Bread flour; What are the differences?​

We recently switched to pumpernickel bread and until I was asked what it’s made from, I hadn’t given it much thought. Today I decided to educate myself about it and ran across this article, “What’s the difference? Light Rye, Dark Rye, Pumpernickel and Marble”, which I want to share with the world.


Light Rye: This bread is made using white rye flour ground from the center endosperm of the rye berry. This flour does not contain any of the outer seed coat, the bran, or the germ, so the flour (and the bread it eventually makes) stays fairly light in color.

Dark Rye: From what we can tell, dark rye breads can be made in one of two ways. The first version uses white rye flour and the same basic formula as light rye bread, but adds coloring and flavoring agents like molasses, cocoa powder, or instant coffee.

Pumpernickel: Real pumpernickel bread is made using a specific kind of flour called, appropriately enough, pumpernickel flour. This flour is made from coarsely-ground whole rye berries. In some traditional recipes, breadcrumbs left from other rye loaves are added to the dough for pumpernickel bread.

Marbled Rye: This bread is simply a bit of light rye dough and a bit of dark rye dough braided or rolled together. These two breads have nearly the same density, so they bake together into a uniform texture.

Read more on TheKitchn.com

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