Lemon juice in this recipe acts as a dough enhancer, which gives the bread a fine, light texture. Gluten, a natural protein derived from wheat, provides elasticity and strength, added texture, helps retain moisture, prevents crumbling, and extends the shelf life of bread. If you do not want to store gluten flour, substitute whole wheat flour in its place.
Makes 5 (8x4 inch) loaves
7 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c gluten flour
2 1/2 Tbsp instant yeast
5 c steaming hot tap water (120-130 Degrees farenheit)
1 Tbsp salt
2/3 c oil
2/3 c honey or 1 c sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
5 c whole wheat flour
Mix together the first three ingredients in a mixer (If you have a Bosch, use it. This bread will wear down a Kitchenaid quickly!) with dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. This makes a very soft dough.
Set oven to warm (approximately 170) and place a small bowl of water on the bottom rack. Turn dough onto oiled countertop; divide, shape into loaves, place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm place for 10-30 minutes until dough reaches over top of pan. Remove from oven and preheat oven to 350 and bake for 23-25 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.
The original yield of the recipe was 4 loaves, but I found that using the rapid rise method I can easily get 5 loaves.
Here is the dough divided and ready to cook
The bread after rising. I let it rise too long, but it does show that you can easily get 5 loaves.
The finished product. It smells amazing!
You can tell I let it rise too long by the wrinkles. But it still tasted delicious, and didn't collapse too much.
