James Beard's Basic Home-Style Bread

duonyte's Note:

"Beard on Bread" was one of the very first cookbooks I ever purchased. I found his recipes to be quite reliable. This recipe uses less yeast than you might think is needed - the slower rise helps develop the taste of the bread. Beard describes this as a quite light bread, rather fine in texture and much enjoyed when fresh with a generous spreading of butter and preserves. Also popular for sandwiches and toast. Please note the amount of salt - Beard tended to salt a bit heavily, but I am posting as he wrote it. Posting this in response to a request.

• Total Time: 5 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 5 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 loaves

• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm milk, 100 to 115 deg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 5 -6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten (optional)

Directions:

1. Add the yeast to 1/2 cup of the warm milk, along with 2 tbl sugar, and stir well until the yeast in completely dissolved. Allow the yeast to proof.
2. Place the remaining milk, butter and salt in a bowl. (Beard liked a lot of salt, and I would use less). Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, with a wooden spoon.
3. After the third cup, add the yeast mixture. Continue stirring in flour until the mixture is rather firm, which should take about 4 to 5 cups.
4. Remove the dough to a floured board and knead, adding more flour as necessary, until it is supple, satiny and no longer sticky.
5. Butter a bowl and place the dough in it, turning to coat all sides with the fat. Cover and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
6. Deflate the dough by punching firmly two or three times, return to the floured board, and knead 4 to 5 minutes more.
7. Divide into two equal parts and shape into loaves. Place in well-buttered 9x5x3 in loaf tins, cover, and let rise again until doubled in bulk.
8. Slash the loaves with a sharp knife and brush with lightly beaten egg white or water.
9. Bake in a 400 deg. oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped with the knuckles.
10. Remove the loaves from the pans and put them back in the oven a few minutes longer to become crisped.

Reviews

[Mama's Place]

Best Bread Recipe EVER!!!! I am really picky when it comes to bread! I made one loaf and the second "loaf" got made into dinner rolls! Needless to say it didnt last threw the night!! Super Easy! Tastes great and awesome texture!!

[Dreamer in Ontario]

This makes a very nice loaf of white bread. The texture is excellent. I used only half the salt added in the recipe and used 5 cups of flour. I only have one loaf pan so the second loaf was made in a round cake pan.

[diner524]

This is a nice basic white bread recipe. I made this last night for dinner and had a couple of problems with the recipe. I only made 1 loaf, but after adding the min amount of flour to the liquid and then the yeast mixture to my kitchen aid mixer, it was so dry, just clumps rolling around. I think it maybe my location here in FL, as I noticed in the summer, when it is very humid, all bread recipes were too wet. So guess I will need to adjust to the dryness in the winter and humidity in the summer. I also cut back to about 3/4 of a 1/2 Tab. of sea salt, as I like it salty, but it was really still too salty for me, which surprised me. So anyone who doesn't like salty things, you really will want to cut way back on the salt. Once I added more liquid and went through the rising times and baked it, was very simple and turned out well aside from the saltiness. Thanks for sharing the recipe Duonyte!! Made for 123 Tag Game.