Instructions: In response to Barbara Moore who wanted to know about using a microwave for bread rising-I tried this method many years ago when I first got my microwave and it works very well. Here is the method from my cookbook (mine is a 750 watt oven so you may need to make adjustments based on the size of yours). Put 1 cup of water in a 2-cup glass measure and place it in the oven. Bring the water to a boil on HI, about 3-3 1/2 minutes. Place the dough in the oven next to the water (dough must be in a glass or plastic bowl, of course).

Set the oven at the lowest possible setting and the timer for 10 min. When the timer beeps leave the dough in the oven for another 20 min. or until double. You can then form it into loaves, again using only non-metal pans, and repeat the above directions for rising in the pans. I used this method quite a bit when I first discovered it but stopped because I thought I might wear out my microwave before its time (I bake a lot of bread and figured I was subjecting the oven to a lot of "run" time). I didnt encounter any problems with the final product after using this method and its a handy thing to know if you need bread in a hurry occasionally.

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