Rye, Organic, SuperPail

Bulk Organic Rye Berries, 40 lbs.

Our rye grain is certified organic, triple-cleaned and perfect for baking & cooking purposes.

Convenient & safe storage

Our bulk rye berries are certified organic and non-GMO, and comes in six-gallon buckets (or pails... another word for the same container), containing 38 lbs. net weight. When you store rye grain at home, it needs to be protected in a couple of ways. First, it needs to be protected from a variety of little critters who'd like to get to it before you do. Weevils and rodents, for example. You also need to protect your rye from picking up excessive additional moisture, which can be drawn from the atmosphere. The buckets our bulk rye comes in provide full protection against these storage risks. They have airtight gasket-sealed lids and oxygen absorber packets that remove the oxygen from the air in the bucket after we put the lid on. The O2 absorbers leave an atmosphere of nitrogen in the bucket, because air consists almost entirely of oxygen and nitrogen. (The oxygen absorber packets themselves are completely food-safe, being made of powdered iron and salt, which are kept separate from the product itself.) Our buckets safely lock out pests, so your rye enjoys complete peace and quiet until you want to use it.

Super-cleaned

All of our rye grain is triple-cleaned to ensure purity and protect your grain mill from any foreign objects. (Rye berries that aren't sufficiently cleaned may contain small stones that will damage or destroy a grain mill... not to mention that you don't want such things in your food!)

Non-GMO

All of Pleasant Hill Grain's whole grain products are natural (non-GMO). Also, PHG does not sell any grains, beans, lentils, pulses or seeds sourced from China.

Shelf Life

Our organic rye has a shelf life of 10+ years when unopened and stored in a cool, dark, dry environment.

Rye Uses & History

Rye (secale cereale) grows well in poor soil and harsh climates, surviving in both drought and near-freezing conditions. Today, rye is mainly cultivated in Eastern, Central and Northern Europe, particularly in Germany, Russia and Poland. Rye is similar to hard wheat but contains more fiber, protein, phosphorus, potassium, iron and B vitamins. The gluten in rye is weaker than in hard wheat, which means baked goods made with 100% rye flour are denser and heavier than those made with hard wheat. While rye bread (often called black bread), is dense and heavy, it’s loved by many!

Triticale is a hybrid of hard wheat and rye, offering the nutritional advantages of rye and its strength to withstand severe climates, while providing a stronger gluten structure and better yield than rye, making it similar to bread wheat.

For those unfamiliar with rye, it’s easy to think the grain has a bitter flavor because rye bread is often bitter tasting; but rye actually has a very mild, slightly acidic flavor. Strong bitter flavors such as molasses and caraway seeds, anise seeds, or fennel seeds are often added to rye breads imparting the intense, rich flavor that we often associate with black breads.

Rye berries are soft and can easily be flaked for cooking into a hot breakfast cereal.

Malted rye is used to make whiskey and beer, and a traditional fermented Russian beverage called kvass is made with rye bread.

Whole grain rye (sometimes called rye berries) can be ground into flour using an impact, steel burr or stone burr grain mill. Whole grain rye flour is considered “dark” rye flour, while rye flour that’s been sifted to remove the bran is considered “light”. Dark rye flour is quite light in color though, close to a khaki color, while light rye flour is just slightly whiter. The dark color we typically see in rye bread comes from the addition of molasses or cocoa powder.

Working with rye dough can be tricky because the dough easily becomes sticky. If using an electric mixer to make your dough it’s best to use the slowest speed. Mixers with spiral dough hooks are especially good for making rye dough as the motion of the spiral dough hook is very gentle on the dough. If you’re new to rye flour try combining it with hard wheat flour before attempting a 100% rye loaf. 

Making rye bread can be a fun challenge and the unique flavors that can be added to rye breads are interesting to experiment with. Some rye bread recipes call for additions of espresso powder, vinegar, onions, oranges or even chocolate. From marbled pumpernickel and Swedish Limpa, to Russian sourdough borodinsky, Jewish deli ryes, Polish buttermilk ryes and Boston brown bread, the variations are endless!

Phytic Acid and Phytase in Rye

Phosphorus is found in the bran of whole grain rye, but it’s bound in an anti-nutrient called phytic acid. Phytic acid molecules (present in all grains, seeds and nuts) "grab" other minerals they come in contact with and bind with them; particularly calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and manganese. This means that when we eat bound phytic acid we not only miss out on some added phosphorus, but other minerals our body would benefit from because they were "stolen" by this phytic acid. Since mineral deficiencies lead to a wide variety of health problems, too much bound phytic acid can make a person very sick. Phytates are the bond that holds phytic acid together and breaking down that bond allows our bodies to absorb phosphorus, and up to 20% more zinc, and 60% more magnesium than we could otherwise assimilate from foods containing phytic acid.

Phytic acid can be reduced dramatically in seeds, grains, beans, and nuts through particular food preparation strategies that break the phytic acid apart from the phytates. These strategies include sprouting, soaking (in non-acidic liquid, or acidic liquid), fermenting and cooking. Cooking is less effective than sprouting or fermenting, but they’re all beneficial; sometimes two or three processes are necessary to reduce the phytic acid as much as possible. Fermentation (making sourdough) is the best way to reduce phytic acid in wheat and rye breads.

Rye contains a high level of the enzyme phytase which can, with the right preparation, break down phytate bonds. When rye berries or freshly ground rye flour are soaked in a warm liquid for a few hours, phytase works to disengage the phytate bonds (remember to dry soaked grain before grinding it into flour). Rye contains more phytase than most other grains, so adding rye flour to other soaked flour mixtures helps initiate enzyme activity to reduce the phytic acid in all the flours. This rye-starter method is especially helpful for grains and flours that have very little phytase such as oats, millet, rice and corn.

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Shipping is just $10 for your entire order, regardless of how much grain you order.