LIZ, I finally used some home milled rye

Weavershouse:

So glad to hear that you liked the fresh milled rye. Isn't it just SO much better than the store bought rye? It even smells good! I checked out your Rustic Light Rye loaves and they are wonderful. That Zolablue is quite a bread temptress!

I also used all the levain in one of Leader's recipes (perhaps the Pain de Campagne?) one time, and it turned out not to be a big problem in the finished loaf as well. I do wish the book were more consistent, although your bread doesn't seem to have suffered from too much starter!

Thanks for letting me know about your ventures in freshly milled rye!

Liz

Liz, I also love using freshly milled rye.  I am out of rye berries, I've ordered some more (organic).

Any tips? 

Buns of Steel: So glad you tried freshly milled rye and enjoyed it. It is so vastly better than the packaged rye. I don't have any tips to offer. Generally, I use the fresh rye in recipes that call for any type of rye (whole, medium or light rye) as I like the taste of the full rye. I have occasionally put the milled rye through a fine sieve to get a lighter rye flour. I also use the fresh rye in my rye starter as it provides a wonderful taste and, I think, improved leavening. I just picked up a new 25 lb bag of organic rye berries yesterday!

Hamelman has some wonderful rye recipes, as does Leader in his newest book, Local Breads.

Let us know when you bake with your fresh rye and show us some photos.

Liz

OK will do.  I also like a darker rye, and like things like volkornbrot.  I have Leader's book, I need to get Hamelman's. 

I ordered a 25 pound bag also.  Before I only had three pounds, and really enjoyed it.  I think in the stores near me the rye flour gets stale also due to lower demand, so I like having the rye berries.

I made Reinhart's volkornbrot, but wasn't impressed with the recipe, due to overcooking of rye berries IMO.  I am dying to try Leader's.  I made Leader's soulful farmhouse rye, if I made it again I would probably skip the cumin, I have made similar swedish limpa ryes with the other spices and no cumin, plus some orange rind, and liked them better for a spiced rye.  Leader's book is really fantastic.  I've baked a lot from it (beyond the rye), wonderful recipes! 

I feel like I'm still on the learning curve as to how to make good ryes.  I grew up eating some great German ryes, I'm not German but we had a fantastic German gourmet shop nearby and always bought these wood-fired German rye breads.   My mom also bought a dense rye berry bread imported from Holland, it was called "pumpernickel" but was one with the rye berries whole, not flour, barely leavened.  The ingredients are rye berries, water, and lactic acid.  I'd love to be able to bake something like that, will take some experimenting.  I'm thinking Leader's volkornbrot is a good place to start. 

BTW it's been a while, but I've also sprouted rye berries and made crackers from the sprouted rye, fresh dill, and caraway seeds.