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Leavened Rye Bread

A historical recipe from A treatise on the art of making good wholesome bread of wheat, oats, rye, barley and other farinaceous grains Exhibiting, by Friedrich Christian Accum (1821).

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A historical recipe

A treatise on the art of making good wholesome bread of wheat, oats, rye, barley and other farinaceous grains Exhibiting the alimentary properties and chemical constitution of different kinds of bread corn, and of the various substitutes used for bread, in different parts of the world, by Friedrich Christian Accum (1821). Project Gutenberg eBook #60424.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: food kept without cooking or cold storage. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

  • Storage. The keeping times and places here are from before refrigeration. Follow current storage guidance.

Ingredients 3 ingredients

  1. a pound weight
  2. a bushel of flour
  3. six ounces of salt

Possible health benefits

General information, not medical advice.

  1. Flour Source of phosphorus · Source of copper · Source of manganese · +1

    Source of phosphorus · 106 mg per 100 g, 15% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Phosphorus contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
    • Phosphorus contributes to normal function of cell membranes.
    • Phosphorus contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.
    1 more authorised claims
    • Phosphorus contributes to the maintenance of normal teeth.

    Phosphorus is a mineral contained in each cell in our body. Most phosphorus is in the bones and teeth, and some is in your genes. NIH fact sheet

    Source of copper · 0.2 mg per 100 g, 17% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Copper contributes to maintenance of normal connective tissues.
    • Copper contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
    • Copper contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
    5 more authorised claims
    • Copper contributes to normal hair pigmentation.
    • Copper contributes to normal iron transport in the body.
    • Copper contributes to normal skin pigmentation.
    • Copper contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
    • Copper contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

    Copper is a mineral that you need to stay healthy. Your body uses copper to carry out many important functions, including making energy, connective tissues, and blood vessels. NIH fact sheet

    Source of manganese · 0.6 mg per 100 g, 28% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Manganese contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
    • Manganese contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.
    • Manganese contributes to the normal formation of connective tissue.
    1 more authorised claims
    • Manganese contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

    Manganese is a mineral that your body needs to stay healthy. Your body uses manganese to make energy and protect your cells from damage. NIH fact sheet

    Source of selenium · 10 µg per 100 g, 19% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Selenium contributes to normal spermatogenesis.
    • Selenium contributes to the maintenance of normal hair.
    • Selenium contributes to the maintenance of normal nails.
    3 more authorised claims
    • Selenium contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
    • Selenium contributes to the normal thyroid function.
    • Selenium contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

    Selenium is a nutrient that the body needs to stay healthy. Your thyroid gland needs selenium to produce hormones and function properly. NIH fact sheet

    Nutrients per 100 g of “Flour, 00”, USDA FoodData Central.

Claims: EU Register of health claims (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, © European Union, CC BY 4.0), shown only where the ingredient meets the claim's conditions (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006). Nutrients: USDA FoodData Central (CC0). Facts: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (public domain).

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Take a piece of dough, of about a pound weight, and keep it for use—it will keep several days very well.
  2. Mix this dough with some warm water, and knead it up with a portion of flour to ferment;
  3. then take half a bushel of flour, and divide it into four parts;
  4. mix a quarter of the flour with the leaven, and a sufficient quantity of water to make it into dough, and knead it well.
  5. Let this remain in a corner of your trough, covered with flannel, until it ferments and rises properly;
  6. then dilute it with more water, and add another quarter of the flour, and let it remain and rise.
  7. Do the same with the other two quarters of the flour, one quarter after another, taking particular care never to mix more flour till the last has risen properly.
  8. When finished, add six ounces of salt;
  9. then knead it again, and divide it into eight loaves, making them broad, and not so thick and high as is usually done, by which means they will be better baked.
  10. Let them remain to rise, in order to overcome the pressure of the hand in forming them;
  11. then put them in the oven, and reserve a piece of dough for the next baking.
  12. The dough thus kept, may with proper care, be prevented from spoiling, by mixing from time to time small quantities of fresh flour with it.
  13. It requires some attention to be able to determine the exact quantity of leaven necessary for the proper fermentation of the dough.
  14. When it is deficient in quantity, the process of fermentation is interrupted, and the bread thus prepared is solid and heavy, and if too much leaven be used, it communicates to the bread a disagreeable sour taste.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Chef's knife
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From A treatise on the art of making good wholesome bread of wheat, oats, rye, barley and other farinaceous grains Exhibiting, by Friedrich Christian Accum (1821). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #60424 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60424). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.