Bread Day - Rye

I have a friend who is intolerant/allergic to wheat gluten and I always feel bad because she doesn't get to have bread often and if she does she suffers for it. I wanted to make a bread that she can enjoy, so this is my search for today, a good wheat free rye bread. Apparently rye bread using straight rye flour is hard to find in cookbooks. Thank God for allrecipes.com. The reviews were varied. The people who didn't like the recipe had certain dietary needs going in and were expecting a result equal to regular bread. Rye is not wheat.

STUFF:
2 cups milk
2 2/3 tsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp molasses
1 egg (I used 3)
7 1/2 cups rye flour
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp caraway seeds

Heat the milk in a sauce pan until it bubbles, then remove from heat and let cool to a lukewarm temperature. Add the yeast and let sit for 10 minutes until milk thickens. (I didn't quite understand that part. My milk didn't thicken.)

In a large mixing bowl, mix the yeasty milk with the molasses then combine with eggs, 4 cups of the flour, salt and seeds. (I used flax seeds because I couldn't find my caraway and I wanted some extra fiber in it, though if you want the true rye flavor, go with caraway.) The mixture will look like soft cookie dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 45 minutes.

Stir in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time making sure the dough is mixed thoroughly after each addition. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly coat a large bowl with oil and turn the dough around inside of it until greased. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

I look back at my saying how Rye is not Wheat. Boy, am I right. Kneading this dough is like kneading a large lump of playdough without the salty smell. Partially, this frustrated me because it was completely new and didn't work the way I wanted it to, but it doesn't have the wheat gluten which keeps it together like the regular doughs, which is the point of making this rye bread, so my complaining is kept in check.

Punch down the dough and separate into 2 lumps. Place each into their own greased bread pan and press down until flat on top and the dough meets the sides and corners. Cover with the damp towel and let sit for 40 minutes or until it has doubled in size. (I sprayed a mist of water on the top and pressed down some more flax seeds on top.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. The top should be golden brown and should sound hollow when the bottom is tapped.

RESULT

My bread came out super dense and didn't really rise that much. Maybe I killed my yeast with too hot of milk or rye just doesn't contain the gas that the yeast produces. The consistency of the dough would support that theory. I suppose the eggs I added to the recipe didn't help with the fluffiness either. It still tastes good. I think the only improvement would be to work it enough to create bonds in the dough to hold in the gas from the yeast.

Let it sit for a little bit before slicing, then dig in.

With bread,
~Chad