Bread without means

[eastkygal]

It's been a long time since I have posted in this sub-forum. I don't recognize many of the nicknames! Wow!
I am having a bread dilemma. I have been buying Ezekiel bread which I have to drive about 45 minutes to get, and then run the risk that it isn't in stock. I make sourdough, but it is very dense and not so easy to slice as the crust gets really hard. I'd love a good sandwich bread that I can make at home.
I do have access to wheatberries, but I have no hand grist mill. I can soak wheat flour and do for all my other baking as per NT. So, I'm searching. I don't have a bread maker. My blender is getting ready to be thrown out. I can't afford to buy a new appliance right now.
Are there any options? What's the deal with yeast again?

[mbravebird]

You could try no-knead bread. It's made with a looooong rise and a tiny amount of yeast, so it's sort of like sourdough without the starter. It's also not much work at all, which is nice. We use it for our sandwiches just from the round loaf, although if I want really even slices I will do it in a regular loaf pan.

My current recipe, tweaked over the last few years, is:
2 cups water (no need to warm it)
a couple of splashes of raw apple cider vinegar
3 and 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast

Mix and let rise for 12-20 hours. I mix mine at night and bake it the next day. After the first rise, punch it down and shape it into a round loaf by gathering the edges into the middle. It is a very sticky, wet dough -- that's normal. Flour a piece of wax paper generously, put the loaf on it, and flour the top of the loaf generously. Let it rise about an hour (a bit more in the winter). While it's rising, put the oven to 500 and heat your baking dish in it -- you'll need a covered 2.5L corningware dish with a lid, one of those round casserole dishes with a flat bottom. (Rounded bottoms make it hard to cut).

When the loaf has risen long enough, pull out the heated dish, flip the loaf over into it, remove the wax paper, put the lid on, and put in the oven. Turn the temp down to 425 and bake for about 45-50 min. Remove from the oven and take it out of the dish immediately to cool.

I was just wondering about you the other day!!

[Teenytoona]

Hi there! Good to see you again. You could try the sourdough from Wild Fermentation. It's not too tricky.

[ltlmrs]

I definitely second the no-knead bread, except I make a whole wheat sourdough or a spelt sourdough. I can get spelt berries but like you don't have a grinder, so when I can't grind the grain myself, I just use the KA whole wheat flour and keep it in the refrigerator. I realize that the flour has lost a lot of it's nutrition, but it's still better than yeasted white bread.

I'm amazed that you can get Ezekiel bread only 45 minutes away! Even when we lived in Richmond, I still had to drive to Lexington to get anything remotely organic...

[eastkygal]

Yeah, me too. Food City started caring, but only the one in the next county. Then, in another bordering county there is a small health food store that carries it. Fortunate!
I just found a recipe in one of my Appalachian Traditional Cookbooks. How does this sound. I might try it.

Salt Rising Bread

• 3 medium potatoes
• 2 tbsp. corn meal
• 1 tsp. sugar - (I fingure succanat)
• flour
• 4 cups boiling water
• 2 cups lukewarm milk
• 1 cup water
• pinch baking soda
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp. melted butter

Peel and slice potatoes, add cornmeal, sugar, salt and boiling water. wrap in a heavy cloth and keep in a warm place overnight. Take out potatoes, add milk, soda, salt, and butter. Now you can put in enough flour to make dough stiff when kneading. Form into loaves. Put into greased pans, cover and let dough rise twice in size (I'd probably leave it overnight). This makes 4 loaves.

I wonder if one could leave out the sugar altogether.