It's almost a stereotype about how homeschooling QF mothers bake their own bread!  We actually do have a large number of bread-bakers on MOMYS Digest, it seems.  Here is some wisdom from these ladies, if you'd like to start making your daily bread.

Many people mix the red and white, which gives the rich flavor of the red and the more fluff of the white.  Personally, I think it is great that we have choices available nowadays (white is a new hybrid), so that all of us can enjoy whole wheat bread. 2. Gluten--it must be vital wheat gluten, not gluten flour. VWG is very concentrated gluten. I use only 1/4 cup per large batch of bread. Also, for most of the years I made bread, I never used gluten. I've only used it for about 5 of the last 24. I made wonderful, light bread without it and, although it sounded good, I was determined to not buy it (if I had never used it I wouldn't want it), as I could not find an affordable source. Now I buy it in bulk, and pay very little. I also am hooked on it, which may or may not be a good thing. (I hate feeling like I HAVE to afford things--I don't want to have to have a huge budget!)  Here is my everyday bread recipe: makes 4- 2lb loaves 2 cups of fresh milled red wheat flour (of course you can use white wheat instead if you wish) 2/3 cup soy flour 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (not gluten flour) 1/3 cup oil (I use canola) 1/3 cup molasses (or honey) 1-2 tsp salt (1T if you use white wheat) 51/2 cups of warm water (about 110*) Mix above ingredients in bowl at low speed for about 30 sec, or until fairly mixed. Add 3Tbl instant yeast (you can use any yeast , but I don't know the conversion off hand). Mix well for about 30-60 sec. Cover with towel and let rest for 5 minutes. 

(The above ingredients together is called a sponge. This resting process helps to develop the yeast, making it tastier, plus letting you test the power of the yeast. It will be bubbly after the 5 minutes if it is good. You can skip the 5 minute rest and go directly to the next stage, if you want to save time.) 

Add remainder of the flour (probably 12-14 cups) 1 cup at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Add flour until the bowl cleans itself and the dough is turning as a ball. Turn speed up to kneading speed (#2 if a Bosch) and knead until the dough is done (9 minutes in my machine) You can tell if the dough is properly conditioned by using this test: Take a golf ball sized piece of dough from the bottom of the bowl. With your fingers, stretch the dough into a square. You should be able to stretch it enough to see through the dough without it tearing. If it is not very stretchy it needs more kneading.  Or it may have been kneaded too long (after first passing through the window stage). My old Kitchentics kneaded to proper condition in 6 minutes, my K-Tec, in 3 minutes. The Bosch kneads in a much easier fashion, with less tearing of the gluten--gluten is like strands of tangled hair. The kneading process untangles the strands, allowing it to hold the rise of the yeast gases, giving a fluffy bread. Too vigorous of kneading will tear the gluten just like vigorous combing can break hair. Also, I use the kneading time to clean and put away my mill, and any ingredients still out. When the dough is conditioned, turn the dough out of the bowl onto an oiled space. I use my cookie sheet, but a counter is fine too. Be sure to oil your hands to keep the dough from sticking. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. You may roll the dough into loaves and put in the loaf pans at this point. Just cover the loaves, let rise about 20 minutes and put in oven. I like to have all the bread mess cleaned up by this time--then when the bread is out of the oven it doesn't seem like it was any work! I prefer to let the dough condition more and set the 4 balls on the cookie sheet, cover with a cloth and let rise for 30 minutes. Then I shape the balls into loaves, and put them into loaf pans. Cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes. When fully risen, put loaves in a cold oven, turn it to 350*, and bake for 30 minutes. You can put the loaves in a hot, 350* oven and bake for 25 minutes, also. (There is debate about which is better: a hot or cold oven!--and I love nuances when it comes to baking!) Turn loaves out of pans onto a rack or towel (so that the bread doesn't get soggy as it cools) and cover with a towel (so the bread doesn't develop a thick crust). I prefer slicing the bread with an electric knife, but of course any knife will do!

A favorite variation of mine is to make potato bread. Add 1 cup of potato flakes in the sponge. Then after bread is cooled, dust tops with flour. You can also use leftover mashed potatoes, but I never have any leftover! Potato makes the dough moister and a bit denser in a yummy way. I use this same dough for pizzas: I use one loaf per large cookie sheet for a deep dish pizza, or 1/2 loaf's worth for a 16" pizza stone. Both are yummy, the pizza stone is much more like storebought pizza, with a crunchier bottom. I use this dough for bread sticks: Cut 1 loaf's worth of dough into about 20-25 balls, roll them into sticks, and place side by side in a 9x13" pan. Melt a 1/2 cup of butter and add garlic then pour over the unrisen dough. Sprinkle parmesan cheese, and salt, plus any other seasonings such as Italian type seasonings over the dough. Let rise about 45 minutes (the dough is cold now so it will take longer to rise).  Bake at 350* for about 20-30 minutes.  I use this dough for sandwich things: Roll the dough out, and cut into about 6" circles. Fill one half of the circle with filling, such as diced chicken mixed with cream cheese and seasoning, fold the circle in half, pinch edges with a fork, bake at 350* for about 20 minutes. 

