It is ironic and even funny that I would attempt to teach other people to make bread. For years, I was “yeast challenged,” which meant that nothing I ever baked rose more than an inch (good thing pizza crust isn’t tall!!). My bread was in the same class with bricks, stones and other hard porous materials. It didn’t matter, however, because there was an Orowheat/Arnold bakery right down the road. They make wonderful breads, so what did I care?
Then, I moved. I moved far, far away from Orowheat and urbania. I moved to a place where homemaking skills are king, I mean queen. I moved to a place where the gauntlet of bread making was thrown at my feet and the challenge was given. I had to learn to make bread or admit to being less. Less than, well, something. So. I. Did. It.
Here is the bread I make two or three times a week.
1. Info for Great Bread
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: unavailable
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Great Bread
- 4½ cups water
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp instant yeast
- 5 Tbsp sugar
- 10 cups flour
3. Directions:
- Combine the first five ingredients and let the yeast grow.
- Add the flour and mix well.
- (Note: I use a professional 6 quart Kitchen Aid that does this in nothing flat. My mom has a normal 4 quart Kitchen Aid and I was actually afraid I was going to break her 20+ year old mixer making a batch of bread. You certainly could make this by hand.)
- Cover with a towel and let rise until it reaches the top of the mixing bowl.
- Punch down and divide into 3 loaves.
- Place in 3 greased loaf pans, cover and let rise again.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.
- Brush baked loaves with butter when they come out of the oven.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then let cool on a wire rack for 15.
- Kroger makes great bread bags to store these in.
