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The Rye Baker: Classic Breads from Europe and America
True rye bread—the kind that stands at the center of northern and eastern European food culture—is something very special. With over 70 classic recipes, The Rye Baker introduces bakers to the rich world of rye bread from both the old world and the new. Award-winning author Stanley Ginsberg presents recipes spanning from the immigrant breads of America to rustic French pains de seigle, the earthy ryes of Alpine Austria and upper Italy, the crackly knäckebröds of Scandinavia, and the diverse breads of Germany, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Russia. Readers will discover dark, sour classic Russian Borodinsky; orange and molasses-infused Swedish Gotländ Rye; nearly black Westphalian Pumpernickel, which gets its musky sweetness from a 24-hour bake; traditional Old Milwaukee Rye; and bright, caraway-infused Austrian Country Boule
Rounding out this treasury are reader-friendly chapters on rye’s history, unique chemistry, and centuries-old baking methods. Advanced bakers will relish Stanley’s methods, ingredients, and carefully sourced recipes, while beginning bakers will delight in his clear descriptions of baking fundamentals. The Rye Baker is the definitive resource for home bakers and professionals alike.
Rounding out this treasury are reader-friendly chapters on rye’s history, unique chemistry, and centuries-old baking methods. Advanced bakers will relish Stanley’s methods, ingredients, and carefully sourced recipes, while beginning bakers will delight in his clear descriptions of baking fundamentals. The Rye Baker is the definitive resource for home bakers and professionals alike.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2016
108 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Stanley Ginsberg
9 books14 followersStanley Ginsberg author of The Rye Baker (W.W.Norton & Co., 9/27/16), grew up in post World War Two Brooklyn, where he learned to bake from his grandmothers. He pursued bread baking as a hobby during the 1960s and has continued to expand his baking horizons and refine his skills ever since. His first book, Inside the Jewish Bakery: Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking (Camino Books 2011), won the IACP's 2012 Jane Grigson Award for "distinguished scholarship in the quality of its research and presentation."
In addition to writing, Stanley owns and operates The New York Bakers (nybakers.com), an e-business that sells a wide variety of ingredients, supplies and equipment to home bakers all over the world.
Stanley and his wife, Sylvia, a Philadelphia native, have three adult children, three beautiful granddaughters and one lovable standard poodle. They make their home in San Diego, California.
In addition to writing, Stanley owns and operates The New York Bakers (nybakers.com), an e-business that sells a wide variety of ingredients, supplies and equipment to home bakers all over the world.
Stanley and his wife, Sylvia, a Philadelphia native, have three adult children, three beautiful granddaughters and one lovable standard poodle. They make their home in San Diego, California.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 23, 2017
WOW. Did I say WOW? WOW! This is a freaking amazing book for anyone who loves rye bread. With this you will adore rye bread in all its many tasty guises.
Rye bread difficult to work with? Pshah. It's actually so much simpler to work with once you figure out you don't have to knead it like you do other breads.
Stanley Ginsberg has an immediately accessible writing style that invites you into the world of rye bread.
Rye bread difficult to work with? Pshah. It's actually so much simpler to work with once you figure out you don't have to knead it like you do other breads.
Stanley Ginsberg has an immediately accessible writing style that invites you into the world of rye bread.
January 26, 2018
Such a pleasure
Let me start by stating that bread baking is an art form, and it's clear to me that the author is an artist.
It is rare to find a cookbook that requires reading in-depth. This one does, and the rewards for doing so allows the reader to gain the benefit of Mr. Ginsberg's experience.
Be aware, this is not a beginner cookbook. Knowledge of technique and a fairly extensive collection of equipment are needed. But I intend to bake my way through this book one region at a time.
Let me start by stating that bread baking is an art form, and it's clear to me that the author is an artist.
It is rare to find a cookbook that requires reading in-depth. This one does, and the rewards for doing so allows the reader to gain the benefit of Mr. Ginsberg's experience.
