FoodNet

Foods and home making

1928

Page 223

Presented as published in 1928. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Cut the dough in two pieces. Shape each piece into a loaf. Put each loaf into a greased oblong bread pan. Rub the top of each loaf with lukewarm water or grease with butter. Cover the pans with a clean cloth. Set aside in a warm place until the loaves have risen and the dough is at least 2\ times as large as when placed in the pan. Place the bread to bake in a hot oven and bake 75 minutes. Then if possible reduce the temperature of the oven and bake from 35 to 43 minutes longer. If the oven heat is regulated, bake the bread at 42 5° F. for 15 minutes , then at 375°F. for 35 to 45 minutes. To decide whether or not the bread is done carefully note : 1. Color of crust — all that can be seen above the top of the pan should be golden brown. 2. Shrinkage of crust — the crust should be drawn away from the sides of the pan. 430 Dinner 3. Sound when tapped with the knuckle — there should be a hollow sound. To soften the crust — Rub it with a bit of butter a few minutes before taking the bread from the oven and again after removing from the oven. T 0 cool and store the bread — After removing from the oven, take it out of the pan. Place the loaves on a bread cooler or arrange them so that the air may reach them on all sides. When entirely cold, store in a covered crock. Variations: Whole-Wheat Bread. — Follow the recipe for white bread given on page 429, making the following changes : Substitute whole-wheat flour for white flour, but use less whole-wheat — about 5 or 6 cups. Do not make whole-wheat flour dough as stiff as white-flour dough. Use the larger quantity of yeast. Raisin Bread. — Prepare whole-wheat dough, making the following changes : Increase the sugar to £ cup. Add 2 cups of seeded raisins. How can we judge the quality of bread ? We like to see a loaf of bread which looks good on the outside and has a good shape, and whose crust has a pleasing golden brown color. When the loaf is cut, its crumb should be of good quality — light, fine-grained, elastic, tender, moist, and of creamy color. One of the most important things about bread is its flavor. It should not only look good, but taste good. Since there are so many points to consider about bread, we can judge the quality of bread better if we follow a score card, such as the following : SCORE CARD FOR YEAST BREAD Perfect Score Shape and Size 10 Crust — color, depth, texture 15 Crumb : Light 15 Grain (fine) 5 Elastic S Tender 5 Moist 5 Color (light cream) 5 Flavor 35 Total 100 Yeast Breads 43i What is a yeast sponge ? If to a mixture of yeast, moisture, sugar, and salt only enough flour is added to make a batter, the mixture is called a sponge. A yeast sponge differs from yeast dough only in the quantity of flour. Bread is sometimes made first as a sponge, which is allowed to stand until the yeast plants begin to grow and the mixture becomes porous. Then more flour is added to the sponge, so that a dough is formed. The process is continued in just the same way as when the ingredients are mixed into a stiff dough at the beginning.