Jewish NYC Deli-style Rye bread is packed with caraway seeds and a mixture of rye flour and wheat flour, giving a distinctive taste that's perfect for a deli-style sandwich, like pastrami on rye, corned beef or the legendary Reuben sandwich!
Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread Recipe
For simplicity, I've opted to make this recipe using instant yeast. You can use a sourdough starter instead of the yeast, if you prefer - use 15% starter weight as a percentage of total flour weight. The bulk ferment and final prove will naturally take longer, but I figure if you're making sourdough you know how to adapt this recipe 🙂.
Because we're using a mix of rye and wheat flours, this dough is much easier to handle as rye bread can be dense and sticky. The caraway seeds add that signature flavour for the deli-style rye, contributing to the popularity of deli sandwiches.
Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread ingredients
Check out the recipe card further down the post for comprehensive ingredients and quantities.
- Bread flour or all purpose/plain flour - minimum 10% protein. The higher the protein, the more bite the bread will have.
- Rye flour - use light or medium rye flour for this recipe. Rye brings the characteristic taste and colour to this loaf.
- Active or instant yeast - or you can use a sourdough starter - use 15% of the total rye + wheat flour weight.
- Salt, water, sugar - fairly standard bread ingredients.
- Caraway seeds - you can find these at most grocers or supermarkets. Caraway is the key flavour for this dish - if you leave them out, you're making a light rye loaf, not the Jewish deli rye!
- Oil - optionally use a neutral oil to help soften the crumb.
Essential equipment you need to make Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread
This recipe is written for use with a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer you can make it by hand - I have instructions below.
To make a sandwich loaf, you'll need a loaf pan or pullman-style loaf tin. You can make a freeform loaf using a banneton or similar for the final prove.
How to make Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread
Check out the recipe card further down the post for comprehensive instructions.
- Add ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Knead using a stand mixer or by hand.
- Bulk ferment until the dough has doubled in size.
- Shape the loaf.
- Prove the loaf.
- Score the loaf with a bread lame or sharp knife.
- Bake.
- Allow to cool before slicing, preferably on a wire rack.
Tips
- Use scales, not cup measures where possible. The recipe is written in grams for accuracy.
- Don't overprove the second rise. You can test if it's ready for baking by gently pushing into the dough - it should slowly spring back.
- Make sure that the dough is covered with a towel or plastic wrap while bulk fermenting and proving, to avoid it drying out or developing a skin.
What to serve with Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread
This bread is perfect for a salad sandwich, or for any of the deli classics:
- Corned beef on rye.
- Pastrami on rye.
- Reuben sandwich
Active dried yeast
Dried yeast comes in 2 varieties, active and instant. If you're using active dried yeast, you need to activate it before use. Simply mix the water, yeast and sugar together until frothy - about 10 minutes, and then proceed with the recipe. Instant dried yeast can be added directly to the bread mix without activating it.
How do I knead by hand?
To knead dough by hand, begin with a lightly floured surface to prevent sticking. Place the dough on the floured surface and use the heel of your hand to gently press it away from you. Fold the dough in half towards you and rotate it a quarter turn. Continue this process for about 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth, elastic, and passes the "windowpane test".
To perform the windowpane test, take a small piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. If the dough stretches into a thin, translucent membrane without tearing, it's ready. If it tears easily, continue kneading for a few more minutes.
While you're kneading, adjust the flour as needed to maintain a slightly tacky but not overly sticky consistency.
Using a stand mixer
Use your stand mixer on a low speed - generally 1 or 2, but consult your manual to confirm - with a dough hook to knead the dough. Not all stand mixers are created equally; if yours starts to get hot, stalls or smells bad - turn it off.
Overnight fermentation
Fermenting the dough overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature will give you a stronger fermented bread taste.
To do this, place your dough mixture after kneading into the fridge. Ensure that it's airtight so it won't dry out in the fridge - either place into a container with a lid or cover your bowl with plastic wrap.
When you're ready to continue, remove the dough from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before you proceed with shaping.
When is bread cooked?
Bread is cooked when the exterior is golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 93C (200F) for most doughs. Sourdough, whole grain and artisanal breads need a little more and are ready at 96C (205F).
If you don't have a thermometer, tapping and feeling the loaf should give you a good indication. Cooked bread sounds hollow and does not feel dense. Undercooked bread feels heavier and doesn't sound hollow.
