4-H Champion Bread
I usually use 5 cups whole wheat flour and the rest white. Makes big loaves - almost 750 grams
I usually use 5 cups whole wheat flour and the rest white. Makes big loaves - almost 750 grams
- Carbohydrate 391.38313125029 g
- Cholesterol 0.91875 mg
- Fat 17.8314000259069 g
- Fiber 15.7950002145767 g
- Protein 51.4777312502897 g
- Saturated Fat 3.52418438037448 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Loave (675g)
- Sodium 192.763687803481 mg
- Sugar 375.588131035713 g
- Trans Fat 2.13626437615857 g
- Calories 1954 calories
Step-by-step
- Stir yeast into 5 cups of flour in a large bowl.
- Add margarine to warm water & stir until melted.
- Add milk, salt & sugar.
- Pour into flour & yeast & beat.
- Let stand 15 minutes.
- Beat.
- Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. (Usually use not quite 12 cups).
- Knead until smooth & elastic.
- Grease ball and place in bowl.
- Cover.
- Let rise to double.
- Knead down and divide into 4 balls.
- Let stand 15 - 30 minutes.
- Grease loaf pans with lard.
- Form into loaves & roll into pan to grease loaf.
- Let rise until 3/4 " over top of pan.
- Bake at 350? for 25 minutes.
Operating on a strict flour budget requires maximizing every cup of grain to yield dense, substantial loaves without sacrificing crumb structure. This massive formula produces four distinct 750-gram loaves, scaling up standard baking proportions to make large-scale yeast bread highly efficient for preserving household grocery funds. Rooted in traditional agricultural fair competitions where bakers learned to feed crowds economically, this recipe demonstrates how large batches rely on precise structural manipulation rather than expensive specialty ingredients.
Achieving Structural Integrity in Heavy Dough
Building proper gluten networks requires controlling hydration temperatures precisely. Water warmed between 105 degrees Fahrenheit and 110 degrees Fahrenheit activates the yeast rapidly without destroying cellular function. Stirring the initial five cups of flour directly into the dry yeast creates a high-protein batter stage, allowing the gluten strands to begin forming before the heavy load of the remaining seven cups is introduced. Allowing this sponge to rest for 15 minutes kick-starts carbon dioxide production, creating the internal gas pockets necessary for a light crumb rather than a heavy brick.
- Knead the mass continuously until the dough passes the windowpane test, indicating the protein strands have aligned sufficiently to trap expanding gases.
- Monitor the primary bulk fermentation phase until the dough doubles in volume, which typically takes between 60 to 90 minutes depending on ambient room warmth.
- Divide the mass evenly into four portions and permit a short 15-minute bench rest to relax the tight gluten before final shaping.
- Proof the shaped loaves in greased pans until the dough rises precisely three-quarters of an inch above the rim of the pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, monitoring the internal temperature until it registers 200 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer.
