Grandpa's Bread

by Petroglyphman

Sides · Serves 10 · Prep 1 hr · Cook 25 min · Total 1 hr 25 min

Ingredients

• 6 cups hot tap water I use hot water right out of the tap. The flour is nearly always kind of cold, and yeast needs warmth to thrive. Therefore, I use hot water and then mix it all together. There will be enough residual heat left over for the yeast to go to work.
• 6 cups White Flour
• 3/4 cups Oil
• 2 eggs (or 2T dough enhancer)
• 1/2 cups sugar The sugar gives the yeast some food so that it starts growing quickly.
• 4 Tbs Yeast spoon the yeast on top of the flour rather than into the hot water. You don't want to kill the yeast.
• 2 Tbs Salt (heaping) add the salt after you have mixed the rest of the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth . Stop the mixer, and add the salt.
• 8 cups additional cups of white flour you will notice that the mixture doesn't even look like bread dough until you add the additional flour.

Steps

1. Add ingredients to a heavy duty mixer like a Bosch
   • add water, flour, oil, eggs, sugar, and yeast
2. Mix the ingredients until smooth
   • Now add the salt. Salt is hard on yeast.
3. Add the more 7 cups of flour
   • A Bosch is a heavy duty mixer. It can handle this much dough. Some of the larger Kitchen Aids can also handle it.
   • Run the Mixer for 5 or more minutes. This works and stretches the glutten.
4. Check the feel of the dough. If it is too wet see the sub-step
   • work in an additional cup or so of flour.
   • I almost always have to use 1.5 cups in this step.
   • let the mixer run for 3 or 4 mins more.
5. You want the dough to be stiff enough that the mixer is working. You want the dough to pull away from the sides as it is being mixed.
6. Remove the dough from the mixer.
   • Flour the counter, put the dough on the floured counter
   • Mix by hand and get a feel for the dough
   • If it is still too sticky, sprinkle with flour and work it into the dough
   • continue to kneed the dough by hand until it feels firm and only mildly sticky.
7. Divide into 6 equal portions
8. Shape into loafs or put the portions into a bread pans.
   • I often don't put them in bread pans. I often bake them round and free-style.
9. Cover the shaped loafs and let rise until double
10. Bake in oven
    • 350 degrees for 25 - 30 mins. Until golden brown.
    • I like to brush butter on the top of the bread when it comes out of the oven.
    • If they are in bread pans, allow them to cool a bit then remove them from the pan.
    • place the bread on a rack to finish cooling
    • if you don't remove it from the pan, the bread will sweat in the pan and the bottom will be gooey.

##Focaccia-Bread

1. If making Focaccia Bread
   • you want the dough to be a little stickier.
   • therefore, don't add the additional 8th cup of flour
2. Pour the mixture out onto a floured counter.
   • divide into portions
3. Add olive oil to the bottom of sheet pans
   • put your portioned dough onto the oiled pan
   • press or work it flat in the pan
   • Brush olive oil on top of the dough
4. Let rest and rise until about double
5. with your finger tips or the back of a wooden spoon make holes in the bread
   • press down until it stops. you don't need to make the hole all of the way through the dough.
   • just a bunch of divits
6. Season the focaccia bread with Italian seasoning
   • you can add olives, or sun dried tomatoes
   • add cheese on top of the focaccia bread
7. bake at 350 for 30 mins

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