Jake’s Bread

Ingredients

In the order required

• 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast for bread
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons salt
• 4-1/4 Cups water at 110F to 115F
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 6 - 8 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 - 3 Tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup of water

Instructions

1. * * OVEN PREPARATION * *
2. Make sure that there are two racks in the oven and that they are in the bottom 2 positions
3. Make sure that the mixing bowl will fit in the oven on the upper rack
4. Turn on the oven to 200F
5. Turn oven off when temperature reaches 200F
6. * * YEAST PREPARATION * *
7. While oven is warming up turn on hot water tap
8. While water heats up add first three ingredients to large mixing bowl
9. Water should be lukewarm to slightly hot - 110F to 115F. Hotter water will kill the yeast
10. Add 4-1/4 cups of water to the large mixing bowl
11. Stir with whisk - mix well
12. Let stand 10 minutes
13. Note - Mixture should be foamy and at least 1/3 again larger in size. If not, you should start again with fresh yeast
14. Add 2 Tablespoons of white sugar and whisk well
15. * *MAKING DOUGH * *
16. Add 2 cups of flour
17. Whisk well to remove the lumps and mix in dry flour
18. Add 2 more cups of flour
19. Whisk well to remove the lumps and mix in dry flour
20. It will become heavy going with the whisk by this point
21. Remove as much dough as possible from the whisk and set aside for washing
22. From this point on, a wooden spoon makes a good stirrer
23. Add 1 cup of flour and stir in well
24. Continue adding decreasing amounts of flour until the dough stops sticking together when it is folded. This may take as little as 1/2 a cup and as much as 3 cups
25. Use knife to scrape excess dough from spoon
26. Cover dough with tea towel
27. Let rise in oven for 60 minutes
28. * * BAKING PREPARATION * *
29. Prepare a large cookie sheet (with edges) by sprinkling the surface generously with cornmeal
30. Do not move the cookie sheet after the cornmeal has been sprinkled
31. Get out a brownie pan with 2" high sides (ideally 9" x 12") and set aside
32. Use 1 cup of flour to prepare a floured surface for the dough
33. Before removing dough from oven but after the timer has gone off fill tea kettle 3/4 full and put on to boil
34. When it reaches a boil - turn off
35. Remove the dough from the bowl by pouring and follow the dough out by scraping the bowl at the sticky points with the wooden spoon
36. Set wooden spoon aside for washing
37. Make sure hands are well floured
38. Flip dough over and back several times to make sure that "wet" areas receive flour and knead by folding over and pushing down 3 or 4 times
39. Cut dough in half with knife
40. Keep hands well floured and make each half into a round loaf by gently pushing and pulling the edges under and towards the center (Do not allow the top to break open - If it does, stop there - Do not try to rework the loaf)
41. Put one edge of the loaf at the center of the cookie sheet
42. Put the second loaf comfortably snuggling up to the first
43. Put loaves in oven and let rise for 3 - 4 minutes or until the kettle boils
44. Take the loaves out of the oven and slash the tops with a sharp knife up to 3 slashes per loaf
45. Gently pat the surface of the loaves with fingers dipped in water - Do not over do it - This makes the bread crusty
46. Put the loaves back in the oven
47. Pull out the lower rack and put the brownies pan in the center - in the same direction as the cookie sheet - half fill the pan with water from the kettle - Gently push the rack back into the oven
48. * * BAKING & FINISHING * *
49. Shut the oven door and set to 350F - Note that the oven is not pre-heated other than the residue heat from raising the dough
50. Set timer to 55 minutes
51. Loaves should sound hollow when tapped - If so they are done - They should also have a golden brown colour
52. Take the loaves out of the oven
53. Carefully slide out bottom rack and with oven mitts and pot holders, remove pan of hot water from the oven and dispose of it
54. Remove the loaves from the sheet within 10 minutes of removal from the oven. If the loaves are stuck, slide a spatula underneath to loosen them
55. Break them apart in the middle and put on wire racks to cool
56. Loaves left out will be very crusty
57. Cooled loaves that are stored in plastic bags have a chewy crust
58. Shelf life is about 3 days
59. Cut left over heels and crusts in cubes and dry in the oven for croutons

Notes

Utensils In the order required: Large mixing bowl, Measuring spoons, Measuring cup, Good size stainless steel whisk, Wooden stirring spoon, Sharp knife, Tea towel large enough to cover mixing bowl, Large cookie sheet with sides, 9" x 12" brownie pan with 2" sides, Tea kettle, Spatula, Cooling racks. Clean Up: Mixing Bowl - Fill mixing bowl with hot water or immerse in a sink of hot water - let stand for 10 - 15 minutes DO NOT CLEAN WITH A DISH BRUSH! Rub bowl with hands to remove dough - best to use rubber gloves - Rinse then wash with other dishes – a rubber spatula can be used to remove the dough Cornmeal - Save the cornmeal from the cookie sheet - Store it in a jar - It can be re-used for the same purpose indefinitely - When making the next loaves, use cornmeal from the jar and supplement from a fresh package Flour on Counter - If you have a sifter, scrape flour from counter into the sifter and sift flour back into bag or container - Do NOT overdo it - Put the remains in the compost - Note - There is no oil in this bread so that any waste can be composted