Be aware, this is not a beginner cookbook. Knowledge of technique and a fairly extensive collection of equipment are needed. But I intend to bake my way through this book one region at a time.
May 15, 2020
I've read it, but not yet tried any of the recipes. I'll update the rating once I do, but for right now it's three stars, which is a good cookbook, IMO.
Operative word from my opening sentence is "yet." I will. I just have to wait for the quarantine bakers to stop panic-buying all the flour. Amazing how only two or three months ago how many people would not shut up about their wheat intolerance and their "gluten-free lifestyle" or whose idea of baking was reheating a package of King's Hawaiian rolls suddenly imagine themselves the next Mary Berry or Peter Reinhart. Helpful hint to real person encountered in grocery store: if you don't know the difference between all-purpose and bread flour, maybe don't buy a dozen bags of each.
But back tot he book. There is a LOT of information in this book, and it's thorough in its explanations of the process. Regional variations of rye breads are covered (Nordic, eastern European, French-Italian, etc.) I'm not a huge rye bread fan (but others in my household are), but even I saw some recipes for breads that sound fantastic. Recipes are logically formatted with weights, volumes, and bakers' percentages. I do wish the fonts on the charts were the same size as the rest of the text rather than smaller. Usually I don't care about the lack of pictures in cookbooks, but I do wish there were some in this one since some of the breads are not common to the US.
I raised an eyebrow at the idea of mixing the dough for thirty minutes in the stand mixer -- not because of the length of time so much as the fact I haven't owned a KitchenAid in decades that could handle regular bread dough, much less rye and for that length of time. The last two I had sounded like the motors were going to explode just mixing a single loaf of white. (Which is why I no longer nor ever will again own a KitchenAid mixer. They were fantastic in the 1980s. They have been utter crap for the last 20+ years.)
Operative word from my opening sentence is "yet." I will. I just have to wait for the quarantine bakers to stop panic-buying all the flour. Amazing how only two or three months ago how many people would not shut up about their wheat intolerance and their "gluten-free lifestyle" or whose idea of baking was reheating a package of King's Hawaiian rolls suddenly imagine themselves the next Mary Berry or Peter Reinhart. Helpful hint to real person encountered in grocery store: if you don't know the difference between all-purpose and bread flour, maybe don't buy a dozen bags of each.
But back tot he book. There is a LOT of information in this book, and it's thorough in its explanations of the process. Regional variations of rye breads are covered (Nordic, eastern European, French-Italian, etc.) I'm not a huge rye bread fan (but others in my household are), but even I saw some recipes for breads that sound fantastic. Recipes are logically formatted with weights, volumes, and bakers' percentages. I do wish the fonts on the charts were the same size as the rest of the text rather than smaller. Usually I don't care about the lack of pictures in cookbooks, but I do wish there were some in this one since some of the breads are not common to the US.
I raised an eyebrow at the idea of mixing the dough for thirty minutes in the stand mixer -- not because of the length of time so much as the fact I haven't owned a KitchenAid in decades that could handle regular bread dough, much less rye and for that length of time. The last two I had sounded like the motors were going to explode just mixing a single loaf of white. (Which is why I no longer nor ever will again own a KitchenAid mixer. They were fantastic in the 1980s. They have been utter crap for the last 20+ years.)
October 15, 2022
Having made a couple attempts at rye baking with middling success at best (tasted great but with lousy crumbs), and seeing a recommendation for this on the r/sourdough subreddit, I decided to educate myself.
Rye is a delicious and nutritious flour that is notoriously hard to work with. It has little gluten, so doughs with a high percentage of rye defy wheat-based techniques for building structure and a lighter crumb. Rye doughs are also sticky and thus difficult to handle.
Ginsberg ably explains all this and the various techniques for working with and baking rye doughs. A concise history and geography of rye and its baked products precedes this.
