Of late years the use of "baking powders" has become very ex-
tensive as a ready substitute for yeast. These are simply soda and
cream-of-tartar, but mixed in the proper proportions for immediate
use. For the most part these powders consist of bicarbonate of soda
and bi-tartrate of potash in the proportions necessary for their mu-
tual decomposition with the liberation of the carbonic acid combin-
ed with the soda. There is usually added about 15 per cent, of
12 BREAD-MAKING.
starch to prevent the powders from caking. When pure and
when properly used these powders are eflfective and convenient.
There is practically little difference in the value of several of the
leading brands in the market, and they are equally free from any-
thing injurious. The use of alum, however, by some of the manu-
facturers, should be forbidden by law.
Besides the peculiar yeast plant, there are other low orders of
vegetable life which closely resemble yeast, but the development of
which is associated with the production of other undesirable pro-
ducts. The importance therefore of having a pure yeast is obvious,
and fortunately the compressed yeast sold now nearly everywhere,
practically leaves nothing better to be desired. This consists of a
mass of nearly pure yeast cells, practically free from any contami-
nation with other forms. With its intelligent use the production of
good and wholesome bread should soon become the universal rule.
After keeping for a short time bread loses its moist, spongy
character and .becomes dry and brittle, being easily powdered in the
fingers. This production of stale bread is found not to be due to
the drying up of the loaf through loss of moisture, but to a union
of the water with the nitrogenous and starchy portions of the bread.
This may easily be proven by reheating in the oven a loaf of this stale
bread, when it will be found to again resume its moist and spongy
condition and'this may again and again be repeated as often as the
bread becomes stale.
In baking, the bread should be placed in an oven heated to
about 500°, the first effort being to expand the gas in the number-
less cavities of the loaf, thus greatly increasing its lightness, and
then the nitrogenous portion of the dough is, as it were, coagulated
and rendered sufficiently firm to maintain its form, while some of
the starch is heated so as to form- a soluble compound dextrine, in
the crust of the bread. The heat within the loaf does not exceed
that of boiling water, and barely suffices to destroy the yeast plant
in case that was used in its production. A good loaf should con-
tain few large cavities; U should be sufficiently baked to regain its
form after pressure without being readily compressed into a dough ;
it should flake off when pulled apart, showing the effect of sufficient
kneading, and should not have been kept so long before baking as
to have been permitted to enter upon the acetic fermentation, thus
producing sour bread.
BRBAD-MAKING. 13
Enough has been said to show that bread-making is something
more than a mechanical process. Chemical changes are depended
on to produce certain effects which are essential to Buccess,-and the
conditions favoring these changes should be as perfect as possible.
It is here that knowledge and skill are requisite for success.
Page 6
Presented as published in 1890. 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
Of late years the use of "baking powders" has become very extensive as a ready substitute for yeast. These are simply soda and cream-of-tartar, but mixed in the proper proportions for immediate use. For the most part these powders consist of bicarbonate of soda and bi-tartrate of potash in the proportions necessary for their mutual decomposition with the liberation of the carbonic acid combined with the soda. There is usually added about 15 per cent, of
starch to prevent the powders from caking. When pure and when properly used these powders are effective and convenient. There is practically little difference in the value of several of the leading brands in the market, and they are equally free from anything injurious. The use of alum, however, by some of the manufacturers, should be forbidden by law.
Besides the peculiar yeast plant, there are other low orders of vegetable life which closely resemble yeast, but the development of which is associated with the production of other undesirable products. The importance therefore of having a pure yeast is obvious, and fortunately the compressed yeast sold now nearly everywhere, practically leaves nothing better to be desired. This consists of a mass of nearly pure yeast cells, practically free from any contamination with other forms. With its intelligent use the production of good and wholesome bread should soon become the universal rule.
After keeping for a short time bread loses its moist, spongy character and .becomes dry and brittle, being easily powdered in the fingers. This production of stale bread is found not to be due to the drying up of the loaf through loss of moisture, but to a union of the water with the nitrogenous and starchy portions of the bread. This may easily be proven by reheating in the oven a loaf of this stale bread, when it will be found to again resume its moist and spongy condition and this may again and again be repeated as often as the bread becomes stale.
In baking, the bread should be placed in an oven heated to about 500°, the first effort being to expand the gas in the numberless cavities of the loaf, thus greatly increasing its lightness, and then the nitrogenous portion of the dough is, as it were, coagulated and rendered sufficiently firm to maintain its form, while some of the starch is heated so as to form a soluble compound dextrine, in the crust of the bread. The heat within the loaf does not exceed that of boiling water, and barely suffices to destroy the yeast plant in case that was used in its production. A good loaf should contain few large cavities; It should be sufficiently baked to regain its form after pressure without being readily compressed into a dough ; it should flake off when pulled apart, showing the effect of sufficient kneading, and should not have been kept so long before baking as to have been permitted to enter upon the acetic fermentation, thus producing sour bread.
Enough has been said to show that bread-making is something more than a mechanical process. Chemical changes are depended on to produce certain effects which are essential to success,-and the conditions favoring these changes should be as perfect as possible. It is here that knowledge and skill are requisite for success.