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Blue Ribbon Whole Wheat Bread

For this bread, I was awarded a blue ribbon at the San Diego County Fair. If you use a hard white wheat flour, the loaves will turn out light and delicious. For this recipe you will need a total of anywhere from 10 to 13 cups flour – depending on the flour you use and whether or not it is freshly ground.
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Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 5 cups hot water
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 cups whole wheat flour (more will be used)
  • 3 tablespoons instant yeast SAF is my favorite

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, add the ingredients, in the order listed, placing the yeast on top of the flour.
  • Using the dough hook, mix the ingredients together on low speed until combined. Allowing the dough to sit for a few minutes before adding more flour will yield a softer loaf.
  • Begin adding flour ½ cup at a time until you have 8 – 9 cups of flour in the mixer.
  • Mix on medium speed for several minutes, adding flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough just begins to pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
  • Knead on medium speed for 6 minutes.
  • Remove the dough to an oiled surface. Knead slightly.
  • Grease 4 bread pans.
  • Form loaves and place into greased pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes (until nearly doubled).
  • While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until done.
  • Remove loaves from pans to cool on a wire rack. Lightly spraying the tops of the loaves with water or brushing them with melted butter as they come out of the oven will keep the upper crust soft.

Notes

To make the bread by hand: Combine 4 ½ cups hot water, honey, oil, and salt. In a large bowl, place 5 cups whole wheat flour. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add hot water. Mix to combine. Let sit several minutes. While it sits, combine ½ cup warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir to dissolve yeast. After the yeast is proofed, add to the flour/water mixture, stirring to combine. Continue add flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead, adding flour, until the gluten is developed and the dough is soft and elastic. Bake as above.