FoodNet

Experimental cookery

1932

Page 349

Presented as published in 1932. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Sponge process. By this method the salt and a part of the flour are omitted during the first part of the fermentation period. Then the re- mainder of the flour and the salt are added to make a dough, and from this point the manner of mixing and treatment of dough are the same for the two processes. The sponge method is always used with dry yeast and may be used with compressed yeast. Method of mixing ingredients. The committee on formula and method of mixing, Fitz chairman, have suggested the following procedure. "Thoroughly dissolve sugar and salt in a portion of the water, mix yeast in another. Use water at a temperature to bring dough out at approxi- mately 30°C. Add the solution to the flour, rinsing with balance of water, then add shortening in melted form. Mix thoroughly to a smooth dough. This may require 3 to 10 minutes depending on type of mechanical mixer used. Remove the dough, fold into smooth dough ball and place in battery jar (6 by 8 inches), cover, and place in dough cabinet at 30°C. and let rise until ready to punch." See Experiment 73. MANIPULATION OF DOUGH 429 Effect of mechanical treatment on extensibility of dough. Bailey and Le Vesconte have reported that prolonged mixing may destroy the cohesiveness of the gluten. The most extended experiments on the mechanical modification of gluten quality that have been reported are those of Swanson and Working. They devised a machine with a "pack-squeeze-pull-tear fashion." By mixing the dough for a longer time in this bread mixer they found that the bread could be baked at the end of the first fermentation period, thus decidedly shorten- ing the total time for fermentation. The prolonged mixing altered the gluten quality so that less time was needed for fermentation. ''The figures for volume, color and texture show a progressive improvement with the length of time of mixing." Dough mixed for 15 minutes produced a loaf better in every way than a loaf mixed 3 minutes and then fermented in the usual way. When the revolutions per minute were increased from 60 to 120, it was found that 7 minutes would produce as good bread as 15 minutes at the slower rate. The following table gives their results. The first figures are for the control fermented in the usual way after 3 minutes of mixing. TABLE 50 Effect of Mixing for Different Lengths of Time on the Quality of Bread Baked with Only Panary Fermentation {Swanson and Working) Total time of me- chanical treatment 60 r.p.m., minutes Total time of fermen- tation, minutes Volume of loaf, cc. Color score Texture score Control 3 157 1955 95 94 3 . . 61 58 54 54 54 55 55 1690 1785 1880 2045 2070 2040 1990 92 94 96 100 100 100 100 85 6 10 88 90 15 20 98 99 30 40 99 96 Manipulation of dough. In the laboratory in experimental cookery, one is constantly impressed by the effect of manipulation and the handling of the food materials in giving results that are not strictly uniform. Swanson states that it is well known that bread dough must not be squeezed too hard when kneaded just before it is put in the pan, or the cell walls will be thickened. He gives as the reason that during the fermenta- 430 FLOUR AND BREAD