TOOLS
1 small bowl (to hold >4 cups of liquid)
1 bread bowl
1 mixing spoon
3-4 bread/loaf pans
some CLEAN towels or cloth to cover the bread with
a basting brush
2 clean hands
a kitchen sink
an apron tbh, flour goes everywhere
INGREDIENTS
1 packet (or 2 and 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
1/4 cup of lard (you can substitute butter instead, but not margarine)
1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons of salt
7-8 cups of flour (you use more or less depending on how sticky the dough is)
butter/oil to grease the pans and brush the bread when it's done
ACTIVATE THE YEAST
1) Into the small bowl add 1 cup of tepid water and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Water
should be just a bit warmer than lukewarm.
2) Once dissolved, add the yeast and stir. Let it sit for like 10-12 minutes.
PREPARE MIXTURE
3) Into the bread bowl, add your lard, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and two cups of boiling
water.
4) Stir the lard mixture until melted and combined with the hot water.
COMBINE
5) Check on the yeast. It should have about doubled in volume - in my normal
serving bowl it'll rise about an inch and a half. Once it is risen, stir it again
so it's combined with the liquid.
6) Check that the lard mixture is lukewarm. (If you're not sure, lean warmer.) If
you need to correct the temperature, add 1 cup of cold OR hot water to correct it.
7) Add the yeast mixture, and stir until combined.
8) Add 2 cups of flour and stir until combined.
9) Add 2 more cups of flour and stir until combined. It should be getting a bit
tougher to stir.
10) Add the next 2 cups of flour along the sides of the bowl so the dough doesn't
stick to it as much. Form a well in the middle of the dough so the liquid sinks
into the middle. When you're stirring, try to come along the sides of the bowl, and
pull it toward the well in the middle. That technique ensures the dough doesn't
stick to the bowl, but you're also still combining it with the wettest parts of the
mix.
11) When the dough is dry enough and starts becoming one big lump of dough, start
kneading. If you find it's sticky, add more flour to the sticky dough. Try not to
go over 7.5 cups total of flour. You should also start to feel bubbles popping in
the dough while you work it.
12) When you stop feeling bubbles (after about 10 minutes of kneading for me), it's
ready for first rise. Cover your bread bowl, bless it, and put it in a dry/warm
place for 1.5 hours.
SECOND RISE
13) Uncover and knead it some more. There should be more bubbles popping. If the
dough sticks, add another pinch of flour to the sticky part.
14) Knead until you stop feeling the bubbles again.
15) Break out the bread pans and grease them with butter or oil. For each bread
pan, you'll want three balls of dough evenly-spaced in the pan.
16) Cut off each handful of dough and shape it into a ball, with the "kneaded" side
down so it's nice and smooth. Should be about as wide as your palm.
17) Once you've got the dough placed in the bread pans, put them in a dry place and
cover with the towel/cloth, let them rise for about 3 hours. (You can also turn
your oven onto the lowest setting for a couple minutes, then TURN IT OFF and let
the bread rise in there, covered.) Don't forget to bless it again too.
BAKE
18) 350 F until golden brown. Start checking for brown-ness after 25 minutes.
19) Remove from oven, let cool, remove from pans, and brush with butter.