioxide, which helps to strengthen the dough, and gives the carbon dioxide and water vapor more “housing” to create larger bubbles throughout the dough.

GLUTEN: Matrix Grows

The gluten matrix continues to grow larger and stronger as dough is stretched and handled during the shaping process. When dough is properly and evenly shaped, the gluten strands have been realigned to support expansion as the dough rises during final proofing and the early stages of baking. In fact, shaped doughs will expand more in the oven than unshaped doughs.

FINAL PROOF

STARCH: Enzymatic Breakdown Continues

Water and amylase continue to break the amylose and amylopectin in the starch molecules down into simple sugars.

YEAST: Fermentation

Final proofing replaces gas that is depleted through the dividing and shaping process with new carbon dioxide and ethanol from the yeast, continuing the fermentation process that began when the dough was mixed. While fermentation continues, the baker can regulate proofing time by adjusting the temperature. Different environmental factors and ingredients affect the final proofing time. The type of yeast (commercial yeast versus levain) and its percentage in the dough will make a difference. Generally, the higher the ambient temperature (up to a certain point), the faster the fermentation.

GLUTEN: The Matrix Grows

The new gas produced at this step expands the dough’s existing bubbles and (depending on the dough) creates an open crumb that is soft and pleasant to eat. The baker’s role in this process is to provide an appropriate environment for the dough, to protect it as it develops, and then determine when final proofing is complete. Calling proof is a part of the bread-making craft that’s hard to teach—even experienced bakers find it can be one of their most difficult tasks. Success stems from a hands-on familiarity with the feel of a properly proofed dough and an understanding of its fermentation process.

BAKE

STARCH: Browning and Gelatinization

When the dough is placed into the oven, starch begins to transform. Two important changes take place:

1. Browning

As the surface of the dough dries out from the heat, a crust begins to form. When the surface temperature exceeds roughly 130°C / 265°F, Maillard reactions start to occur rapidly. Sugars react chemically with amino acids and other protein fragments to produce brown pigments, complex flavor compounds, and a stiff, brittle surface—all crucial elements in a good crust.

2. Gelatinization

By the time the core temperature of the bread reaches between 91 and 93°C / 195 and 200°F, the crumb structure is set, but the color of the crust should (with a few exceptions) be the determining factor for when to remove it from the oven.

If you examine flour under a microscope, you’ll see individual granules that are crystalline, looking something like river stones. In the heat of the oven, the granules (now hydrated with water) burst or solubilize, releasing their contents. Now, instead of individual grains, you have an interconnected mass that is a gel.

This process is called gelatinization.

As the dough heats up, the surfaces of starch granules crack. Between 55° and 65°C / 131° and 149°F, they swell with water, causing amylose molecules within the starch to start seeping out. Between 60 °C and 80 °C / 140°F and 176°F, the expelled molecules form a set gel.

Proteins are coagulating at the same time, and together the coagulated proteins and interconnected starch gel control the formation of the crumb.

YEAST: Oven Spring

Oven spring is what bakers call the rapid rising of bread during the initial baking in the oven, making the volume of the loaf expand. Yeast cells help fuel oven spring. When the loaf goes into the oven, the yeast cells are still alive. At first, they respond to their warming surroundings by making even more carbon dioxide and alcohol (which promptly evaporates). This continues until the temperature gets too hot for the yeast to function, around 50°C / 122°F, which is when the microbes begin to die.

At the same time, the warming environment causes water and dissolved CO₂ in the dough to start to, respectively, evaporate and revert to a gaseous form. This adds to the pressure and the rise of the dough. As the dough continues to bake in the oven, warming bubbles take on more carbon dioxide (CO2) from yeast, more CO₂ from dough, and more water vapor from dough. The number of molecules of these substances in the bubbles increases. These gases naturally take up more volume (or exert more pressure) the hotter they are. The CO₂, water vapor, and air all expand thermally as the temperature goes up. Oven spring comes to a halt when dough starts to lose most of its stretchiness.

GLUTEN: Stretching

The gluten matrix stretches to accommodate increasing gas pressure in the bubbles caused by the expansion of CO2 and the vaporization of water as the bread rises. The gas pressure grows inside the bubbles, and since dough is stretchy, the bubbles inflate, and the dough rises. Eventually, these balloon-like cells stretch to the breaking point. Holes burst open in the walls between the bubbles, joining them together into a spongy, open-cell foam. The stronger and more elastic the dough, the bigger the bubbles can grow inside the loaf before they burst. In the heat of the oven, the proteins coagulate, forming a solid network of irreversibly bonded proteins and starches gelatinize to set the structure of the crumb.

COOL

STARCH: Retrogradation

After the bread is removed from the oven, the temperature of the crust and crumb begins to fall. While the center will continue to bake a little longer, vapor is escaping from the crumb, out through the crust, and the once-pressurized loaf begins to equilibrate. As the vapor pressure drops, air is forced into the loaf and the crumb structure begins to solidify. This is why it’s important to let bread rest and cool after you pull it out of the oven.

When the bread is cool, the gelatinized starch slowly begins to recrystallize, also known as retrogradation. Essentially, the starch is trying to return to its native state, the way it was before it was doused in water and subjected to intense heat. Water begins to migrate out of the granules, and the molecules restructure into more organized chains. This process is what gives the crumb of stale bread such a brittle, crumbly texture.

YEAST: Flavor Loss

Aromatic compounds, produced by yeast and the Maillard reaction, contribute to the bread’s freshly baked flavor. Over time, they dissipate, changing the bread’s taste and aroma.

GLUTEN: Migration

Water travels back into the gluten matrix and/or escapes from the bread as the bread cools. The bread dries as more water is lost as it ages. The bread will begin to stale as the starch continues to retrograde and moisture from the crumb migrates into the crust.

Mastering the process of bread making means understanding the step-by-step transformations from mixing to baking. It’s not just about mixing ingredients but knowing how they chemically react and change. Each stage, from breaking down starches to fermenting yeast and forming gluten, plays a vital role in creating the perfect loaf. Now you’ll know the science behind the baking process the next time you bite into a slice of homemade bread.

Want to further your bread education? Learn more with Modernist Bread at Home. We also have free email courses at the Modernist Bread School.