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Here is my bread recipe: 3 C whole grain hard, red wheat
flour, 3/4C whole grain rye flour, 1/4C garbanzo fava flour, 1/4C
rolled oats, 1/4C rolled quick oats, 1/3C (packed) raisins, 2 tsp
active dry yeast, 2-1/4C (that's 2.25C) water heated to 120F-130F.
Put the dry ingredients, except for the oats and raisins, through a
sifter, add the oats and raisins and mix well. Heat the water
(microwave on high 135 seconds works for me), check the temperature
with a thermometer, then add it to the dry ingredients in the
bowl. Mix well, but do not knead. Leaving it in the bowl,
shape it into a mound and let it sit—cover the bowl with a
towel—for 20 minutes (Set a timer). It will rise.
While you wait, oil and flour a loaf pan. I use 1/4tsp olive oil
and 1T flour.
When your timer rings—or later, sometimes I forget and let it
go an hour or more—use a sturdy spoon to press the gas out of the
dough, then fold it in half then press it down, using your
spoon, 6 times rotating the bowl 1/4 turn each time. The dough
should be sticky, yet elastic. It doesn't really fold
well, do the best you can—it's not critical.
Hold the bowl, tipped, in one hand, then coax and scrape, using the
spoon, the dough into the prepared loaf pan. It will not sit
neatly in the pan, but that's OK. You can shake the pan a little
to encourage the dough to flatten a little, but don't mess with it
otherwise. Cover the pan with another inverted loaf pan and let
it rise about 20 minutes or as needed. After rising it should be
loaf shaped. Mine will neatly fill my loaf pan, but this of
course, in general will depend on the size of your pan.
Remove the covering pan before the dough rises to the point of
sticking to it. When you think it is mostly done rising—not
critical, but it should about double in size—turn on your oven to
preheat at 350F for five minutes. Sprinkle the top of the dough
with salt if desired.
Bake the bread in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes. Turn
off the heat, but do not remove the bread. Let it continue to
bake in the—now off, but still hot—oven for 10 more
minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
Remove from the pan onto a cutting board and let it cool some
more—maybe 30 minutes—before attempting to slice. Or
slice it later. In either case, put it in a gallon food storage
bag as soon as you think it is cool enough, but don't wait too long, as
the steam should be retained in the bag to help make the bread soft and
moist.
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