Compressed yeast in good condition can usually be purchased in places of any size. In remote districts, how- ever, it cannot always be obtained while it is sufficiently fresh for use. Such communities may use dried yeast cakes which are made from the same yeast as the com- pressed yeast cakes. After the yeast is mixed with starch or meal, it is partly dried, either in the sun or at a low temperature under pressure. Under these conditions some of the yeast cells die, while others pass into a resting YEAST 243 stage. Thus the dried yeast is not so active as com- pressed yeast and it takes longer to start fermentation. Time must be allowed for dried yeast to become actively growing and multiplying. Some housekeepers "make yeast" at home by using commercial yeast to start the growth. This is usually accomplished by adding a little dried yeast, or yeast from a previous growth, to potatoes which have been grated, mixed with water, and boiled and cooled. A small amount of sugar is also added. Brewers sell yeast in a liquid form, but usually to bak- eries rather than for use in private families, for such yeast must be used at once and is more trouble to transport than are yeast cakes. There are many different varieties of yeast, and the one sold for bread-making has really been selected as best for making fermented liquors, rather than because it is known to be the best for bread-making. Wild yeasts are sometimes used in making the so-called salt-rising bread. Here, milk is mixed with a little flour and salt and set aside to ferment. The action is apparently not always due to the same cause. Sometimes wild yeasts are present, and at other times the action is entirely due to bacteria. Bread made in this way is much less uniform than that made with cultivated yeast. It is interesting to know that although fermentation has been recognized and practised from very early times, nothing definite was known about the cause until Pasteur worked out the problem in the middle of the nineteenth century. The account of how he went to work to prove that yeast-cells really produced the changes and that they did not originate spontaneously, as was believed previ- ously, is a fascinating story of scientific research.1 1 " Life of Louis Pasteur," by Radot. 244 FOOD STUDY REFERENCE CONN. " Bacteria, Yeasts and Molds in the Home," section on Yeasts. QUESTIONS 1. Compare the recipe for sugar cookies with the muffin recipe. What is the effect of the increase of fat and the addition of sugar ? Why can cookies be rolled out without danger of toughening them ? 2. Compare the recipe given for sugar cookies with one containing more fat, as, for example, Miss Farmer's recipe for rich cookies. What difference will you expect in the two kinds of cookies ? Cal- culate the difference in cost. 3. Show what different flavors could be added to your recipes to make different varieties of cookies. Tell in each case how and when the new ingredient would be added. 4. What fats could be used in making sugar cookies ? gingersnaps ? LII BREAD-MAKING A. MAKE BREAD. \ tsp. fat (lard) \ tsp. sugar \ tsp. salt | c. boiling liquid (water, or milk and water) ✪ Bread

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Compressed yeast in good condition can usually be purchased in places of any size. In remote districts, however, it cannot always be obtained while it is sufficiently fresh for use. Such communities may use dried yeast cakes which are made from the same yeast as the compressed yeast cakes. After the yeast is mixed with starch or meal, it is partly dried, either in the sun or at a low temperature under pressure. Under these conditions some of the yeast cells die, while others pass into a resting YEAST 243 stage. Thus the dried yeast is not so active as compressed yeast and it takes longer to start fermentation. Time must be allowed for dried yeast to become actively growing and multiplying. Some housekeepers "make yeast" at home by using commercial yeast to start the growth. This is usually accomplished by adding a little dried yeast, or yeast from a previous growth, to potatoes which have been grated, mixed with water, and boiled and cooled. A small amount of sugar is also added. Brewers sell yeast in a liquid form, but usually to bakeries rather than for use in private families, for such yeast must be used at once and is more trouble to transport than are yeast cakes. There are many different varieties of yeast, and the one sold for bread-making has really been selected as best for making fermented liquors, rather than because it is known to be the best for bread-making. Wild yeasts are sometimes used in making the so-called salt-rising bread. Here, milk is mixed with a little flour and salt and set aside to ferment. The action is apparently not always due to the same cause. Sometimes wild yeasts are present, and at other times the action is entirely due to bacteria. Bread made in this way is much less uniform than that made with cultivated yeast. It is interesting to know that although fermentation has been recognized and practised from very early times, nothing definite was known about the cause until Pasteur worked out the problem in the middle of the nineteenth century. The account of how he went to work to prove that yeast-cells really produced the changes and that they did not originate spontaneously, as was believed previously, is a fascinating story of scientific research.1 1 " Life of Louis Pasteur," by Radot. CONN. " Bacteria, Yeasts and Molds in the Home," section on Yeasts. 1. Compare the recipe for sugar cookies with the muffin recipe. What is the effect of the increase of fat and the addition of sugar ? Why can cookies be rolled out without danger of toughening them ? 2. Compare the recipe given for sugar cookies with one containing more fat, as, for example, Miss Farmer's recipe for rich cookies. What difference will you expect in the two kinds of cookies ? Calculate the difference in cost. 3. Show what different flavors could be added to your recipes to make different varieties of cookies. Tell in each case how and when the new ingredient would be added. 4. What fats could be used in making sugar cookies ? gingersnaps ? A. MAKE BREAD. \ tsp. fat (lard) \ tsp. sugar \ tsp. salt | c. boiling liquid (water, or milk and water)

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