Great for sandwiches, Texas toast, garlic bread, bread & cheese, etc. The bread is a little bit chewy, full-flavored, with a very flaky crusty crunchy, yet delicate crust.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups potato water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 Tbs. yeast
- 9-10 cups bread flour (not sifted)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (optional)
- 5 tsp. salt
Directions:
Warm potato water to approx 90 degrees (not hot, but more than luke warm)
Combine potato water, brown sugar and yeast. Let sit until it foams, approx 4-6 minutes.
Add 4 cups flour, beat thoroughly with wooden spoon.
Add 5 more cups flour and salt.
Mix with dough hook in Kitchen Aid
Add remaining cup of flour as necessary to manage stickiness of dough as it pulls together
Add vegetable oil and let it mix in (approx 1-2 minutes)
Cover with a warm damp cloth. Let rise in a warm area free of drafts (turning the oven on BRIEFLY to warm slightly, then letting rise in the oven is quite effective)
Let rise for 45-60 minutes until clearly doubled.
Punch down dough and separate into thirds.
Form thirds into loafs
Place loafs in loaf pans
Recover with warm damp cloth.
Set timer for 45 minutes. Turn on oven to preheat to 400. You will have to carefully remove the bread from the oven (if that is where it is rising) taking care not to let it fall.
Let rise again for 1 hour until loafs are full-size.
Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and knocking on the bottom of the loaf makes a hollow sound
Set on cooling racks until cool enough to cut.