The ordinary method of bread-making in London is as follows: The first process, when the bread is made with thick yeast, being to prepare a mixture of potatoes, yeast, and flour, by which the process of fermentation is to be produced in the dough.
Mr. George W. Austin, in his pamphlet on Bread, Baking, and Bakers,’ says about the ferment: ‘For each sack of flour (280 lbs.) about 8 lbs. or 10 lbs. of dry, mealy potatoes are taken, well boiled and mashed and washed through a strainer to take away the skin; to this is added 12 or 14 quarts of water, at a temperature varying from 80 deg. to 90 deg., and a quart of thick brewers’ yeast, or 1 lb. of compressed yeast—which is equal. Having well dissolved the yeast, and added 2 lbs. of flour, the mass is allowed to stand some three or four hours, until the head falls in through the escape of gas.’ The next process is the preparation of the sponge. The trough and flour being ready, the ferment is taken, and, with the addition of 28 quarts of clear water, at a temperature of 80 deg. to 90 deg., is passed into the trough through a sieve or strainer, and the mass, being kept well together, is made up into a nice dry sponge. It is allowed to remain thus and ferment for another five or six hours, when it will have risen and formed a head, which is allowed to break. As soon as this head is broken it commences to rise again, and as124 soon as it has broken the second time the remainder of the flour is added, and the dough made as follows:
Two and a half pounds of salt dissolved in 28 quarts of clear water, at a temperature of 80 deg., and mixed well into what is termed ‘the sponge,’ with the remainder of the flour, the whole being broken up and well and thoroughly mixed and kneaded until the dough is uniform in material and consistency. It is then left to rise for another hour or more, when the dough is weighed out in pieces of the requisite size and speedily manipulated into the required shape. As the loaves are moulded they are placed on trays, covered with a light cloth (to prevent the dry and colder air forming a dry crust on the surface), and left to dry sufficiently before being placed in the oven. Before this is done the loaves are slightly brushed over with a small quantity of milk and water to improve the appearance of the outside of the loaf when it comes from the oven.
The oven is, for the purpose of baking bread, brought up to a heat of 400 deg. Fahr., and the bread, although seemingly baked by dry heat, is in reality boiled in the steam of the water which the bread contains.14
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Salt is added to make the bread more palatable; but it has also another effect. With inferior flour dextrin is formed inside the loaf to some extent as well as on the outside, consequently bread made from inferior flour rises badly and is darker in colour. This inferior flour is made sometimes from wheat that has been damp, the dampness causing the soluble albumenoids which the grain contains to act on the insoluble gluten, decomposing it into soluble bodies, and producing dextrin by their action on the starch in the grain. The further decomposition of these albumenoids is checked by the action of the salt during the fermentation of the bread.
And now it will be well to say something about the leaven of bread. We have already seen the modern method of making a ferment with flour, potatoes, and brewer’s yeast; but there are other substances which do not cause fermentation, and yet lighten the bread, such as the different baking powders, and the American sal eratus, a mixture of bi-carbonate of soda and salt. Carbonate of ammonia, which entirely evaporates in baking, is used in confectionery to raise the paste by the bubbles it forms in its volatilisation. The unfermented breads, such as those made by the late Dr. Dauglish’s patent (of which more anon), are rendered light upon the same principle, the usual method being to mix soda with the flour, and hydrochloric acid with the water, in the proportions in which they unite to form chloride of sodium, or common salt. The effervescence, like that produced in mixing seidlitz powders, converts the paste into a porous sponge, which, however,126 requires to be very quickly placed in the oven. The salt formed by the mixture replaces that ordinarily added to the dough in making bread; but this method is seldom used by practical bakers. Whatever, therefore, be the method by which bread is made light, the object to be attained is to pervade the dough with numerous cavities, which keep the particles of flour asunder, instead of forming a compact and unyielding mass.
The science which gave an insight into the cause of the ‘rising’ of bread, and suggested substitutes for the ordinary fermenting materials, is but of recent date. These ferments operate by generating an infinity of gas bubbles, which honeycomb the dough. The earliest process was to employ leaven, which is still largely used in the manufacture of the black rye bread of the Continent, and consists of dough which has become more or less sour by over-fermentation. This is kept from one baking to another, to inoculate a fresh bulk of paste with its fermenting influence. No sooner does it come into contact with the fresh dough than it communicates its own properties, as by contagion. Probably the discovery of leavening has, in many countries, been owing to accident, through neglected paste having been attacked by the fungus which is the cause of fermentation.
Many of my readers probably do not know that yeast is a plant. It belongs to the class of fungi, and, in accordance with the general habit of its kind, it differs from the green forms of vegetable life by feeding upon organic substances. The yeast plant represents one condition of a species of fungus re127markable for the diversity of forms it exhibits, its wide, nay, universal distribution, and the magnitude of the effects, sometimes beneficial, sometimes mischievous, which it is capable of producing. The forms in which it is familiar to most persons, although its nature may be unsuspected, are yeast, the gelatinous vinegar plant, the ‘mother’ of vinegar, and many decomposing vegetable infusions, and the common blue or green mould (penicillium glaucum) which occurs everywhere on sour paste, decaying fruits, and, in general, on all dead organic matters exposed to combined moisture and moderate heat.