Where this book fell down for me was its narrow focus. Directions for the breads always use a mixer where at all possible – eschewing mixing and kneading by hand (to say nothing of folding instead of kneading). Baking always uses a pan of water to add steam, the term 'Dutch oven' appears exactly zero times. Really, who writes a book about baking, especially sourdough baking, and never even mentions Dutch ovens? Bizarre.
I feel like he copy-pasted the recipe instructions and while modifying them for the basics of the recipe, gave little thought to any idiosyncrasies such as dough slackness or when it might be better to use the aforementioned folds or a Dutch oven.
That said, the variety of recipes should satisfy everyone. They range from conventional loaves with a low-ish amount of rye (a third or so) that are more amenable to wheat-bread techniques to pure rye breads with multi-stage builds involving sponges and scalds taking two days to complete.
With a bit more care put into the recipe details, this would easily be a four-star reference-cookbook.
Rye is a delicious and nutritious flour that is notoriously hard to work with. It has little gluten, so doughs with a high percentage of rye defy wheat-based techniques for building structure and a lighter crumb. Rye doughs are also sticky and thus difficult to handle.
Ginsberg ably explains all this and the various techniques for working with and baking rye doughs. A concise history and geography of rye and its baked products precedes this.
Where this book fell down for me was its narrow focus. Directions for the breads always use a mixer where at all possible – eschewing mixing and kneading by hand (to say nothing of folding instead of kneading). Baking always uses a pan of water to add steam, the term 'Dutch oven' appears exactly zero times. Really, who writes a book about baking, especially sourdough baking, and never even mentions Dutch ovens? Bizarre.
I feel like he copy-pasted the recipe instructions and while modifying them for the basics of the recipe, gave little thought to any idiosyncrasies such as dough slackness or when it might be better to use the aforementioned folds or a Dutch oven.
That said, the variety of recipes should satisfy everyone. They range from conventional loaves with a low-ish amount of rye (a third or so) that are more amenable to wheat-bread techniques to pure rye breads with multi-stage builds involving sponges and scalds taking two days to complete.
With a bit more care put into the recipe details, this would easily be a four-star reference-cookbook.
November 13, 2020
As a food blogger and journalist, I am always looking for the quintessential bread baking book. That this book is solely devoted to baking with rye successfully is quite simply a bonus.
This bread baking book reads like history as it moves from classic old-world recipes and techniques through to new rye culinary bread creations. It isn't just a collection of photos and recipes. Oh, no! You will learn about the history and chemistry of rye, as well as time-worn techniques. This book is for the well-schooled baker and the novice and everyone in between.
I often look at photos of baked goods in cookbooks and think surely, I can't attain the quality of what is pictured. But the photos in this book make me feel that I must persevere! I WANT to reach that level of perfection. And if I don't? I will be satisfied that I tried and will try again another day. I can smell the yeasty goodness and taste the musky sweetness. I can sense the feeling of the crumb between my fingers.
The reader/baker will travel around the world and never have to leave the pages. I recommend putting this book on your gift list and gifting it to your favorite bakers. And if your really nice, maybe they'll bake something yummy from within its pages.
This bread baking book reads like history as it moves from classic old-world recipes and techniques through to new rye culinary bread creations. It isn't just a collection of photos and recipes. Oh, no! You will learn about the history and chemistry of rye, as well as time-worn techniques. This book is for the well-schooled baker and the novice and everyone in between.
I often look at photos of baked goods in cookbooks and think surely, I can't attain the quality of what is pictured. But the photos in this book make me feel that I must persevere! I WANT to reach that level of perfection. And if I don't? I will be satisfied that I tried and will try again another day. I can smell the yeasty goodness and taste the musky sweetness. I can sense the feeling of the crumb between my fingers.
The reader/baker will travel around the world and never have to leave the pages. I recommend putting this book on your gift list and gifting it to your favorite bakers. And if your really nice, maybe they'll bake something yummy from within its pages.
