Although rye delivers nuttiness and moisture when made into bread, it can produce dense loaves. To get a better rise, mix in some all-purpose flour.

With a regular bread recipe, start by replacing just a quarter of the recipe's wheat flour with rye. After a few test bakes, you should ascertain the proper ratio for your recipe.

As you incorporate rye, you'll want to scale up the protein without adding much more wheat. That's where bread flour and vital wheat gluten come in.

Bread flour is designed to have a higher amount of protein than all-purpose or cake. Protein helps form gluten, which in turn makes the dough stay puffy.

Vital wheat gluten is exactly what it sounds like: a concentrated powdered gluten. Just don’t add too much, as overdeveloping the gluten can make your dough stodgy and tough.