Yeast and the vinegar plant are the forms in which it vegetates under various circumstances when well supplied with food. Mildew is its fruit, formed on the surfaces exposed to air at certain epochs, like the flowers and seeds of the higher plants, to enable it to diffuse itself, which it does most effectually, for the microscopic germs, invisible singly to the naked eye, are produced in myriads, and are so diminutive that ordinary motes floating in the atmosphere are large in comparison.
Yeast, when examined under the microscope, is found to consist of globular vesicles about 1/2300th part of an inch in diameter when fully grown. They are multiplied by little vesicles budding out from the sides of the parent. These soon acquire an equal size, and repeat the reproduction, either while attracted to the parent globule or after separating from it. The multiplication goes on to an indefinite extent with a fitting supply of food and at a moderately warm temperature (70 deg.-90 deg. Fahr.). The vesicles128 are nourished by sucking in a portion of the organic liquid in which they exist, decomposing this chemically, and either actually giving off, or causing the separation of their outer surface, of carbonic acid in the form of gas. To give a familiar illustration of the action of the carbonic acid which is evolved from yeast on the dough, I may say that it is analogous to the froth formed on a tumbler of bottled ale or ginger-beer. The cavities or bubbles in the dough are produced in an exactly similar manner; but two circumstances occur in bread to render them permanent—first, the fact that they are slowly formed; secondly, that they are generated in a substance which, while it is soft enough to allow the bubbles to expand, is tough enough to retain them.
There are several kinds of yeast besides barm, or brewer’s yeast, which, in spite of its bitter taste, is generally used by bakers because it is the least expensive. Next in consumption is what is termed press yeast, in German press hefe or pfund hefe, commonly known in commerce as German yeast, so called because it originally was a monopoly of that country, but it is now largely manufactured in Scotland. Of these yeasts Mr. Austin says:
‘Press yeast is obtained partly by the brewing of beer or distillation of spirits as a by-product, partly it is made artificially. In the former case, the beer upper yeast is mixed with ten times its quantity of water, to which one per cent. of carbonate of ammonia is added, macerated and well washed for an hour, and then mixed with a compound of two parts129 of finely-powdered malt and ten parts starch, so that we have a firm mass, which is made into cakes half-an-inch thick. This yeast must be made fresh every two or three days, and must be kept in a cool place. A better press yeast is made from the yeast of the distilleries. The pasty residue of the mash tub is passed through a hair sieve to get rid of the grain husks. The filtrate is allowed to settle, and the sediment is put into linen cloths and washed with water, and the water squeezed out again under gentle pressure. The yeast is thus obtained in the form of cakes.’
Very many people prefer to make their own bread instead of buying it from the baker; not that there is a great saving, but there is a certain satisfaction in knowing by whom it is made, and as, doubtless, many of my readers have never attempted to make and bake their own bread, I venture to give Miss Acton’s ‘very plain directions to a quite inexperienced learner for making bread.’15
‘If you have never yet attempted to make bread, and wish to try to do it well, and have nobody to show you the proper manner of setting about it, you may yet succeed perfectly by attending with great exactness to the directions which are given here; but, as a large baking is less easily managed than a small one quite at first, and as the loss would be greater if the bread were spoiled, I would advise you to begin with merely a loaf or two.
‘Take, then, let us say, half a gallon of flour, or a 130quartern, as it is called in some places. This will weigh three pounds and a half, and will make two loaves of nearly two pounds and a quarter each. There are two ways of making the dough, either of which, in experienced hands, will generally be attended with success. The most common mode of proceeding is to mix the yeast carefully with part of the liquid required for the whole of the bread, and to stir it into the centre of the flour; then to add by degrees what more of the liquid may be necessary, and to convert the whole with thorough, steady kneading into a firm but flexible paste, which, after standing in a suitable place until it has swollen to nearly double its original size, is again thoroughly kneaded, and once more left to “rise” or become porous before it is moulded into loaves and despatched to the oven.
‘To Make Dough by Setting a Sponge.—This method of making dough is usually followed when there is any doubt either of the goodness or of the sufficient quantity of the yeast which is used for it, because if it should not become light after standing a certain time, more yeast, mixed with a little warm liquid, can easily be added to it, and the chance of having heavy bread be thus avoided.