February 22, 2018
Wow!I love this book.
Now, I am in general a cookbook fan... and if it's a tome on making historical and/or artisan breads, I am even more susceptible.
While I've started a rye sourdough (yet again), I've thus far only made 1 recipe from this book, but it's a winner! It's a quick yeast rye- completed in 4 hours or less from starting- the Breton Folded Rye. SO very quick and easy and delicious! The rye flavor really shines through, and it's light but has a nice fine crumb (we did let it rise twice the suggested time, but our kitchen is cool). Shaped differently, it would be great for sandwiches.
The others are more elaborate, but in varying degrees. For serious and aspiring to serious artisan bakers, the various lists and charts of bakers' percentages are a help to understanding what's going on in each phase.
Among them all, the recipes seem to use practically every form of rye possible. It is fortunate that there is an excellent list of sources for some of the less-common items.
Highly recommended for people interested in a variety of idiosyncratic Old and New World rye breads.
Now, I am in general a cookbook fan... and if it's a tome on making historical and/or artisan breads, I am even more susceptible.
While I've started a rye sourdough (yet again), I've thus far only made 1 recipe from this book, but it's a winner! It's a quick yeast rye- completed in 4 hours or less from starting- the Breton Folded Rye. SO very quick and easy and delicious! The rye flavor really shines through, and it's light but has a nice fine crumb (we did let it rise twice the suggested time, but our kitchen is cool). Shaped differently, it would be great for sandwiches.
The others are more elaborate, but in varying degrees. For serious and aspiring to serious artisan bakers, the various lists and charts of bakers' percentages are a help to understanding what's going on in each phase.
Among them all, the recipes seem to use practically every form of rye possible. It is fortunate that there is an excellent list of sources for some of the less-common items.
Highly recommended for people interested in a variety of idiosyncratic Old and New World rye breads.
May 22, 2017
This is the one stop shopping on Rye bread baking. You need no other book.
(Well, of course, you are going to get other books, let's not be silly, if you bake and love cookbooks you will always have more, still...with this one - you won't need it.)
Delicious recipes and science behind the wonders of baking rye bread.
Enjoy!
(Well, of course, you are going to get other books, let's not be silly, if you bake and love cookbooks you will always have more, still...with this one - you won't need it.)
Delicious recipes and science behind the wonders of baking rye bread.
Enjoy!
February 15, 2020
tantalizing too hard to get the ingredients though
April 18, 2020
I'm a rye addict and i bloody love this.
Read
April 20, 2021Way over my head so I'm not rating
October 14, 2016
As a gluten-sensitive person, I find that 100% rye breads don't bother me. I don't have the weird dreams, and restless sleep I get from wheat, and even spelt. I don't break out in acne, nor do I get foggy and spacey. The introduction of this cookbooks explains why wheat has more gluten and rye has more protein. The author also give an nice overview of the history of rye, along with the shift towards greater wheat production that ramped up in the latter 20th century. The ingredient overview also explains why European flours are different from American flour.
My maternal grandmother is from Eastern Europe. This book helps me get in touch with the kind of bread she would have baked 100 years ago.
A word of warning for American bakers: the author uses grams through out. He has good reasons, but I still find this a bit annoying. so far I haven't actually baked any of these breads. But I have a greater appreciation for the trickiness of adding rye flour into regular recipes.
My maternal grandmother is from Eastern Europe. This book helps me get in touch with the kind of bread she would have baked 100 years ago.
A word of warning for American bakers: the author uses grams through out. He has good reasons, but I still find this a bit annoying. so far I haven't actually baked any of these breads. But I have a greater appreciation for the trickiness of adding rye flour into regular recipes.
January 5, 2017
Great book for lovers of rye bread and baking. I have tried three recipes from this book and all have yielded excellent bread. The author's descriptions of the breads and their regional origins are all very interesting.
December 15, 2016
extensive research and greats recipes. hope I can bake a few loaves.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews