Hi Elegant Lion, the protein percentage for our Organic Medium Rye is 8% (+/- 1.5%), and the protein percentage for our Pumpernickel Flour is in the same range. However, this protein percentage does not reflect subsequent gluten development as it does in wheat flour. You could certainly experiment with adding VWG to boost the structure and rising power of your rye bread recipes, but I've never seen an 100% rye flour bread recipe that calls for VWG, and I'm not sure how that would play out. If you're looking to make a more whole grain rye bread, you might consider substituting our White Whole Wheat Flour for part of the white flour in the recipe, which will still contribute more to the rise than rye flour alone. When adding whole wheat flour or VWG to a recipe, keep in mind that both these elements will soak up more liquid than white flour, so you may have to up the hydration a bit. 

Another factor to consider when baking recipes with a high percentage of rye flour is that a sourdough component is often helpful. This is because acidifying the rye flour with sourdough helps to slow down the amylase enzyme activity, which can otherwise result in a gummy structure in rye breads that have a lot of rye flour in them. Because enzyme activity is already quite prominent in rye flour, I would advise against adding malted barley flour. We don't have any rye bread recipes that include a tangzhong starter, but you might find this recipe by Maurizio Leo interesting. He uses scalded rye flour in a similar way to a tangzhong starter. For more about the unique properties and requirements of rye flour, check out this blog post. 

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