French Bread

We made 60 loaves of French bread on Saturday morning and sent them out to the kids "on the trail" to eat with their dutch oven soup for lunch. It was a hit. This recipe makes 3 loaves.

3 cups warm water
2 TB sugar
2 TB oil
7 cups flour (see note)
2 TB instant dry yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt

Cornmeal
1 Egg

In mixer bowl, combine water, sugar, and oil. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour and yeast, and mix until smooth. Add remaining 3 1/2 cups flour and salt, and mix until the dough cleans the side of the mixer. Add additional flour, a spoonful at a time, if dough is too sticky. (When using the bread flour specified in the notes, I haven't had to add any additional flour to the dough.) Knead for 10 minutes on medium speed. Place dough in a large bowl and cover with a towel. Punch down dough every 10 minutes. Repeat 6 times. After 6th time, place dough on lightly floured board and divide into 3 pieces, each piece weighing about 1 lb. 4 ounces (or just eyeball it). Let rest about 10 minutes. Roll out each dough ball to about 9 x 13 inches. Starting with the long side, roll up like a jelly roll. Seal the edges. If desired, cover baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with Pam, and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves on baking sheet.

Mix 1 egg with water to make an egg wash. Spread on the top of each loaf. With a sharp knife, score each loaf 5 or 6 times. Cover with cloth and let rise until about doubled (time ranges from about 30-60 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is). Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Remove from baking sheets and cool on racks.

NOTES:
Flour: For best results, use high gluten flour that includes malted barley flour as one of the ingredients. Yes, it does make a difference. Sam's Club has it in 50 lb. bags in the Baker's and Chef's brand. I've also found it at Yoder's Country Store in Medina, NY in 5- and 10-lb bags and it's called Qualitate Bread Flour. You can also make it with regular flour, but the dough ends up being softer. When using regular flour, you may need to add more flour to get the right texture.

Mixer: I've made this in my KitchenAid and Bosch. In the kitchen aid, I usually use the paddle for the first mixing, and then change to the dough hook when I add the last half of the flour and the salt.

Forming the bread into loaves: For a smooth bread with a finer texture, roll the dough to the specified size using a rolling pin. For a more rustic bread with larger air holes in the finished product, use your fingertips to gently spread the dough to the 9 x 13-inch size, and then roll up. This will retain some of the air bubbles from the raising. If you want baguettes, roll or spread the dough to approximately 15 inches x 5 inches, roll from the long side, and place on baking sheets.

Egg wash: The egg wash helps the crust brown. You don't have to use it. But if you do, you can also sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, and they'll stay on.

Baking time: The baking time varies between 20-30+ minutes. I think it's a factor of how big the loaves are, whether or not the oven temperature is calibrated correctly, and the altitude. I can't give much advice here except to check it after 20 minutes, and then at 3-5 minute increments until it's done.