Whole Wheat Bread

I make this bread every two weeks and it's the bread we use all the time for everything. It makes 5 loaves so I leave out two fresh loaves and wrap and freeze the other three and pull them out as we need them. Since I use and love this recipe I decided it was time to post and share it. The original recipe is from one of my Mom's friends, Linda Neumann.

6 cups warm water
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
2 TBSP instant yeast (I use saf-instant and love it.)
2 TBSP dough enhancer (I don't have this so I use gluten instead and it works great.)
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp salt
9 to 12 cups whole-wheat flour (I grind my own wheat into flour for this bread.)

Combine water, oil, honey, and yeast. Mix at speed #2 of Bosch or other bread mixer for 2 minutes (or mix w/ a hand mixer). Add the dough enhancer or gluten, 2 cups whole wheat flour, and salt and keep mixer going or mix by hand. (If I'm using older wheat I'll double the gluten I put in.) With mixer on speed 2, slowly add 9 to 12 cups flour until sides of bowl are clean. (Or knead by hand.) The dough will be sticky. Mix on speed 1 or 2 for 8 to 10 minutes (or knead by hand). Shape into loaves and place in pans (grease pans that don't have teflon). Lightly cover and raise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. All ovens vary so make sure you test the bread to make sure it's done by taking it out of the pan with hot pads and tap or knock on the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow it's done baking. If not stick it back in for a few more minutes.

Note: The original recipe says for best results use freshly ground flour made with spring or golden wheat rather than hard red wheat.