2 cups milk

2 cups water

2 Tbsp. dehydrated yeast

2 tsp. sugar

4 tsp. salt

5 1/3 Tbsp. sugar

4 Tbsp. soft lard or shortening

11 cups flour

(**Have all ingredients at warm room temperature – 75*)

To 1 cup lukewarm water, add 2 tsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. yeast. Stir and let stand 20 minutes.

      Lukewarm feels slightly cool to the skin, because your body temp. is 98*. The temp. of lukewarm liquid should be between 75and 85*. This will give you the best flavors for your bread. IF the lukewarm liquid is warmer than this, you get what people call “yeasty odors” but which are really the bacterial growth that causes these off odors.

To 2 cups of milk (or milk powder and cold water) plus 1 cup hot boiling water add 4 tsp. salt, 5 1/3 Tbsp. sugar and 4 Tbsp. lard. Stir and stand until lukewarm.

Add to 11 cups flour (in a very large bowl) mil mix and yeast. Stir until the flour is dampened; and then, with the hand, mix your dough in a swinging rotary motion around the bowl for 5 minutes, until the dough becomes a smooth ball.

Knead well for 8 minutes. Grease dough ball, cover and let stand at room temperature (not near any special source of heat) for 2 hours or until double in bulk.

Then punch down and cut into 6 parts. Form into ball with cut surface under. Cover again with cloth and let stand for 15 minutes.

Grease 6 small loaf pans. Shape the balls of dough into the loaves in this manner: First, roll the dough to a uniform thickness so that it will make a rectangle. Be sure to break all the gas bubbles in the outer edge of the dough. From the upper edge roll the dough down towards you, as in jelly roll, and seal the dough with the base of your hand after each roll.  About 3 turns brings you the last edge. Make sure that your final edge will be on the bottom of your loaf. Seal the ends of the loaf by using the side of the hand to make a thin sealed strip., and then fold this sealed end under with the fingers carefully.

Put the shaped loaf with the seam side underneath into your well greased bread pans., cover the loaves with a cloth and let them rise at room temperature for about 1 hour and a half or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat over to 425* if you are baking all loaves at once, or 400* if fewer loaves. Put the pans in at 425* for 15 minutes then 400* for 35 minutes more, or until, when you tap the loaf, it sounds hollow.

Oven temperature may differ with different ovens. I use an oven thermometer to gauge my own ovens temperature.

– Cordie Bregg

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