The household cook book

Salt and sugar are added to aid the fermentation. The office of hops or ginger when used is to keep the yeast from souring, which they do by stopping the fermentation before all the sugar is decomposed into alcohol, and if too much is not used they give it a pleasant flavor. Tin or iron vessels may turn the yeast dark, but this can be prevented by mixing with a wooden spoon in an earthen vessel, and boiling the potatoes and hops in a non-metallic kettle, either granite or porcelain lined. Of the 3 kinds of yeast in common use — liquid, dry and compressed— each has its advantages, and any kind is good which makes good bread. BAKING POWDER. 8 ounces cream of tartar. 4 ounces of cornstarch. 4 ounces baking soda. Powder the ingredients and sift them together several times, as the chief danger of failure lies in not having them well mixed. This baking powder will do all that can be done by any baking powder on the market. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has fully tested and recommends this powder, their chemist saying in his report: " The consumer can pay full retail price for the ingredients and still make it up for about ^ the price at which a good baking powder is sold, and if she makes sure of the quality of her cream of tartar, she will have an article of which the purity is assured I can see no reason why all housekeepers should not make their own baking powder." Baking powder should always be mixed with the flour before adding the other ingredients. The action of baking powder consists in the fact that when wet with water the alkali (soda) and the acid (cream of tartar) of which it is composed, will effervesce, and in so doing will give off carbonic acid gas; this operates in the same way as the gas generated by yeast — that is, it permeates the mass of dough and causes it to "rise" or swell up. The action of the baking powder will soon be over, however, and if the bread or pastry is not baked at once, the gas which it generates will escape, the dough will settle down in a solid mass, and the whole value of the powder will be lost. To succeed when using baking powder or soda 2 things are essential: (1) The baking powder (or soda and cream of tartar) must be thoroughly and perfectly mixed with the flour. (2) After the raising agencies have been wet so that they begin to work, push the operation rapidly to completion; and when all is ready bake without delay. After the soda and acid are mixed to form the baking powder they do not act on each other as long as they are kept dry; the only reason for adding starch or flour is to absorb moisture and keep them dry. As soon as they are wet the action begins. Baking powder can be made by using only 3^ as much starch as we give in the above formula, or with even less; the powder will then be a little stronger, but it will not keep as well, so that for ordinary use we prefer the proportions there given. If you cannot get pure cream of tartar use tartaric acid instead, as that is less often adulterated. It answers the same purpose, but use only ],^ as much. People as a rule will not tire of yeast bread as quickly as they will of soda bread, and inferior materials can be used with yeast better than with baking powder.