Today I made my very best bread ever! Used Carl's starter. Proofed
starter the day before, fed again this morning. Waited a couple of
hours and created a sponge of 3 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups water
and 1 cup starter. Left it in the oven for about 4 hours to proof
before adding some unbleached flour to make the dough. This was my
first attempt at actually kneading the dough by hand instead of using
the Kitchen Aid mixer. I added 1 tbsp of salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2
tbsp cane sugar and 2 tbsp of powdered milk. I added flour to the
dough on my cutting board a little at a time until I was able to pick
up the very wet dough to let it rise in a bowl. It is amazing how much
better the bread turns out when the dough is kept on the wetter side.

Once doubled, I put it directly on the pizza stone and let it do it's
second rise. When it had risen sufficently, I set the oven temp to 400
degrees for 15 minutes and then about 30 more minutes at 375 degrees.
There was a glass bread pan with hot water in it in the bottom of the
oven for moisture. The bread was fluffy and moist like store bought
bread, even though the loaf was huge and round. Next time I will use 2
cups of flour instead of 3 in the sponge for a single loaf. Of course,
I forgot to score the top of the bread again, but it turned out great
anyway.

So basically, I started the acutal bread making process about 10:30 am
and had hot bread by 6:30 PM.

I prefer the whole wheat in the starter and then to use as much whole
wheat as possible until the actual kneading, then use white flour for
the balance.

The information in this newsgroup has certainly been a benefit in
'figuring' out the best and simplest way to make bread.

Making the bread in this length of time gives the bread a bit milder
taste and not so strong. I think I prefer it.

John

On 28 Nov 2005 19:40:46 -0800, "BigJohn"
> wrote:

>So basically, I started the acutal bread making process about 10:30 am
>and had hot bread by 6:30 PM.

Hey John,

Your post brought a welcome smile. It is great that you are
having such success, and sharing it here.

One thought that you might consider:

If by your comment above you mean that you ate the bread
"hot" from the oven you are likely to be even happier with
the result if you let it cool, and then reheat it before
eating.

That's because there are all sorts of things that continue
to happen to the loaf chemically as it cools.

All the best, and continued good luck with your baking,
--
Kenneth

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