Rye bread is a simple yeast-leavened bread that is made using a combination of rye and wheat flour. The darkness and flavour of the bread depends on the colour of the rye flour and the amount of rye flour used in relation to the wheat flour. Rye flour does not contain much of the protein that promotes gluten development, so the addition of wheat flour allows the bread to rise. When rye flour is used alone, the dough is very sticky and difficult to handle, and the loaf is very heavy and dense.

Light rye bread has a relatively high proportion of wheat flour and is ideal for sandwiches, particularly with roast beef, salt beef, pastrami, or ham and cheese. It is also good with smoked fish. Dark rye bread, such as the German pumpernickel, is better sliced very thinly and served as open sandwiches, with smoked ham, cheese or smoked fish.

Polish Rye Bread

Polish rye bread usually includes caraway seeds, which provide additional flavour. The bread may be made with a course grind of rye meal to produce a dark rye, or it may be prepared using a finer grind of rye with a high proportion of wheat flour to produce a lighter, less dense loaf. Polish rye is particularly good when served with hearty soups and stews.

Swedish Rye Bread

Swedish rye tends to be lighter in texture and flavour than many other northern European rye breads Prepared as a loaf-shaped hearth bread, it has a soft crumb and a slightly sweet flavour, with a hint of molasses.

Italian rye bread is produced using a combination of rye and wheat flour (plain or strong), with the wheat flour making up the major proportion. This makes this type of rye bread less heavy than its Scandinavian and eastern European equivalents.

Italian rye has a light coloured crumb and crust, with a delicious sweet-sour flavour. It is ideal for dipping in olive oil or for cutting into slices for sandwiches. Some varieties of the bread also include caraway seeds, which gives it a more distinct flavour, more akin to the hearty rye breads of northern and eastern Europe.

New York rye bread is made using a combination of rye and wheat flour, giving it a light coloured crumb in comparison to breads made using all rye flour. It has a chewy, tasty crust, and a distinctive flavour due to the inclusion of caraway seeds. This variety of ryebread is ideal for serving with soups and stews.

Marble rye bread is also sold, made with a combination of rye dough and wheat dough. The dark rye dough (made using all rye flour or combined with a proportion of wheat flour) is placed on top of a layer of white wheat dough, and then rolled up to produce a spiral pattern of rye and wheat bread. The optional addition of molasses to the rye part of the dough gives it a darker colour and a distinctively rich flavour. This marbled bread has a relatively dense texture and a chewy, yet somewhat crispy crust. It is often used to make hearty flavoured deli-style sandwich bread.