Amy’s Bread
Mix well in a stand mixer with a dough hook –
3 cups water* at 110 degrees Fahrenheit
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
¾ cup semolina flour
1½ cups bread flour
Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Add, mix and let sit a minute in the dough –
2 tablespoons dry active yeast
Then add –
3 tablespoons gluten
¼ cup oil
½ crushed vitamin C tablet
1½ cups crushed ice mixed with 1 cup water*
7 cups hard white wheat, ground to flour (measure b4 grinding)
1 tablespoon sea salt
Knead in bread machine until dough pulls away completely from the sides of the bowl and springs back when poked, adding more bread flour if the dough is too wet.
Let rise until double, dump onto counter, knead a few times and let rest for a couple of minutes. Shape into four loaves, put into loaf pans that have only been lightly greased on the bottom and cover with plastic wrap. Let your bread rise again, until when gently poked, the dough does not spring back. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Just when you put the loaves, turn the oven up to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
* I get better results when I use filtered water rather than tap water, but that may only be an issue in my municipality.
Tips –
On a winter day, if your kitchen is cooler than usual, you can let the bread have its second rise in the oven. Turn the oven on at 150 Fahrenheit for 2 minutes, then turn it off and let your bread rise in the warm oven.
If you would like to have fresh bread another day, you can put the loaf of dough in the freezer right after you shape it into a loaf and put it in the bread pan. Once it is frozen solid, take it out of the pan and wrap well to store it frozen. When you want to bake it, take it out 7-8 hours (or overnight) before you would like it to go in the oven. Put it in a lightly greased on the bottom loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap to defrost and rise at room temperature. Bake as described above when it has fully risen. This method will change the texture of the bread slightly. I will have a courser crumb, but is still delicious and it is so nice to have fresh bread for breakfast.