Rye won't rise

[luckyluca]

Can't get rye bread to rise,what's up with that,please.
Even tried doubling yeast(1 1/2 tbls)will rise to about 1 1/2 size first time but not more after that.

[kita]

I think rye is known to not mix well with yeast. You have to use other flour as well to dilute the rye.

[Incognito]

I've made rye bread a few times. The first time, I used 1/2 white flour, 1/2 rye/mixed grains flour.
The dough did not rise much, but I baked it as it was anyway.

The next time I used the ratio 2/3 white flour to 1/3 rye/mixed grains. It rose better, but still not as much as I'd hoped for.

I found that when making the initial dough batter, that the rye flour stiffened it very quickly, and kneeding was much harder than usual when using rye flour.

I think a ratio of 3/4 white flour to 1/4 rye flour would probably produce a better result. Also, use oil (Crisco or canola) instead of lard or shortening in the dough mix, and the dough should be softer, and rise better.

[MaryCarney]

Yeah, you cannot use straight rye, you need gluten, like wheat to get a halfway decent rise.

The other factors might be old yeast (the little critters are dead), no food source (like some sugar), too much salt (kills yeast) or it's cold where you're storing the dough.