Bread from Corn Meal. In using corn
meal in the preparation of any of the breads,
four facts should be borne in mind: (1) It
contains no gluten. (2) It is heavier and re¬
quires a larger proportion of liquid per unit
of measure than wheat flour. Also corn
starch takes up more water than wheat
starch when gelatinized. (3) The amount of
water necessary can best be combined by
cooking the meal to a thick mush before
making it into a batter. This improves the
flavor of the bread and prevents the meal
from settling out, as it would in a batter con¬
taining sufficient liquid and raw meal which
contains no gluten. (4) Corn meal cannot
be used in doughs successfully, except in
combination with wheat flour. Used in this
way, it changes the texture of the flour mix¬
ture but loses its own identity in the process.
Typical corn bread is made with a com¬
bination of meal, salt, and water. In early
days this mixture was baked in ashes, and so
was designated as ash cake. The present-
day modifications are baked on a hot griddle
as a hoe cake, and in the familiar oblong
shapes, for Southern corn pone. In these, the
leavening agent is steam, and the bread is
light when eaten hot. When cold it becomes
soggy and heavy, unless a special texture
results from the coarseness of the corn meal.
This simple form of bread is modified and
made more porous by the addition of chemi¬
cal leavening agents: baking powder and
soda and sour milk. To prevent these breads
from falling when they become cold, egg is
sometimes added to give some rigidity to the
cell structure. Egg corn bread is really a
muffin mixture in which corn meal is sub¬
stituted for wheat flour.
Yeast bread is rarely made from corn
meal. Meal may be substituted for a
portion of the wheat flour, but in such
bread the corn is not an identifying feature.
In breads of this sort it is best to cook the
corn meal before adding it to the dough.
It is difficult to give exact proportions
of corn meal to be used with a given amount
of liquid, since the corn meals differ widely,
with the method of milling. Unbolted meal
requires slightly less liquid than the new-
process meal, since it contains less starch.
OATS
Oats have been used very little as a
bread cereal, except in Scotland. There the
oatcake is a favorite article of diet. Oat
flour can be used in the preparation of
bread in the same way as corn meal; and
it can be substituted for some of the wheat
flour in other breads with very satisfactory
results as to flavor. Rolled oats may be
used in muffins.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Bailey, C. H. The Chemistry of Wheat Flour. The
Chemical Catalogue Company, Reinhold Pub¬
lishing Corporation, New York, 1925.
Enrichment of Flour and Bread , Bulletin of the Na¬
tional Research Council, No. 110, Washington,
D.C., November, 1944.
Lowe, Belle. Experimental Cookery, 3d ed., Chap.
XII. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1943.
Synder, Clara Gebhard. Through Silken Sieve.
Wheat Flour Institute, Chicago.
[288]
XXI • Leavening Agents
A leavening agent is any substance in
flour mixtures which makes the cooked
products porous or light. Most breads,
cakes, cookies, and pastry are leavened.
A few breads, usually cracker-like, such as
ship’s biscuit or hardtack, are unleavened.
The advantage of these compact products
is that they do not dry out.
Page 262
Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Bread from Corn Meal. In using corn meal in the preparation of any of the breads, four facts should be borne in mind: (1) It contains no gluten. (2) It is heavier and re- quires a larger proportion of liquid per unit of measure than wheat flour. Also corn starch takes up more water than wheat starch when gelatinized. (3) The amount of water necessary can best be combined by cooking the meal to a thick mush before making it into a batter. This improves the flavor of the bread and prevents the meal from settling out, as it would in a batter con- taining sufficient liquid and raw meal which contains no gluten. (4) Corn meal cannot be used in doughs successfully, except in combination with wheat flour. Used in this way, it changes the texture of the flour mix¬ ture but loses its own identity in the process.
Typical corn bread is made with a com¬ bination of meal, salt, and water. In early days this mixture was baked in ashes, and so was designated as ash cake. The presentday modifications are baked on a hot griddle as a hoe cake, and in the familiar oblong shapes, for Southern corn pone. In these, the leavening agent is steam, and the bread is light when eaten hot. When cold it becomes soggy and heavy, unless a special texture results from the coarseness of the corn meal.
This simple form of bread is modified and made more porous by the addition of chchemical leavening agents: baking powder or
soda and sour milk. To prevent these breads from falling when they become cold, egg is sometimes added to give some rigidity to the cell structure. Egg corn bread is really a muffin mixture in which corn meal is sub¬ stituted for wheat flour.
Yeast bread is rarely made from corn meal. Meal may be substituted for a portion of the wheat flour, but in such bread the corn is not an identifying feature. In breads of this sort it is best to cook the corn meal before adding it to the dough.
It is difficult to give exact proportions of corn meal to be used with a given amount of liquid, since the corn meals differ widely, with the method of milling. Unbolted meal requires slightly less liquid than the newprocess meal, since it contains less starch.
OATS
Oats have been used very little as a bread cereal, except in Scotland. There the oatcake is a favorite article of diet. Oat flour can be used in the preparation of bread in the same way as corn meal; and it can be substituted for some of the wheat flour in other breads with very satisfactory results as to flavor. Rolled oats may be used in muffins.
Bailey, C. H. The Chemistry of Wheat Flour. The Chemical Catalogue Company, Reinhold Pub¬ lishing Corporation, New York, 1925.
Enrichment of Flour and Bread , Bulletin of the Na¬ tional Research Council, No. 110, Washington, D.C., November, 1944.
Lowe, Belle. Experimental Cookery, 3d ed., Chap.
XII. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1943. Synder, Clara Gebhard. Through Silken Sieve. Wheat Flour Institute, Chicago.
[288]
XXI • Leavening Agents
A leavening agent is any substance in flour mixtures which makes the cooked products porous or light. Most breads, cakes, cookies, and pastry are leavened. A few breads, usually cracker-like, such as ship’s biscuit or hardtack, are unleavened. The advantage of these compact products is that they do not dry out.