Mild Rey bread Attempt

Why not try the recipe as it is written?  Your process, while creative and novel, introduces factors that you cannot control; specifically the amount of starch that is removed from the dough and the amount of water that is added to the dough.  As you have experienced, that leads to an unpredictable outcome.

Try making the bread as specified in the recipe, preferably several times, so that you have an understanding of how the bread is supposed to turn out.  If the bread is too crumbly, then you might want to consider adding gluten.  Then again, a higher hydration level might be the answer.  Make a few batches where the only thing you change from the base recipe is the amount of gluten.  Make another few batches where the only thing that varies from the base recipe is the hydration level.  Keep notes of what changed going in, and what changed in the finished bread. 

While I understand the reasoning behind adding gluten, or flours with a high gluten content, when making breads with a significant percentage of rye, it strikes me as counter-productive.  Dough for wheat breads behaves the way it does because of the characteristics of the wheat flour.  Dough for rye breads behaves the way it does because of the characteristics of rye flour.  By understanding the attributes of each, we can bake breads that exploit those traits, rather than trying to force either to behave like the other with additives or subtractions.  Simple thinking, I know, but, hey, I'm simple-minded some days.

Enjoy your bread, however you make it.

Paul