Birth of a Rhode Island Rye Bread
How three local producers created a delicious and sustainable venture
By Elizabeth Field
Photos by Chip Riegel

It’s a busy Saturday morning at Seven Stars Bakery in Providence, and its 100 percent Rhode Island rye bread is selling like hotcakes.

This is no ordinary bread. Unlike the typical spongy, soft-crusted, caraway-seeded rye breads sold in supermarkets, this one is an incredibly dense, 10-inch-long, 4-inch-by-5-inch rectangular, 4-pound German-style Volkenbrot. Its moist deep brown interior is flecked with lighter brown, partially ground whole rye berries, bran and germ, and it’s at once slightly sweet, slightly sour, fragrant and earthy. (Think openface Scandinavian smørrebrød sandwiches, topped with havarti cheese and gherkins, or buttery smoked salmon, honey-mustard and chopped dill.) And, except for its salt, the bread was produced entirely in the Ocean State.

“We always wanted to do a 100 percent rye bread,” says Seven Stars baker/owner Jim Williams, who created the loaf. “But we weren’t sure if it would sell well.”

Thanks to a unique collaboration between Rich Schartner, farmer/owner of Schartner Farms in Exeter, who grew the grain; Paul Drumm III, miller/owner of Kenyon’s Grist Mill in Usquepaug, who ground the rye flour; and Hannah Mellion of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, who facilitated the local partnership between the three businesses, the bread has not only caught on but has virtually sold out.

Flashback to early March, when the collaborators are celebrating the birth of the bread. We’re gathered at Kenyon’s Grist Mill in its picture-bookquaint South County locale, exalting in the deep blue of the sky, the ducks floating lazily on the millpond and the first green fuzz on the still-bare trees. With the enthusiasm of a kid, Paul Drumm demonstrates the working of the mill, which, best known for its jonnycakes and cornmeal mixes, is housed in a two-story building dating from 1886.

Dried rye seeds (or berries, as they are commonly known) are loaded into a hopper, from which they feed into an aperture between two enormous, century-old Westerly, Rhode Island, granite millstones. Drumm flicks the switch of the now electrically powered machinery, and with an enormous roar, the rye berries are crushed between the stones. “Let ’er rip,” he grins.

The Farmer…

“It all started last August,” recounts Schartner, as he munches some freshly dug carrots from his fields. He had listed rye berries on Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s Market Mobile in the spirit of “using everything we grow—black walnuts and English walnuts from our trees, and my brother’s turning our green tomatoes into a relish.” Predominantly used by bakers, rye berries are a byproduct of the winter rye cover crop that three generations of the Schartner family have been planting on their farm to add nutrients to the soil and prevent erosion.  “Hannah [Mellion] asked if we’d ever consider making flour from the rye seeds, and we said, ‘why not?’“ continues Schartner. “Paul’s grist mill is six miles down the road, so we called him up and within a week we had ground about 400 to 500 pounds of flour.” He had a ready customer in JimWilliams, and thus a 100 percent local, 100 percent valueadded product came into being.

These days, Schartner grows approximately 150 acres in winter rye, of which he saves some 15 acres’ worth to sell as garden mulch as well as to combine into rye seed in late July. He also has 10 acres of hard spring wheat, to be harvested in August or early September.  In the fall, he’ll plant an additional 10 acres of soft red winter wheat for next year’s crop, and he is also considering soft white wheat and oats.  At this stage, Schartner hasn’t realized any “grand revenues” from the pilot grain project but financially he’s in the black, and he hopes to make the grains a product line for his farm.

The Miller…

For his part, Paul Drumm III has always milled corn, rye and wheat since his father, Paul Drumm Jr., bought Kenyon’s Grist Mill in 1971.  Though he’s a strong advocate of local agriculture, there hasn’t been much locally raised grain around. “The closest place where we could get rye and wheat that meet our standards is in Long Island,” Drumm says. All that may change if Schartner continues to expand his grain production.

Which leads to the economic heart of the Rhode Island Rye project. “Milling is not a very profitable business,” Drumm says, noting that he has been organizing local fairs and festivals to draw people to the mill. “Every little bit of business helps.” Times are hard for many local businesses, and with Farm Fresh Rhode Island and the state Department of Agriculture’s support in improving infrastructure, distribution channels, and creating a network geared toward connecting Rhode Island businesses with local consumers, there could be “a renaissance of the old intra-state commerce model,” according to Drumm.

Till then, “we’ll just keep plugging.”

The Baker…

The third member of the partnership, Jim Williams, hails from California.  Since opening Seven Stars Bakery with his New England–born wife, Lynn, in 2001, he has been intrigued by the idea of 100 percent rye bread. “Traditional 100 percent rye breads are popular in northern Europe but very few people do them here because of their density,” he says. The Rhode Island Rye Project provided an opportunity that was too good to resist.

Working with rye flour presents the baker with certain challenges that require a bit of expertise. “Rye contains gluten but it has much less than wheat,” Williams explains. Gluten in tandem with gliadin helps provide structure to wheat dough and captures the carbon dioxide gases produced by yeast fermentation, allowing the bread to rise high.  Rye flour will not form a gluten web of similar strength, and as a result rye breads will always have a denser structure, according to Bread:

A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman (John Wiley & Sons, 2004.) In fact, because of rye’s limited rising capabilities, German bakers call rye dough a “paste.”

The Bread…

In order to maximize rye’s potential to rise, timing is crucial. To begin, Williams uses a sourdough starter plus a mixture of rye berries and boiling water that he soaks overnight. He then combines the two mixtures, adds more rye flour, water and salt, and allows the dough to ferment for 30 minutes.

He places the dough in loaf pans, and proofs, or lets it rise, for three hours, before baking it for two hours. This is the tricky part:

“When the dough is ready, you’ve got to get it into the oven immediately, otherwise what little bit of rise it has is gone but not forgotten,” says Williams. “Rye dough has no forgiveness, unlike wheat, where if you let it rise too long before baking, it will still come out well.” Additionally, 100 percent rye bread needs to sit a few days before using it, to allow its texture to dry out a bit and its flavor to mellow—another logistical challenge for a baker. On the plus side, it will keep for several weeks because of its natural moisture. The bread requires a heavy-duty serrated knife to slice it. Williams suggests slicing the loaf very thin. “Less is more,” he says.

Supply of Rhode Island rye flour has been an issue, Williams acknowledges.  He ran low on flour in late April, necessitating his canceling production for a few weeks. The bread will be available again in mid-June at Seven Stars’ three cafés and five farmers’ market locations, priced at $5 for a half loaf, and $10 for a whole loaf.With luck, Rich’s new crop will be available in mid-July.

“As of now, we’ve made about 300 loaves,” says Williams. “Response has been great and yes, I am surprised. Frankly, I think it selling well has a lot more to do with the entire story of how it came about than the bread itself. I hope that is what is getting people in the door, then they love the bread and come back for more!” eR

Elizabeth Field is passionate about food and writes for various magazines, newspapers and academic journals.

Rhode Island Rye Bread will be available at Seven Stars Bakery on Saturdays while the local rye flour supply lasts. Another harvest should be underway in July andmore delicious rye bread will follow.

Visit the farmer at www.schartnerfarms.com

Visit the miller at www.kenyonsgristmill.com

Visit the baker at www.sevenstarsbakery.com