Mama's Old-Fashioned White Bread

By chelyc13

The original recipe says to give the dough two rises of 6 - 8 hours each, but you may find your bread may need as little as half the time, 3-4 hours each rise.

Ingredients

• FOR STARTER:
• 1 1/4 oz pkg active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teas salt
• FOR BREAD:
• 1 cup starter
• 6 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
• 1/2 cup corn oil, plus more for brushing
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tblsp salt

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

1. To make the starter, in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 2 1/2 cups water. Add the potato flakes, sugar, and salt and stir to combine. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave the starter out at room temperature for 24 hours.

2. Transfer 1 cup of the starter to a separate large bowl, cover loosely, and leave it out at room temp for 12 hours more. Refrigerate the rest of the srater, covered, and feed it every 3 -5 days.

3. To make the bread, lightly grease another large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water to the room temp starter and stir to combine. Add the flour, oil, sugar, and salt. Knead once or twice in the bowl, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a stiff dough forms (add more flour by the quarter cupful, if needed). Place the dough in the greased bowl, brush the top with oil, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Leave the dough out at room temperature for 6-8 hours, until it has triped in size.

4. Lightly grease three 9x5 inch loaf pans. Trun the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into three equal pieces. Knead each piece once or twice, form into a loaf, and place in the prepared pan. Brush the tops of the loaves with oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temp for 6-8 hours, until the dough has again triped in size. The dough will be puffed over the tops of the pans.

5. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are an even golden brown, with no light spots. Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for 20 to 30 minutes, then gently turn them out. Once the bread has cooled completely, cut into thick slices to serve.

NOTE: to feed the starter, combine 1 cup water with 3/4 cup sugar and 3 tblsp potato flakes and stir into the starter. The starter will keep for years if you feed it regularly and keep it refrigerated.