Danish Rye Bread

Danes, germans and other northern europeans can not imagine living without dark rye bread, after moving to the states in 1988, it took me about 4 months of trying my danish recipes, adjusting for high altitudes and ingredients available before i finally found one that worked. i made this every week till the kids left home. this is a very tough, sticky dough, it can be made by hand, but a stand mixer definitely makes it easier.

Steps

Pour the boiling water into a very large bowl.

Add bulgur , let stand for 10 minutes.

Add the cold beer , yeast , buttermilk , gravy color or cocoa and salt.

It is important to keep the machine on low for 5 minutes , keep scraping the sides and the dough hook while you add.

Rye flour , whole wheat flour and all purpose flour.

Fill loaf forms of the way.

Cover with a wet dishtowel and let rise for 1 hour.

Dip a fork in a glass of water and prick the whole surface of the loafs.

Let rise for another hour.

Bake on the middle rack 1 hour at 400 f.

Remove baked loafs from oven , and turn over into separate dishtowels , turn right side up.

Brush top of bread with melted butter and wrap in dishtowel.

Place on baking rack on the counter to cool completely.

To freeze: let cool till hand warm , place in double freezer bags , and wait till completely cool to place in freezer.

To defrost , place on kitchen counter in a dishtowel , remove plastic bag , till defrosted , can be stored .

Ingredients

boiling water, bulgur, dark beer, dry active yeast, buttermilk, liquid gravy browner, salt, rye flour, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, butter