The time investment is not as much more as it sounds. When I make the bread, I throw the wheat in the grinder, throw the water, oil, honey, salt, yeast and freshly made flour in the Bosch kitchen machine and turn it on. I assign one of my children to babysit it while it mixes for 8-10 min. Then I put the dough in pans, put them in a warm oven for 15-20 min., turn the oven up to 350 and bake for 25-30 min.  Here is my recipe. 2 tsp. EACH yeast, gluten, and Dough Enhancer 1/2 tsp. salt 1/8 cup oil 1/8 cup honey (if you measure the oil first, the honey slides cleanly out of the cup) 1 cup hottest tap water 3-1/4 cups flour Mix the dry ingredients; mix in the oil & honey. Add water. (I just dump everything into the mixer. These instructions are for making it by hand.) Add flour and mix until it cleans the side of the bowl (I use a DLX mixer and make at least 5 loaves at a time). Let rise until double, then punch down. Shape into loaf. Let rise until double again. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from pan to cool. I know a lot of bakers who use fresh ground flour who don't add anything to *help* the dough rise better, but I swear by this stuff. Used to buy it commercially prepared, but it tastes better and is less expensive to make your own.

I have a friend who mills her own grain, makes her own bread (with the help of a Bosch!). She makes 18 loaves in one day, and freezes 16 loaves. She butters the tops, then lets them completely cool before double bagging the loaves and freezing them. She says that if the loaves are allowed to defrost on the counter top (as opposed to defrosting in the microwave!), that taste and texture are just as fine as fresh. In this way, she only makes bread once every 2 weeks, but enjoys the good taste and nutrition that would come from baking every day.

Joan writes: When we bake bread, we make 7 full-sized loaves at a time. After they've been out of the oven about 40 minutes, they are cool enough to put in jumbo-sized ziploc bags. We do that to make the crust softer. Believe it or not, after the bread is cool, we slice it and have only a scant amount of crumbs--the bread becomes that soft! So I don't think it would be a problem to bake the bread in the evening, let it cool for 40 minutes, then bag it and deal with slicing, storage, etc. in the AM. 

Joan writes: Before I used Dough Enhancer (whether commercially bought or home made) my bread was not light. It was probably still as nutritious, but nobody wanted to eat it. Here is the home made version again (use as much as you use of yeast in a recipe...). This is from Jill Bond's book, "Dinner's In the Freezer." Dough Enhancer 4 cups dry milk (non-fat instant) 3 T Vitamin C POWDER (available anywhere vitamins are sold) 3/4 cup lecithin granules (I purchase mine at General Nutrition Center) 2 T ginger 2 T cornstarch Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container. I use as much D. E. as the recipe calls for yeast. For example, if the recipe uses 2 T of yeast, I use 2 T of D. E.

Q. I have a question about freezing dough. Even with all my years (literally) of bread-baking experience, I've never had success with freezing anything bigger than a golf-ball-sized piece of dough. The larger pieces kept rising while they were freezing, bursting the bags I wrapped them in. Any suggestions? We have the freezer above the frig and a stand-up freezer. 

A.  I usually quick freeze mine on cookie sheets first until they are good and hard. Then I put in bags. Then I can take out only what I need if it is rolls. I have tried wrapping whole wheat pizza crust dough before freezing and it grew and popped out of the plastic wrap-ooh what a mess. Also, when you thaw the dough, unwrap it first, so it doesn't do the same thing I just said as it thaws!

Joan writes:  We have a DLX Kitchen Machine for the kneading and a Magic Mill III for milling. I was glad that the man who helped us unload our goods into the garage also makes his own bread (those 45# buckets of wheat berries would be difficult to explain otherwise!). I am making bread this AM (it's only 5:30 here). I do know where all the ingredients, mill, and mixer are (other household items remain at large, however). We prefer a mix of 2/3 red wheat and 1/3 white wheat.

 I read in Whole Foods for the Whole Family that there is a sub for freshly milled whole wheat flour for those who can't find/afford it. I find it hard to believe that it would be as nutritional, but here it is... A study was done at Cornell Univ. They found that using this mix was almost as nutritionally beneficial as the wheat flour (again, just passing along what the book said). This makes much lighter bread than whole wheat. 

In the bottom of your 1 cup measuring cup, measure 1 tablespoon EACH of wheat germ, soy flour and powdered milk, then fill the cup with unbleached white flour. To save time, mix in your flour canister 5 lbs. unbleached flour and 1 cup EACH wheat germ, powdered milk, and soy flour. 

Caveat:  Most of the information on this site comes from back issues of The MOMYS Digest, an email-only forum for mothers of many young siblings. It is offered in good faith and is not intended to replace medical advice, pastoral counsel, your husband's opinion, or your own good sense.

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