3 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar or Honey
1/4 Cup Oil or melted butter
8 Cups Flour (all-purpose or bread flour works)
1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, add water, salt, sugar or honey, and oil or butter. Add 7 Cups of flour on top of the liquid ingredients and then add the yeast on top of the flour. Mix on low until combined and then knead for 5 minutes. Add additional flour as needed until the dough is tacky but not sticky - it should feel sticky but pull away from your hands without leaving much residue.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into two equal balls. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans and shape the dough into two loaves and place in pans. Allow to rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour.
During the last 15 minutes of the rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. When loaves have risen, place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Remove from the oven and allow loaves to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.