Homemade Bread Made on Stove top

---

• Microwave the milk for 30 - 40  seconds to warm it up.
• Sift the flour,into a bowl, add sugar, salt, instant yeast and stir to combine. There is no need to activate the yeast because it is instant yeast, it does not require proofing.
• Add the warm milk, vanilla extract and mix to combine. You can do this with you hand or dough mixer. Add the soft butter and continue to knead.
• Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it forms a smooth ball of dough. Kneading of the dough creates gluten which is an essential part of bread. Oil the bowl and the dough so that the dough does not stick to any thing after it rises. Cover with a plastic wrap and napkin and put in a warm place to rise for 60 minutes. In the cold months, you can create a warm place in the oven by turning it on for a minute, then turn it off, leave the oven light on; place the dough in the oven to proof.
• After 60 minutes, deflate the dough and roll it into a ball or circular shape because of the pan shape. It is easier to use a circular pan when baking bread on a stove top because the pan can fit nicely into a pot. Place it rolled dough into a greased pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and napkin, place in a warm place for 30 minutes to rise the second time.

Steam version

• For the steam version, heat up some water on the stove top over medium heat and bring it to a boil before the dough is ready for baking. Do not forget to place the rack into the pot, this would elevate the pan above the water level. You can start heating the water 20 minutes into the second rise so the the water would be hot and ready in time for use.
• After 30 minutes, place the dough with the plastic wrap into the hot pot, cover it with the lid and steam bread for 60 minutes. It is usually done after 30 minutes ( looks pale) but to develop a dark shade that looks more like bread, steam it for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
• After 60 minutes, it is done, take it out and place it on a rack, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, the remove from pan and set it on the rack to continue to cool.

Dry heat version

• The recipe and process of mixing is the same as above except that you will use less milk. I noticed that when more fluid is added to the dough, it rises more, And when it rises too much, it tends to collapse when baked on the stove top. That's why i decided to use less milk.
• 20 minutes into the second rise, heat up some salt/sand/rocks in a pot over medium heat so that it would be hot and ready for the dough. Place the rack into the pot before it heats up.
• When it is hot enough, place the pan on the rack and cover the pot with an airtight lid. Bake for 30 minutes, After 30 minutes, turnoff the heat and let it remain on the stove still covered for 30 more minutes. This would prevent it from collapsing. So in total, the bread would be in the pot for 60 minutes. Afterwards, take it out and cool on the rack as done with the previous bread.

Ingredients

•  3 cups All Purpose flour
•  1/2 cup Butter (room temperature)
•  3 tbsp Sugar
•  2 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast
• 1  1/4 cup warm Milk
•  1/2 tsp Salt
•  1 tsp Vanilla Extract    

 Dry heat bread:

•  3 cups All Purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Butter (room temperature)
•  3 tbsp Sugar 
• 2 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast
•  1 cup warm Milk
•  1/2 tsp Salt  
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pan size: 8" x 3"