Shaping
Boule
A boule is a round loaf of bread.
To shape a boule, start with your dough rested and relaxed after the bulk fermentation. Lightly flour the surface and place the dough onto the flour. Fold the edges into the centre, like you’re wrapping a parcel, to build tension. Flip it over and place it seam-side down. Use cupped hands to drag it toward you, turning and tucking as you go. Repeat several times until the dough feels tight - the goal is to create surface tension.
Block loaf
Gently flatten the dough into a rough rectangle, then fold the top third down and the bottom third up, like a letter and press to seal after each fold. Then roll it up from the short end into a tight cylinder, tucking and pressing in as you go to keep the dough tight. Pinch the seam closed.
Bannetons
Bannetons are used to help keep the loaf shape prior to baking. You can use them if you have them - but never bake the bread in a banneton - turn the bread out onto a baking stone or steel, or baking tray before baking.
You can also use a loaf pan for proving if you're baking a block loaf, in which case you can bake it directly in the pan.
Both light and medium rye flour work well for this recipe - but medium is the preference if you're able to get it.
Jewish Deli-style Rye Bread
| Prep | Cook | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 75 mins | 30 mins | 105 mins |
- 300g (2 1/4 US cups) bread flour or all purpose/plain flour - at least 10% protein
- 100g (3/4 US cup) light or medium rye flour
- 250ml (1 US cup + 2 tbsp water) water ideally around 33C/91F
- 2 tsp instant yeast or active dried yeast - see note 1
- 10g (1 2/3 tsp) salt
- 2 tbsp caraway seeds see note 2
- 15g (1 tbsp) neutral oil optional - softens the crumb
- 10g (2 1/2 tsp) sugar optional
- Add dough ingredients to bowl - add the flour, yeast, salt and sugar to a mixing bowl. Take care not to put the yeast and salt together. Add the water. If you're not using a stand mixer, bring everything together using your hand or a Danish whisk before kneading.
- Knead in your stand mixer at low speed with a dough hook attachment or by hand until the gluten is developed and passes the windowpane test, about 8-10 minutes (see note 4).
- Bulk ferment - cover with plastic wrap or a towel and allow the dough to ferment at room temperature for an hour or until doubled in size. Alternatively, you can place in the fridge overnight to develop a deeper flavour. When the dough has doubled in size, degas it by punching down.
- Shape the loaf - turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently press it into a rough rectangle, then fold the sides in and roll it up tightly from the short end to form a log. Pinch the seam closed and place it seam-side down in your prepared loaf tin, banneton or on a tray.
- Final proof - cover the shaped loaf lightly with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise at room temperature until it has roughly doubled in size again and springs back slowly when gently pressed, about 45-60 minutes (or longer if the dough was cold from the fridge). If your oven has a dough proofing function, you can proof it in the oven. If you're using a steam oven and it has a dough proofing function, there's no need to cover it as it will not dry out the bread.
- Bake - preheat your oven to 230C (445F). Score the top of the loaf if desired using a sharp knife or bread lame. Total baking time is 25-30 minutes.
- Conventional oven: bake for 10 minutes, then reduce to 210C (410F) and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
- Steam oven: bake with 80% humidity for 10 minutes, then reduce to 210C (410F) with 0% humidity and bake a further 15–20 minutes.
- Cool - remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing to allow the crumb to set properly.
- Yeast/sourdough - if using active dried yeast, make sure to bloom/activate the yeast before adding it to the mixing bowl. You can use a sourdough starter if you prefer, at 15% of your total flour weight. For the default quantity, this is 60g.
- Caraway seeds - the core taste of this dish. You can find these at most grocers; if you leave them out, it's not deli-style rye!
- Measurements - I am opposed to volumetric measures but have included them for convenience. Wherever possible, use a scale and measure in grams. The cup measures here are for US cups, which are slightly smaller than metric cups.
- Windowpane test - use to check for gluten development. To perform the windowpane test, take a small piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. If the dough stretches into a thin, translucent membrane without tearing, it's ready. If it tears easily, continue kneading for a few more minutes.
- Overnight bulk ferment - optional step which yields a stronger bread taste. Place kneaded dough into an airtight container and into the fridge overnight. When you're ready to continue, remove the dough from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before you proceed with shaping.
