- 4 cups warm tap water (not hot)
- 2/3 cup non-fat dry milk powder
(instant powdered milk)
- 1/3 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey
- 2 packets or 4 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/3 cup melted margarine or oil
- 12 cups (approximately) white or
whole wheat flour or a combination
The first thing you need is a big bowl or
clean dish pan to mix this up in. I use a
huge metal bowl that is made of stainless
steel. But I used to use the same plastic
dish tub I washed the dishes in. I would
wash it with a little bit of bleach, rinse
it really well, and then dry it completely.
In some ways it worked better because it fit
on my lap more conveniently due to the
rectangular shape. But the shiny stainless
steel one does look more like I know what
I'm doing. So much for appearances.
So anyway mix the water, dry milk powder and
sugar in the dishpan or bowl. Add the yeast,
sort of sprinkled on top. Allow the mixture
to sit until the yeast dissolves some, this
will only take a couple of minutes. Add the
salt, margarine or oil, and flour. Mix with
a wooden spoon until it gets too stiff and
then dig in with your hands. When the dough
is in a nice cohesive ball, turn it out onto
a floured kitchen table or counter. Or if
you are using a dish pan, you can just leave
it in there.
Now start kneading the dough with all of the
love you have for your family. Press the
dough and send big love vibes into it.
Stretch the dough and impress all of your
compassion and generosity into it. Remember
why you love your kids, and your spouse and
your mom or you dad, and just put it all
into the dough. Knead it like this for a
full ten minutes. Add more flour if you need
to as you go along.
Coat the dough with oil, about 2 tablespoons
of it, and put it into the bowl or dishpan.
Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and
let it set in a warm place to rise for about
an hour or so. It should double in bulk. It
may take up to two hours on cool days, or in
the air conditioning, so be patient.
Punch down the dough by literally pressing
your fist into the center of it. Divide the
dough into 4 equal lumps. Coax them into
loaf shapes and place them into large (9 by
5-inch) well oiled loaf pans. If you don't
have enough loaf pans, use casserole pans or
cake pans, or whatever. Cover the dough with
a cloth or more plastic wrap and let it rise
again. It should take less time for the
second rising. When the dough is risen up
enough, bake the loaves at 350° for 40
minutes.
You can tell the dough is done if you turn
it out of the pan and thump the bottom with
your finger. It should make a dull hollow
sound. If it doesn't sound hollow, put it
back into the pan and cook it some more.
Makes four loaves.
Old-Fashioned Low-Yeast Bread:
This variation is similar to sourdough bread
and it has 2 benefits. The first is
economical. You only need a single packet of
yeast to make 4 loaves of bread. The second
is that the work can be done the day before
and finished when you have more time the
next day. The process is simple.
Reduce the yeast to 1 packet, or
approximately 2-1/4 teaspoons of active dry
yeast. Mix and knead the dough as directed.
When you tuck it away to rise, put it in a
spot that is safe from nocturnal critters
(like in the oven or the drier) and let it
sit for 12 to 18 hours. The yeast has to
have a long time to work because there isn't
much of it in there. As it sits in the
dough, it will reproduce itself and
gradually raise the entire batch of dough.
Do not refrigerate it during this time; let
it sit at room temperature.
The next day check your dough to see how
it's doing. If it has doubled in bulk, then
you can punch it down and shape it into
loaves. If it hasn't doubled yet then let it
sit a while longer.
Don't worry about the dough. Don't worry
about it going bad, or getting contaminated
or anything like that. Remember, our
foremothers always made their dough this way
and they produced healthy, hearty offspring
that could withstand all sorts of trouble.
Eating this kind of bread didn't make anyone
sick back then when their sanitary methods
were questionable at best and it won't hurt
you or your crew either.
After the dough has doubled, you can proceed
with the recipe as written. The second rise
may take 2 or 3 hours, or it may take less
than that. Bake the bread like you normally
do. When it's done you'll notice that the
texture may seem a tiny bit chewier than
usual, but for the most part it will be
perfectly normal bread.
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