The Doctor's Sourdough Bread

Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups milk, warm
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup honey
• 7 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda

Recipe

• 1 mix the starter and 2 1/2 cups of the flour and all the water the night before you want to bake.
• 2 let stand in warm place overnight.
• 3 next morning mix in the butter with warm milk and stir in yeast until until dissolved.
• 4 add honey and when thoroughly mixed, add 2 more cups of flour, and stir in the wheat germ.
• 5 sprinkle sugar, salt, and baking soda over the mixture.
• 6 gentlypress into dough and mix lightly.
• 7 allow to stand from 30 to 50 minutes until mixture is bubbly.
• 8 add enough flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl.
• 9 then place the dough on a lightly floured board and kead 100 times or until silky mixture is developed.
• 10 form into 4 1-lb loaves, place in well-greased loaf pans 9 x 3 size.
• 11 let rise until double, about 2 to 3 hours in a warm room.
• 12 then bake in hot oven, 400 degrees f, for 20 minutes.
• 13 reduce oven temp. to 325 degrees f. and bake 20 minutes longer or until thoroughly baked.
• 14 remove from pans and place loaves on rack to cool.
• 15 butter tops of loaves to prevent hard crustyness.