Hi from Homer!

I've recently lived on a sailboat and expect to do so again. This means I NEED to be a bread baker. My husband bakes lovely bread in the galley oven. I started last winter and have really been enjoying it, though I've thus far limited myself to a wheat bread recipe that we love and prefer for our standard toast and sandwich bread (it's supposedly the Pepperidge Farm recipe). I plan to experiment more with vital wheat gluten and the recipes in a recent Mother Earth News. My goal is to develop a repertoire of a half dozen great breads that:

1) create low mess,

2) require minimal kitchenware and counter space,

3) don't require any refrigerated ingredients,

4) will be resilient enough to proof in a somewhat chillier-than-normal environment and

5) bake in a kerosene oven with no thermostat.

Before I ask my question of the moment, I'll just say that this wheat recipe has turned out fabulous every time, even with my confusion: The recipe makes three loaves and calls for 4 cups each of white and wheat flour. After mixing, it says "When the dough begins to leave the sides of the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board (about 1 Tbsp per cup of flour in the recipe). Turn the dough several times to make it easier to handle. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 10-15 min before kneading."

Here's my problem. Following the recipe exactly, the dough is far too wet and sticky to handle much at all while kneading. The instructions indicate that I knead on a surface with appx 8 Tbsp of flour. HA! I must heavily flour-and-knead, flour-and-knead, for ages while I incorporate (probably) another TWO CUPS of flour, and all the rolly bits from my hands and fingers, before the dough becomes "smooth and elastic" prior to the first proof. Am I doing something wrong? Is there any reason why I can't just add one more cup to the recipe so the dough isn't so unwieldy?

Thanks, and looking forward to learning from all of you...

-s

ps: also interested in your pressure cooker bread recipes and/or easy flatbreads, chappattis and naans that I can make in a cast-iron skillet.

Hi Everybody,

I am a newbie at bread making. A transplant from Southwest Florida. I am a little confused about the amount of flour needed to knead dough by hand. I followed the recipe that I had, but I kept needing to add flour and then I ran out of flour. The recipe called for 4-4 1/2 cups of flour, but I know that I added about 6 cups and it was still sticking to the counter top.....as well as my hands. When I ran out of flour, I just threw it in a bowl and now I am hoping for the best. I read in one book that kneading by hand will take more flour than if using a mixer. I wonder if someone could confirm this for me. And......if the dough is still sticking to the counter top and your hands, do you continue to add flour until it is no longer sticking to anything?......even if you end up using WAY more flour than the recipe calls for?

Thanks for the help.......looking forward to spending time with you all.

Debbie