A beautiful success!
I don’t have internet in my kitchen, so I didn't totally follow this recipe. I also wanted to make it with natural yeast instead of commercial instant, so I had to change it up some, anyway.
First, I increased the servings until the recipe called for an even multiple of 5 cups of flour. That makes the ratio of flour to yeast much easier to compute. To make enough for everyone I used 15 cups of flour and 3 cups of natural yeast. All other ingredients were in perportion. I couldn't read the instructions so I mostly winged them. I mixed the ingredients that were obviously dough in my Hobart. Then set it aside to "culture" for a couple of hours, under some plastic wrap. (I only recommend the plastic wrap to those who live in very dry, or very wet climates. I live where it is very dry) When it had doubled I pressed it down and divided it into 5 lumps. Those I was not immediately working with I placed back under the wrap. Each lump I divided into 6 and rolled them into 3/4" to 1" thick logs. Then I cut the logs into 1" to 1 - 1/2" pieces. I placed the pieces on a baking sheet covered tray and left them alone until they had sprung up again, maybe 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I prepared the baking soda water. I used 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. I bought it to a simmer/boil and dropped in 10 pieces at a time. When they floated I dipped them out with a slotted spoon and shook off as much of the water as possible. Then I lined them up across the lined tray and shook salt over them while they were still wet. When the tray was full I popped them into the pre-heated oven. And I think I made a mistake in the temperature. I baked them at 350 F, but they took forever to brown. I think I should have baked them at 400, or even 450 F. When the boiling water in the pan became low I added more water in 3 cup increments, but I did not add more soda because soda doesn't evaporate.
