Country Crust Bread
 

   
Ingredients - 2 tbl yeast
   2 cup warm (115 deg) water
   1/3 cup sugar
   1/4 cup honey
   1/4 cup oil
   1 tbl salt
   2 eggs
   7 cups bread flour
   2 cups whole wheat flour
  
   
Procedure - Disolve yeast in water and add 3 Tbl of the sugar.
   Measure out all the other ingredients.
   Sift cake flour with wheat flour and mix together.
   In mixer, blend eggs and oil. Stir in sugar and salt.
   Stir in yeast water and 3 cups flour mixture.
   Beat till smooth.
   Add 3 cups flour and blend till smooth.
   Add honey.
   Add a cup of flour at a time, blending till smooth, until dough is sticky goo.
   Switch to dough hooks and continue adding flour until dough is stiff.
   Remove from machine and knead in more flour until dough is no longer sticky.
   (dough may be refrigerated at this point for 3 days).
   Let rise till double.
   Knead the dough until it is firm again.
   Place in two loaf pans or make rolls.
   Let rise till double again and bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes.
  
    Notes -

    The honey is a natural preservative and the bread will not go stale as quickly. DO NOT add this to the yeast water alone or the yeast will die and the dough will never rise. There is reasoning behind measuring all other ingredients after disolving the yeast. It gives one something to do while the yeast grows. By giving the yeast a chance to grow first, the number of LIVE yeast cells will double. With more live yeast the bread will be more finely grained and tender. If one were to double the measurement of yeast to disolve, the amount of DEAD yeast is doubled giving a yeasty flavor. After the first rise, it is better to knead the dough than to just punch it down. This will prevent the large bubbles and course texture.
  If Cholesterol is not a problem, swap chicken grease for the oil. The texture of the bread will improve and will be more tender.
  The crust can be made more tender if you make a tent of aluminum foil and place over the loaves in the oven after the first 20 minutes. Another method that affects the crust is to spray a water over the loaves using a plant mister every 8 minutes. (I like the water spray.)

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