Hi, one thing you may want to try is starting with cooler water on a very hot day. Instant yeast does not need warm water to activate it, so you can control your dough temperature by beginning with cooler water, which will help slow down the rise time a bit. 80°F is a good dough temperature for rye bread, so you might try using 70°F water when you mix the dough, which will help adjust for the warm temperatures in your kitchen. When I test my loaf to see if it's ready to go in the oven, I like to poke the top of the loaf and see that the indentation fills up slowly, but leaves a small print. Remember, rye flour doesn't develop gluten the way wheat flour does, so you're not likely to see a huge rise, but the slashes should definitely open up and the loaf expand somewhat in size. Barb@KAF

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