Low Tech White Bread  5 to 6 cups of flour 1/ 1/2 cups water (Use filtered or non-chlorinated water for best results) 1/2 cup milk 2 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons white granulated sugar 2 tablespoons oil 2 1/2 teaspoons traditional dry yeast In a large bowl (2.5 litre or more) add water, milk, salt, sugar and oil. Mix with a wooden or plastic spoon until you feel sugar has been completely dissolved.  Sprinkle yeast on top. Take a knife and mix yeast into liquid (you are using a knife to minimize the surface area of the mixing tool Use a spoon and you will loose a bit of yeast. Use a knife, it's unlikely that you will loose much) Cover with a towel or another bowl and and let sit in on the counter or in a cold oven at room temperature (optimum 75-90 degrees) until you see a bubbly crust form on the top. Put some flour on a clean counter. To the liquid mix in 2 cups of flour with a plastic or wooden spoon. Mix well and try to remove any lumps and clumps. This mixture will then start to have the consistency of glue, or very sticky, almost dry paint.   Add another cup of flour and mix for another minute or so, until dough starts to thicken. What you are trying to achieve at this point is the following: The dough wants to get to the point so that when you pour it out of the bowl it comes out easily, all in one blob and not stick to the bowl. If you have added the 2nd bit of flour and it's not coming away from the bowl easily, just add a bit more flour, say 4 tablespoons at a time, until it falls easily from the bowl onto the counter. Empty the dough onto the counter and sprinkle the top with another 1/2 cup of flour. Grease your hands and gently knead the dough by rolling it forward, pushing down with the palm of your hand, end over end, slowly working in another 2 cups of flour. Knead for about 5-8 minutes or until most of the flour is added to the dough ( incorporated) and it looks smooth. Roll into a ball and let sit on the counter for about 10 minutes (usually enough time for you to clean and grease the bowl).  Cover this bowl with another bowl and let it sit for about 2 -3 hours or until it grows to about 3 times original size. Don't have a huge bowl? No problem, just cover one with another. This provides a convenient and easy to use "hothouse" for your bread. It's also an easy visual indicator so you know when to move to the next step. Once the dough has expanded to 3-4 times original size grease your hands and with your fingers punch the dough down until it's about 2 inches thick. At this point it should be the consistency of moist, soft plastic. Cut this dough into 2 (or 3 for smaller loaves) with a sharp knife. Place some more flour on the counter (you are not adding more flour at this point, only rolling out the dough and finishing it...) and knead out into a long strip about 4 x 12. Roll like a jelly roll (but not very tight...) and push and fold in the ends towards the center of the loaf and place in greased pans. Let rise on the counter until 2-3 times the original size and bake at 375-400 for about 25 to 30 minutes (depends on oven)   You can tell if the loaf is done by tapping on the top and listening for a hollow sound. Don't undercook or the bread will be wet; Overcook and it will dry out quickly. IMPORTANT: When your remove the bread from the oven immediately remove from bake pans and place on a cooling rack OR simply remove from pan and turn on their sides. This way the heat from the bottom of the loaf is dispersed quickly and you loaf retains it's loft. Let cool and serve or place in a large ziplock bag to retain moisture. You won't be able to restrain yourself the first couple of times, but the loaf really should be cool before being sliced, otherwise the heat dissipates unnaturally, leaving a hole in the center and a crushed loaf. But hey, warm bread out of the oven??? That's why we make 2. The first one never lasts long :) --------------- Brown Bread.  Use Whole Wheat Flour; or 1/2 white, 1/2 brown for a medium loaf. Make it faster. We want you to try the "leave it on the counter until you see something growing" method FIRST. This way we know you are going to get something edible. To speed up the first step take the liquids and heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Add sugar, salt, oil and mix with a wooden or plastic spoon until dissolved completely. Add yeast and cover. You should be able to add the flour after about 10 minutes and it produces approximately the same results. By warming (but not boiling) the liquid, then stirring in the other ingredients we can be sure that the liquid is warm and not hot. This allows the yeast to flourish immediately not organically. Cinnamon/Raisin Bread Work 1 cup of dry raisins or currents directly into the bread dough after the 1st rising.  Don't be shy, use alot of raisins if you want to be able to see them within the loaf.   Add 1 tablespoon cinnamon directly to the batter to flavor the bread.   If you REALLY like cinnamon add a layer of cinnamon mixed with some brown sugar when rolling as jelly roll. This will color the dough as illustrated. Cheese Bread Many recipes will call for "grated cheese". We find that when you use grated cheese since it is finely chopped when it is heated it disappears into the bread itself. It gives the crust a nice flavor and texture but does not add much to the loaf. Add little cubes of cheese to the dough before the 2nd rising to get those nice explosions of cheese that we all love in your loafs and save the grated cheese as a topping. To speed up the rising make sure that the bread is in a warm, moist place. A gas oven is ideal; simply put a metal pot with some water and leave the bread in the cool oven. The pilot light will keep it at a nice 80 degrees and speed up the process. If you are cooking a meal while making bread the heat of the kitchen itself will keep it at a desirable temperature. If it's under 70 degrees in the room the yeast will grow, but very slowly. Toppings: You can easily add sesame seeds, oats or whatever to the top your loaf. Simply brush with shortening (not salted butter, it will burn and discolor the loaf) and sprinkle topping immediately. Replace in over for another 2 minutes and remove. If you are adding toppings you pretty much need a cooling rack since by tipping it out on it's side you often loose most of the topping itself since it has not completely cooled. ******************* ' '' ''' ''''''' ----------- xxxx xxxx (o) (o) .... 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