Twentieth century home cook book

Potato Yeast — Take five or six potatoes; grate fine. Then add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and one of salt. Take one quart of water and a handful of hops. Boil a few minutes, strain and stir into potatoes. Set on the stove and stir until thick. When cool add one cup of yeast. Salt Hop Yeast. — Put a gallon of cold water on the fire; let it come to a boil, and then put into it eight good potatoes and boil until well done, when they must be mashed fine, together with one teacupful of salt and one of white sugar. Directly after taking out the potatoes, put a handful of hops into the water, and let it boil while you are preparing the potatoes. Mix these with the hop-water, which must be boiling hot when added, and unstrained. When nearly cold, add one cup of lively yeast, stir well and set aside to rise in a warm place for twenty-four hours. Then strain, bottle and cork it up tightly. Strain through a sieve so that as much potato as possible may pass through. Allow half a teacup of this yeast to a quart of good flour in cold weather; in the summer a less quantity is required. Keep the bread warm while rising. Bread Without Yeast— Salt-Rising. — In the morning set a sponge in a pitcher, by taking one teaspoonful of sugar, two-thirds teaspoon of salt, one-half as much saleratus, and one coffee-cup of new milk. Pour on this one pint of boiling water; let it stand until it is only blood-warm, and stir in flour to make a stiff batter. Keep it warm by setting it in warm water, and in five hours it will be a foam — if not, stir in a little flour. Then mix soft in your bread-pan with about a pint of milk and water, salt, and cover lightly with flour. This will rise again in about an hour; then mix rather firm and put in your tins. IV. Bread of Fine Flour. In making any bread the mixer must know the strength of the yeast and the quality of the flour, for flour varies in its rising qualities just as yeast does in strength. The rule is that more yeast is required in cold weather than in warm, and closer watching of the sponge is required in warm than in cold weather. The "good old-fashioned way," when bread was only made once a week and baked in a brick oven, was to take from five to six gallons of flour, put it in the kneading-trough and make a hole in the center of the flour, into which was poured a pint or more of yeast — according to strength — well mixed with a pint of milk-warm water. With a spoon this was stirred into a smooth batter and sprinkled over with all the dry flour left. Then the plan was to cover with a cloth and in summer set it in a rather cool place, or in winter in a warm place. When the sponge has risen, scatter over it two tablespoonfuls of salt, add warm water by degrees as you mix all thoroughly together. Work and knead the whole until it will no longer stick to the hands. Cover the mass with flour and set it under a cloth, where it is warm, to rise. When risen, divide into suitable loaves, mould them lightly upon the pastry-board, place in floured tins or pans and bake as quickly as possible, but not to brown the crust too much; that is, the oven must be of such a temperature that a large loaf will bake in from one hour to one hour and a half. This is the best way to make bread where large quantities are baked, as, where many hands are kept. Then a brick oven is economical. V. Heating the Oven. To heat a brick oven requires judgment. The fuel should be hard wood, quite dry, and cut fine. Then the oven may be heated in an hour. The oven is cleaned by drawing out the coals and sweeping with a broom, having the brush on the handle similar to the teeth of a rake. If, upon throwing a little dry flour into the oven, it turns dark, the oven must be cooled a little. The bread once in the oven, shut and close tight. VI. Milk Bread, Potato Bread and Cream Bread.