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Milled rye products

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The following denominations have become established for wholemeal rye products:
•  Wholemeal rye flour
•  Coarse wholemeal rye, finely ground
•  Coarse wholemeal rye, medium ground
•  Coarse wholemeal rye, coarsely ground
•  Wholemeal rye groats 
•  Wholemeal rye flakes
•  Whole grain rye 


Within the same designations for coarse rye, there are clear differences depending on the mill. In addition to the subdivision into fine, medium and coarse, designations such as „special“ or „extra“ are sometimes used to create a further gradation for coarsely ground coarse grain. A distinction is also made between fine, medium and coarse grades in soft and hard qualities. Soft or hard coarse grain is produced by the type of grinding. Soft qualities are ground between the large surfaces of the grinding stones in a single pass. Whereas the hard varieties are shredded in the roller mill with the sharp fluting of the grinding rollers. 

The degree of fineness of the coarse grain and the type of grinding have a significant influence on the swelling behaviour and therefore on the baking result. The proportion of flour is lower in the hard qualities than in the soft qualities. 

Finely ground and soft coarse grain has a larger surface area than coarsely ground and hard coarse grain, a higher proportion of mechanically damaged starch and better accessibility of the pentosans. This results in high water absorption and rapid swelling as well as accelerated enzymatic degradation. 

The granulation of the coarse rye grain has an influence on the acidity, as well. Sourdoughs made from finer coarse grain and especially from wholemeal rye flour produce significantly higher degrees of acidity with the same quantities of starter, the same dough yields and storage temperatures. 

The higher the proportion of finely ground coarse grain or wholemeal rye flour in the processing recipe, the higher the bread volume that can be achieved. However, if a high proportion of wholemeal rye flours is used, there is a risk that the dough yields will be too high and that the typical coarse-grain bread character will be lost.

Influence of the granulation of the coarse grain on acid formation capacity, acid requirement, water absorption and pre-swelling


Sifting of coarse wholemeal rye:

Particle size distribution of finely ground, medium ground and coarsely ground coarse wholemeal rye from a mill in northern Germany

As a general rule, the coarser the coarse grain, the lower the proportion of flour.


Influence of the granulation of milled rye products on the volume yield of coarse grain bread