‘If you are sure of the goodness of the yeast you use it will not much matter which of them you follow. The quickest and easiest mode is to wet it up at once; the safest to guard against failure is to set a sponge thus: Put the flour into a large earthenware bowl or deep pan, then with a strong metal or wooden spoon hollow out the middle, but do not clear it entirely131 away from the bottom of the pan, as in that case the sponge (or leaven as it was formerly termed) would stick to it, which it ought not to do. Next take either a large tablespoonful of brewer’s yeast, which has been rendered solid by mixing it with cold water and letting it afterwards stand to settle for a day and a night, or nearly an ounce of fresh German yeast. Put it into a large basin and then proceed to mix it, so that it shall be as smooth as cream, with three-quarters of a pint or even a whole pint of just warm milk and water or water only, though even a very little milk will much improve the bread. To have it quite free from lumps you must pour in the liquid by spoonfuls just at the beginning, and stir and work it round well to mix it perfectly with the yeast before you add the remainder, otherwise it would probably cause the bread to be full of large holes, which ought never to be seen in it. Pour the yeast into the hole in the middle of the flour, and stir into it as much of that which lies around it as will make a thick batter, in which, remember, there must be no lumps. If there should seem to be any you must beat them out with the spoon. Strew plenty of flour on the top, throw a thick clean cloth over, and set it where the air is warm; but if there is a large fire do not place it upon the kitchen fender in front of it, as servants often do, for it will become too much heated there; but let it always be raised from the floor, and protected from constant draughts of air passing over it. Look at it from time to time when it has been laid for nearly an hour, and when you perceive that the yeast has risen and broken through the flour, and that bubbles132 appear in it, you will know that it is ready to be made up into dough. Then place the pan on a strong chair or dresser, or table of convenient height; pour into the sponge a little warm milk and water (about a pint and a quarter will be required altogether for the quartern of bread), so that if three-quarters of a pint was mixed with the yeast at first there will be half a pint to add. Sometimes a little more will be needed; but be always careful not to make the dough too moist; stir into it as much flour as you can with the spoon, then wipe it out clean with your fingers and lay it aside.
‘Next take plenty of the remaining flour, throw it on the top of the leaven, and begin with the knuckles of both hands to knead it well. Quick movement in this will do no good. It is strong, steady kneading which is required. Keep throwing up the flour which lies under and round the dough on to the top of it, that it may not stick to your fingers. You should always try to prevent its doing this, for you will soon discover that attention to these small particulars will make a great difference in the quality of your bread and in the time required to make it. When the flour is nearly all kneaded in begin to draw the edges of the dough towards the middle, in order to mix the whole thoroughly, and continue to knead it in every part spreading it out, and then turning it constantly from the side of the pan to the middle, and pressing the knuckles of your closed hands well into and over it. When the whole of the flour is worked in, and the outside of the dough is free from it and from all lumps and crumbs, and does not stick to the hands133 when touched, it will be done, and may be again covered with the cloth and left to rise a second time.
‘In three-quarters of an hour look at it, and should it have swollen very much, and begin to crack, it will be light enough to bake. Turn it then on to a paste-board, or very clean dresser, and, with a large sharp knife, divide it into two, when, if it has been carefully and properly made, you will find it full throughout of small holes like a fine sponge. When it is thus far ready make it up quickly into loaves, and despatch it to the oven. If it is to be baked in a flat tin or on the oven floor, dust a little flour on the board, and make them up lightly in the form of dumplings, drawing together the parts which are cut, and turning them downwards. Give them a good shape by working them round quickly between your hands without raising them from the board, and pressing them slightly as you do so; then take a knife in the right hand, and, turning each loaf quickly with the left, just draw the edge of it round the middle of the dough, but do not cut deeply into it; make also two or three slight incisions across the tops of the loaves, as they will rise more easily when this is done.
‘Should it be put into earthen pans, the dough must be cut with the point of the knife just below the edge of the dishes after it is laid into them. To prevent it sticking to them, and being turned out with difficulty after it is baked, the pans should be rubbed in every part with a morsel of butter laid on a bit of clean paper. When they are only floured, the loaves cannot sometimes be loosened from these without being broken. All bread should be turned134 upside down or on its side as soon as it is drawn from the oven; if this be neglected, the under part of the loaves will become wet and blistered from the steam, which cannot then escape from them. They should remain until they are perfectly cold before they are put away and covered down.
‘The only difference between this and the other way of making dough, mentioned at the beginning of these directions, is the mixing all the flour at first with the yeast and liquid into a firm smooth paste, which must be thoroughly kneaded down when it has become quite light, and then left to rise a second time before it is prepared for baking. A pint of warm milk and water, or of water only, may be stirred gradually to the yeast, which should then be poured into the middle of the flour, and worked with it into a stiff batter with a spoon, which should then be withdrawn, and the kneading with the hands commenced. Until a little experience has been gained, the mass of dough which will be formed with the pint of liquid, may be lifted from the pan into a dish, while sufficient warm water is added to wet up the remainder of the flour. This should afterwards be perfectly mingled with that which contains the yeast. A better plan is to use at once from a pint and a quarter to a pint and a half of liquid; but learners are very apt to pour in heedlessly more than is required, or to be inexact in the measure, and then more flour has to be used to make the bread of a proper consistence than is allowed for by the proportion of yeast named in the receipt. It is a great fault in bread-making to have the dough so moist that it sticks to the135 fingers when touched, and cannot be formed into loaves which will retain their shape without much flour being kneaded into them when they are made up for the oven.
‘When it is to be home baked as well as home made, you must endeavour to calculate correctly the time at which it will be ready, and have the oven in a fit state for it when it is so. Should it have to be carried to the baker’s, let a thick cloth or two be thrown over it before it is sent.’
In these very plain directions I do not find that Miss Acton specifies the quantity of salt to be used. Some, however, is absolutely necessary, to make good bread—say half an ounce to a quartern of flour.