Bread

Ingredients

• 1 pint liquid (milk, or milk and water)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1^- teaspoon of salt
• 1 yeast cake, moistened with 1/2 cup of water
• Flour to make a dough stiff enough to knead (about 6 cups)

Method

1. 1

   Mix the liquid with the butter, sugar, and salt.

2. 2

   Add the moistened yeast cake and mix well.

3. 3

   Gradually add flour until a stiff dough forms.

4. 4

   Knead the dough until smooth, allow it to rise until doubled in size, shape into loaves, let rise again, and bake.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Handbook of domestic science and household arts for use in elementary schools (1900) by Wilson, Lucy Langdon (Williams) Mrs, page 117. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

bread may not sour, and to make certain that sufficient heat penetrates to the middle of the loaf, a temperature of from 400° to 450° F. is necessary. The process of breadmaking, as we practise it, consists in mixing flour with a liquid, either water or milk, adding yeast, salt, and often sugar and some kind of fat ; allowing the mixture to rise ; shaping it into loaves and letting it rise again ; and baking it. The essential ingredients are the flour, liquid, and yeast. Sugar may be added to hasten the process, since fermentation takes place more quickly when it is present, and shortening (or fat) makes the loaf more tender. Milk gives a more tender bread than water, but one which will not keep so long, and for some people is less digestible, because of the possibility of the formation of lactic acid from the milk. If milk is used, it must be scalded to destroy the bacteria present. A good result is given by the use of half water and half milk. Bread is usually kneaded to insure thorough mixing of the in- gredients and even distribution of the gas bubbles in the dough. Kneading may also render the gluten more elastic. Excellent bread may be made without kneading, however, if care is taken to mix thoroughly the materials. Many bread- BREAD 245 makers like to knead slightly because the "feel" of the dough tells more surely than anything else when the right consistency has been obtained. The kneading, if preferred, may be done between the first and second rising. If done then it is more effective in evenly distributing the gas, but care must be taken not to make the bread dry by kneading in too much flour. Bread may be set at night, allowed to rise all night, and baked in the morning, or it may be made by the quick process now coming into quite general use; that is, it may be set in the morning, a larger quantity of yeast used, and the whole process carried through in from four to six hours. In the slow process one-fourth of a yeast cake is allowed to a pint of liquid ; in the quick process one whole cake or even two may be used. The texture of the bread made by the two methods will differ somewhat ; that made by the slow process will contain more dextrin and sugar, and will perhaps be slightly more digestible. The quick method, however, has the great advantage that the whole process can be watched, and the temperature more carefully regulated, so that the bread is less often sour. By using a large amount of yeast, and whole wheat flour, one may carry through the whole process of breadmaking in a school lesson of two hours, if it is necessary. The general rule for both the first and second rising of the bread is that the dough shall be allowed to double its bulk. When risen just enough, it should be soft and velvety, but not sticky, to the touch, and very elastic. It should always be covered during the rising, to keep out the air and prevent the formation of a hard crust. A simple method of testing the temperature of the oven is as follows : place a teaspoonful of flour on a plate in the oven ; if it browns in five minutes the oven is hot enough for a loaf of bread ; if in one minute it is right for rolls. No test, however, can be a substitute for experience. After a short time the heat 246 HANDBOOK 0¥ DOMESTIC SCIENCE may be lessened that the crust may not burn before the loaf is thoroughly cooked. The time for baking must be suf- ficient to allow the heat to penetrate to the interior of the loaf ; and to insure thorough cooking the loaves should be small. Slack-baked loaves not only are indigestible because of the uncooked condition of the starch, but often contain living bacteria or moulds. The interior of the loaf never becomes hotter than 212° F., because of the moisture present, and the temperature of the middle of a slack-baked loaf may remain far below that. As soon as the loaves are taken from the oven they should be removed from the pans, and left until perfectly cool in such a position that the air can circulate freely around them. Experiments. — I. The composition of flour. Mix half a cup of flour with water to form a stiff dough. Put it into a piece of cheese cloth and knead it thoroughly under water till nothing more can be washed out. Test with iodine the white powder of the washings. The blue color will prove it to be starch. Examine the tough, elastic substance which remains in the cloth. This is gluten, the chief proteid in the flour. Both the starch and gluten may be dried and kept for further examination. II. To show the difference between wheat flour and that from other grains, as a material for breadmaking, mix flour and water ; corn meal and water ; rye flour and water ; and compare the doughs formed. III. The effect of temperature on the growth of yeast. To a cup of boiling water add 2 tablespoons of molasses, and 1 of a yeast cake, crumbled into bits, and turn the mix- ture into a tumbler. Add an equal amount of molasses and yeast to a tumbler of ice water, and also to a tumbler of water at a temperature of about 80° P. Set the glasses aside in a warm place (about 80°) for an hour or two. Notice the BEEAD 247 time when bubbles, indicating the formation of gas, begin to appear in each liquid. Compare the amount of gas formed under the different conditions of temperature. IV. (For older pupils.) Fill a test-tube with a molasses and water mixture at a temperature of about 80°, and add a little yeast. Invert the test-tube in a shallow dish contain- ing also some molasses and water. Support the test-tube in some way and let the whole stand for twenty-four hours. The test-tube will then be found to be nearly emptied of liquid, and filled with a colorless gas which has forced the liquid out. The gas may be proved to be carbon dioxide by its power to extinguish a lighted match, and to turn lime water milky, the usual tests for this gas. Recipes (All measurements are level) Bread 1 pint liquid (milk, or milk and water), 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1^- teaspoon of salt, 1 yeast cake, moistened with \ cup of water. Flour to make a dough stiff enough to knead (about 6 cups)

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.