FoodNet

Domestic science (Clark, Cornell home economics)

1911

Page 55 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1911. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
its power to change sugar into alcohol and carbon- dioxide. Adding yeast to flour and a liquid, with the dough kept at a temperature of 72° to 78°, causes chemical changes. These changes finally produce a gas called carbon-dioxide, which leavens the dough. The gas is lighter than the dough and lifts up the walls of the dough, but we must not allow the alcoholic fermentation to proceed too far. That is, the dough must not expand too much or acetic fermentation sets in and will sour the dough ; so we stop this by baking the dough in a hot oven while the starch is browned and changed into dextrin and forms the crust on the bread, which is sweet and partly digested. In using compressed yeast, we soak the cake in a liquid to separate the organisms and then mix them into the flour. Salt is added to flavor the dough — too much salt will retard the growth. The greater the number of yeast plants, the more quickly the bread dough is lifted up. In our school work we use a large quantity of yeast to hasten the growth of the plant, as our time is necessarily limited. Liquid Yeast. 2 quarts boiling water, ^ c. salt, 6 potatoes, 1 c. granulated sugar,Liquid Yeast 2 c. yeast. Peel and grate potatoes, cook in the boiling water. Stir potatoes as grated into the boiling water, cook about 12 minutes after all the potato is grated in. Stir in sugar and salt and when about 70° F., stir in the yeast. Let it stay at this same temperature twent}-- four hours. Stir it occasionally as it becomes frothy. Keep in fruit jars covered tight, but only about half full. Half a cup of yeast to a pint of liquid, mixed at night or early in the morning, is a good general rule. BREAD 139 Milk Bread with Yeast. IJc. scalded milk, 1 tbsp. shortening, J tsp. salt, 1 tbsp. sugar, f c. yeast. Scald milk and put it on the sugar, shortening and salt; when lukewarm, add the yeast, and stir in the flour. Making the Dough. Bread-making is the art of mixing flour with a liquid, and using yeast as a ferment, adding salt, often sugar; and some people use a small amount of fat. These ingredients are made into a dough, allowed to rise, made into loaves and let rise again, and then the loaves are baked. The sugar is used to hasten fermentation. The fat makes loaf tender. Milk is used to make a tender loaf, but bread is apt to sour quickly. The amount of liquid used determines the size of a loaf. Two cups of liquid and one-half of a cake of compressed yeast, or amoimt governed by time, usually makes two loaves of bread. Dissolve yeast in ^ c. lukewarm water. Of liquid yeast f c. is a good amount if dough is to stand over night; more if to be used sooner. 1 1. tsp. salt, 1 tbsp. sugar and enough flour to make a soft dough. Mix soft, with a very little more flour. Mixing the Dough. Use an earthen bowl for mixing bread. It is easily cleaned and retains the heat. The school kitchen should contain the large earthen bowls. A tight-fitting cover with several perforations prevents the dough from forming a crust. An average-sized pan for baking bread is about seven inches long, three and a half inches wide, and three inches deep. Bread is better baked in an open pan, although some housekeepers use the closed pans. When the dough is to be mixed, measure the liquid, then add 140 DOMESTIC SCIENCE the flour. Some prefer to add all the flour at first mixing, some housekeepers make a drop-batter with about one-half the flour and, when this is light and big bubbles form on the top, add the rest of the flour and let it rise. Making the drop-batter with a part of the flour is called " setting the sponge." Fermentation takes place more rapidly in a drop- batter than in a dough and needs less yeast.