Whole grain breads are good for us, but they don't always have
the necessary taste appeal. Here's a whole wheat bread you can
enjoy without feeling guilty. The secrets to success are found
in both materials and methods. You'll need a super large mixing
bowl for this recipe designed for a batch of ten (10) average sized
loaves. Yes, I did say ten. If you're going to spend the better part of
a day baking bread, you might as well bake a LOT of bread :-)
MATERIALS
1 oz yeast
5 cups whole wheat flour
15 cups white flour
1 1/2 cup robust unsulfered molasses
1 cup apple cider or prune juice
1 cup corn oil
6 eggs
1/4 lb butter
1 cup oatmeal (optional)
2 tbsp salt
bread pans, mixing bowls, an oven and some water.
METHOD
1. Empty 1 oz (three 1/4 oz. packs are fine) of active yeast
into the superlarge bowl. Add four cups of distilled water. Stir to dissolve yeast.
Add five cups of whole wheat flour and mix well.
Cover the bowl with a towel, and let the yeast do it's job for
approximately two hours. The mixture should puff up to twice its original size.
2. In a separate small bowl dump 6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups robust
molasses, 1 cup corn oil, and 1 cup of apple juice or prune juice. Mix thoroughly.
To the large bowl stir in 15 cups of white flour, and then add
the small bowl homogenization and mix again. If you do it in this order the shock to the
yeast cells will be lessened and you'll get a lighter bread. Cover with a towel again to keep
the mix warm. Give the yeast cells two hours to work their magic.
3. Get out the bread pans and grease 'em up. I like to pour a few
tbs. corn oil in each pan, and spread it with my fingers.
Cut off chunks of well-kneaded dough and press them into the
pans. The dough should occupy about 1/3 of the pan.
4. OPTIONAL SHAKER MIX: Place 1 cup of oatmeal and 2 level
tbsp. salt in a shaker. I like to use an oatmeal canister.
A jar with lid will do fine. Shake it like hell and sprinkle a little on top of
each loaf and knead the mix into the fresh dough
in each pan. If you don't care for the oatmeal topping don't
forget to add the salt at this time. Salt slows down the yeast,
that's why I like to add it
last.
CONGRATULATIONS! You're almost done.
Now all you have to do is cover the dough with
a towel. Let it rise for a few hours. Pop it in a 350 degree
oven for 35 minutes. Spread on some melted butter. Return to the over for
five more minutes and you're done. All you have to do now is......
