Hi Astrid, it's a little hard to say what went wrong without knowing what recipe you followed, but it does sound like starting with a higher baking temperature and then reducing it part way through the bake may be helpful. Check out our Vollkornbrot recipe for an example of this type of baking. I would, however suggest a slightly different baking routine. Try baking at 470° for 15 minutes and then reducing the baking temperature to 380°F for about 1 1/4 hours. Typically in this type of recipe the rye flour is allowed to "sour" overnight, and then the dough is mixed the following day. Rye flour requires gentle kneading and won't really develop gluten, so mix on the lowest speed in your stand mixer for about 10 minutes. Rye flour ferments very quickly, so typically the rising time is rather short and the dough temperature a little warmer (84-85°F) than for wheat based recipes (78°F). As you can see, 100% rye flour recipes require some different techniques throughout the process. For more help with this type of recipe, please give our Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-2253(BAKE). We'd love to talk rye with you! Barb@KAF

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