Kull
03-12-2013, 01:34 PM
Made up one of these yesterday for a friend who hooked me up with 50 lbs of lead ingots out of the kindness of his heart. I figure since this is a casting forum most of you guys will probably have at least one dutch oven around you actually use for food, right?
Sheepherder's Bread
Makes 1 very large loaf
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups warm tap water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
9 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, butter, sugar and salt. Stir until butter melts. Stir in yeast, cover and set in a warm place until the mixture is bubbly, about 10 minutes.
Add 5 cups of the flour and beat with a heavy-duty mixer or wooden spoon to form a thick batter. Stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 3 1/2 cups) to form a stiff dough. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Turn dough over in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch down dough and knead on a floured board to form a smooth ball. Cut a circle of foil to cover the bottom of the dutch oven. Grease the inside of the dutch oven and the underside of the lid with vegetable oil.
Place dough in the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Let rise in a warm place until dough pushes up the lid by about 1/2", about 1 hour (watch closely).
Bake, covered with the lid in a 375° oven for 15 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 30-35 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it. Remove from oven and carefully turn loaf out onto a rack to cool.
Notes:
The 10 minute wait with the yeast isn't really necessary in my opinion.
A circle of parchment paper works just as good, if not better, than a circle of aluminum foil. I prefer vegetable shortening over vegetable oil to grease the dutch oven.
I always do the second rise in the oven with the light on. One of two things will happen if you try and move that bulging with dough dutch oven. Either the lid will slide off or the jostling will deflate your loaf. So just let it rise in the oven until the lid gets pushed up 1/2" or so and kick the oven on. Remember to add some preheat time.
The amount of time you leave the lid on determines how brown the top will get. If you take it off too soon you'll end up having to cover the top with foil to keep it from over browning. Leave it on too long and the top won't be brown enough. I edge towards taking it off early and covering with foil if I must.
Whenever you do take the lid off consider immediately brushing the top heavily with melted butter.
Sheepherder's Bread
Makes 1 very large loaf
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups warm tap water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
9 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, butter, sugar and salt. Stir until butter melts. Stir in yeast, cover and set in a warm place until the mixture is bubbly, about 10 minutes.
Add 5 cups of the flour and beat with a heavy-duty mixer or wooden spoon to form a thick batter. Stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 3 1/2 cups) to form a stiff dough. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Turn dough over in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch down dough and knead on a floured board to form a smooth ball. Cut a circle of foil to cover the bottom of the dutch oven. Grease the inside of the dutch oven and the underside of the lid with vegetable oil.
Place dough in the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Let rise in a warm place until dough pushes up the lid by about 1/2", about 1 hour (watch closely).
Bake, covered with the lid in a 375° oven for 15 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 30-35 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it. Remove from oven and carefully turn loaf out onto a rack to cool.
Notes:
The 10 minute wait with the yeast isn't really necessary in my opinion.
A circle of parchment paper works just as good, if not better, than a circle of aluminum foil. I prefer vegetable shortening over vegetable oil to grease the dutch oven.
I always do the second rise in the oven with the light on. One of two things will happen if you try and move that bulging with dough dutch oven. Either the lid will slide off or the jostling will deflate your loaf. So just let it rise in the oven until the lid gets pushed up 1/2" or so and kick the oven on. Remember to add some preheat time.
The amount of time you leave the lid on determines how brown the top will get. If you take it off too soon you'll end up having to cover the top with foil to keep it from over browning. Leave it on too long and the top won't be brown enough. I edge towards taking it off early and covering with foil if I must.
Whenever you do take the lid off consider immediately brushing the top heavily with melted butter.