FoodNetArchive

The household cook book

1902

Page 201

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
to be carefully avoided. Do not wrap bread with a cloth while in the box, as it is then more apt to mold. If the box is rusty, put a plate or platter in the bottom of the box for the bread to rest on. If hot bread is put on a wooden table, spread on a cloth before doing so, or the part of the bread which touches the table will sweat and absorb the odor of the wood. Heat the knife when cutting either warm bread or cake, as it then cuts much smoother. The Bread=box and Remnants. — On the day of baking, while the bread is cooling, take all the old pieces from the box, wash, scald, and thoroughly dry it, and let it stand in the sun, if possible, until the bread is ready to go into it. If there are pieces of old bread left, use them in some way, by making them into toast; or, if not enough for that, put them on a tin and dry them in the oven, roll fine, and use them in puddings, griddle^cakes, croquettes, or in escalloped or gratinated dishes. Do not allow a particle of the old bread to go back into the bread^box with the new; put it under a pan to keep from drying until it is time to use it. It is a good plan to dispose of every particle of old bread before beginning on the fresh. Eating Hot Bread — Bread made with yeast is indigestible when fresh from the oven, or on the day it is baked, because is is full of moisture and the starch is held together in masses which are impen- etrable to the saliva, and when chewed by the teeth it forms into leathery, poreless masses, which lie in the stomach like lead; it ripens, however, after being kept a day, and then the particles of the bread separate more easily, so that the digestive fluids can more readily come in contact with every portion of them. Hot yeast bread, rolls, biscuit, or muffins should never be eaten by persons of weak digestion, or by those who suffer from dyspei^sia,. Some people find bread indigestible which is in the least sour; a little lime= water (a teaspoon for each loaf of bread) is sometimes used in mixing the bread; the lime= water being an alkali, neutralizes any acid which is generated during the process of fermenta- tion. Soda is also sometimes used to correct the sourness in bread, but sourness can easily be avoided by proper care, and that is much the better plan. Mixing Different Flours.— A mixture of f wheat or rye flour and I cornmeal makes a bread quite as nutritious as either all wheat or rye bread, and more digestible because the lessened quantity of gluten makes it less adhesive and more readily penetrated by the gastric juices. Using Cornmeal. — In most dishes made with cornmeal the addition 262 BKEAD, BISCUIT, ETC. of about 25% of wheat flour increases the adhesiveness of the mix- ture, and is an improvement.