This Rye and Barley Bread is NOT gluten free. Both barley and rye contain gluten, so do not use this bread as an alternative to wheat bread if you need a gluten free diet.
However, rye and barley are very nutritious grains and very tasty too. This bread is quite light, and it is a very simple recipe to follow. It basically uses just the two ingredients – rye flour, and barley flour, with yeast and water to make it rise, and a touch of salt for flavouring. For people who can tolerate gluten, it makes a nice change from wheat bread.
250 gm of rye flour
250 gm of barley flour
1 teaspoon sea salt or kelp powder
2 x 7gm packets of dried yeast granules
300 mls of warm water (about 1/2 a pint)
Set the yeast to start: Use three tablespoons of the just warm water and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Leave to work for 10 minutes. Make sure that the water is not too warm, otherwise this will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise.
Put the rye flour and the barley flour into a bowl with the salt. Add the yeast starter which has sat for 10 minutes. Mix altogether. Use a little more rye flour if necessary so that the dough does not stick to your hands.
Next, knead the dough lightly on a board. Put into a floured bowl and leave overnight to rise. The hot water cupboard is usually a good place for breads to rise.
Next day, punch down the dough a little, and knead again. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a clean cloth, and leave to rise for one hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 220C.
Flour your working board, turn out the dough, knead lightly and shape into a round. Place on a greased baking tray and bake in the pre-heated oven for fifteen minutes, then turn the heat down to 180C and bake for a further 3/4 hour.
Two tablespoons carraway seeds may be added to this bread to give it some extra vroom.