Foods that will win the war

In order to keep down waste by eliminating the poor batch of bread, it is necessary to understand the principles of bread-making. Fermentation is the basic principle of yeast bread, and fermentation is controlled by temperature. The yeast plant grows at a temperature from 70 to 90 degrees (Fahrenheit), and if care is taken to maintain this temperature during the process of fermentation, waste caused by sour dough or over-fermentation will be eliminated. When we control the temperature we can also. reduce the time necessary for making a loaf of bread, or several loaves of bread as may be needed, into as short a period as three hours. This is what is known as the quick method. It not only saves time and labor, but, controlling the temperature, insures accurate results. The easiest way to control the temperature is to put the bowl containing the dough into another of slightly larger size containing water at a temperature of 90 degrees. The water of course should never be hot. Hot water kills the yeast plant. Cold water checks its growth. Cover the bowl and set it in the gas oven or fireless cooker or on the shelf of the coal range. As the water in the large bowl cools off, remove a cupful and add a cupful of hot water. At the end of one and one-half hours the dough should have doubled in bulk. Take it out of the pan and knead until the large gas bubbles are broken (about ten minutes). Then place in greased bread pans and allow to rise for another half hour. At the end of this time it will not only fill the pan, but will project out of it. Do not allow the dough to rise too high, for then the bread will have large holes in it. A good proportion as a general rule to follow, is: 33 cupfuls of flour (this in- 4 tablespoon shortening cludes added cereals) 14 teaspoons salt 1 cupful of water or milk 1 cake of compressed yeast In this recipe sugar has been omitted because of the serious shortage, but after the war a teaspoon of sugar should be added. ‘The shortening, although small in quantity, may also be omitted. These materials make a loaf of about one pound, which should be baked in forty to fifty minutes at a temperature of 450 degrees (Fahrenheit). Allow a little longer time for bread containing oatmeal or other grains. Such breads require a little longer baking and a little lower temperature than wheat breads. If you do not use a thermometer in testing your oven, place a piece of paper on the center shelf, and if it browns in two minutes your oven is right. If a longer period for raising is allowed than is suggested in the above recipe, the yeast proportion should be decreased. For overnight bread use one-quarter yeast cake per loaf; for six-hour bread, use one-half yeast cake per loaf; for three-hour bread, use one yeast cake per loaf. In baking, the time allowed should depend on the size of the loaf. When baked at a temperature of 450 degrees, large loaves take from forty-five to sixty minutes, small loaves from thirty to forty minutes, rolls from ten to twenty minutes. It is well to divide the oven time into four parts. During the first quarter, the rising continues; second quarter, browning begins; the third quarter, browning is finished; the fourth quarter, bread shrinks from the side of the pan. These are always safe tests to follow in your baking. When baked, the bread should be turned out of the pans and allow to cool on a wire rack. When cool, put the bread in a stone crock or bread box. To prevent staleness, keep the old bread away from the fresh—scald the bread crock or give your bread box a sun bath at frequent intervals.