Secret Bread Recipe

I'm about to share a family bread recipe.  Write this one down, it's a keeper.  I usually use all wheat flour except for about a cup or two of white while I'm kneading it. These are the worst looking loaves though- the kids ate up the better ones this time before I could snap pics.  I recommend large dark non-stick metal bread pans (like the ones shown) .  The ones in the photo above were done with old glass pans that just don't give it the shape it should have (still tastes the same).  I grind my own wheat and don't use a bread machine or food processor and I get that much more enjoyment out of it knowing that my sweat is in the food I'm eating.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Yeast
1/2 Cup Warm Water
5 Cups Hot Water
2 Tbsp Salt
2/3 Cup Oil
2/3 Cup Honey
2 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tbsp Dough Enhancer
12 Cups Flour
1 Tbsp Sugar (or honey)

Directions:
Mix yeast + 1 Tbsp Sugar into warm water - set aside
Mix 7 Cups flour with Hot Water- mix well
add salt, oil, honey, gluten, enhancer- mix well
add 1 cup flour- mix well
add yeast mixture and 3-4 cups flour- mix well
knead for 10 min adding flour if needed- let rise in bowl for 30 min in warm area with moist hand towel over the top.
Punch down- let rise again for 30min.
Divide into 4 loaves and put in greased bread pans and let rise 30 min.

Bake at 350' for about 30 min.  Brush with butter when it comes out.
Sit back and enjoy.

I've done this recipe substituting with variations: 2 cups rice flour, 2 cups oatmeal, white flour... I think the gluten and dough enhancer really help the bread though.  I bought 2 cases for my food storage from Honeyville Farms.  Good stuff.  The more you let it rise and punch down, the better consistency and texture of the bread (I don't punch more than 3 times though).  This recipe works well with dinner rolls too.  Kids love it.

Wheat Grinder Mechanization

This is my Family Grain Mill attached to their hand crank base.  I got this unit a few months ago and have been generally pleased with my purchase.  I was attracted to it because of the price and the supposed easy cranking and fine flour production.  At first it a novel and I enjoyed cranking by hand but then it soon became a chore.  I began to think of ways to ease my pain.  I considered purchasing an electric grinder and just using this as a back up.  I considered buying a Bosch or food processor (they sell attachments for the grinder part).

Then, I decided to try my cordless drill.  I purchased a bit of hexagonal metal from www.Speedymetals.com and see if I could get it to work.  It's a 10mm bit.

It's the exact same size as the crank bit that goes into the unit.
Wala!  It works great.  One battery is enough to do just slightly less than 4 cups of wheat.  I have 2 batteries, so that grinds me about 8 cups of wheat.  That's enough to make four loaves of bread.  I did try my craftsman corded drill, but it wasn't strong enough to do the job (started smoking!).  So,  this way I can easily knock out 8 cups of wheat in just a fraction of the time.

*Disclaimer- I called the company about my method and they don't recommend it.*  I've done about 5 batches this way and haven't noticed any problems.  I actually think this method puts less stress on the cranking unit as there is no rotational forces moving it around.  Be sure to clean the grinder good after each use.  Wash the metal parts of the grinder in the sink and air dry.