Recipe for Enriched White Bread – FUNDAMENTAL FACTS – PART II
Recipe for Enriched White Bread – FUNDAMENTAL FACTS – PART II
7 cups sifted enriched white flour (about) 1⁄2 cake yeast softened in 1⁄4 cup lukewarm water 85° to 90°F, or 1⁄2 tablespoon dry granular yeast softened in 1⁄4 cup warm water, 110°F
Place in mixing bowl
21⁄2 cup scalded milk
3 tablespoons shortening
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
When the milk mixture is cooled to 90°F (100°F in cold weather) add: 4 cups of sifted flour. Beat well. Then add the softened yeast. Add enough flour to make a soft dough.
Mix until the dough forms in an elastic ball in the bowl. Cover and let rest for 10 or 15 minutes. This rest will relax the dough and make it easier to knead.
Prepare the kneading canvas Put 1 cup of the measured flour onto the kneading canvas and rub it into the portion
where you will do the kneading. Turn the rested dough out onto the prepared kneading canvas.
Before you start kneading, use your scraper and roll the ball of dough on the floor so it has a film of flour over the entire surface. The dough will be less sticky to handle.
Keep the dough as soft as you can handle. Knead 10 to 15 minutes according to directions on page 10. When the dough is smooth and satiny, and small blisters develop just under the dough skin, you have kneaded it sufficiently.
Put the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl or crock. Roll the ball around and turn it over so it will have a thin film of fat all over its surface.
If you use the straight-sided crock and the plastic ruler to measure the height, flatten the dough so you can take a level measurement.
Cover the bowl or crock tightly. Keep the fermenting dough in a warm place 80°F to 85°F away from drafts, until it is almost tripled in bulk and shows the ripe test described.
This will take about 1 hour and 40 or 50 minutes for white dough.
When the white dough shows the ripe test:
Punch it down, turn it over, cover, and let rise for 40 minutes.
Punch it down, turn it over, cover, and let rise for 20 minutes.
Divide into balls for loaves. Cover and rest the dough for 10 minutes.
Mold into loaves and put into pans as directed on page 15.
Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and keep them in a warm place at 80° to 85° F until ready for baking. Read tests for baking on page 17.
Bake in a 450°F oven. Bread will bake at this temperature for 35 minutes at elevations up to 4,500 feet. Bread baked at higher elevations will need 40 to 45 minutes in a 450°F oven.
Try this milk topping on your bread. When it has only 5 minutes left to bake, take it out and brush the top of each loaf with milk. Then put the bread back into the oven to finish.
The milk gives an interesting glaze to the crust.
When the bread is baked, turn it out onto wire cooling racks. When it is cooled, wrap each loaf separately. Store at a cool place in a tightly closed bread can. Bread needs much protection to prevent staling in our dry climate.
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