“A veteran breadmaker, Mr. Childs grinds his own whole-wheat flour and recommends that you do the same.”
-James Beard, Beard on Bread
Unlike Mr. Childs, I’m not hardcore enough to grind my own flour.
Here are the ingredients:
Mixing up the dough was an involved process. First, I mixed the yeast with the warm milk and sugar to proof. In a separate bowl, I mixed the boiling water with the oatmeal and set it outside to let it cool to 98 degrees. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, I warmed the butter, molasses, and salt. Once the oatmeal mixture cooled, I mixed in the yeast and molasses mixtures. Finally, I mixed in 3 1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour and 2 1/2 cups flour, and kneaded it lightly to incorporate all of the flour. The whole process took almost an hour.
After letting the dough rise for 45 minutes, I finished kneading the dough and shaped it into two loaves to fit my 9 x 5 pans. Then I took a two hour nap. Unfortunately, this meant that my dough rose too much in my pans.
My bread fell flat, but it still baked thoroughly after 55 minutes at 350 degrees.
I feel like I can’t pass much of a judgement on William Melville Childs’ Health Bread, since I messed up the second rising. To me, it tasted very similar to Maryetta’s Oatmeal Bread–hearty with lots of molasses.
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