52. Bread-making

The handbook of household management ... · Tegetmeier, W. B. · 1894
Source
The handbook of household management and cookery
Time
Cook: 20 min Total: 20 min
Status
success · extracted 11 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (11)
sponge
dough
lighter bread
bakers' bread additive
Instructions (14)
  1. To make half a peck of flour into bread on this system, take three-quarters of a pound of well-boiled mealy potatoes and mash them through a cullender or coarse sieve into a large pan, mix with them a pint of flour; take an ounce and a half of German dried yeast, mix it in a separate basin with a pint and a half of lukewarm water,¹ and strain into the flour and potatoes; beating the whole well into a batter.
  2. This should then be covered with a blanket and set to rise by the side of the fire, or in a warm place.
  3. If kept quite warm it will be found to have risen greatly in two hours, constituting the sponge.
  4. This, which is very tenacious or gluey, should then be perfectly beaten or broken down with the hand, and mixed with one pint a half of water nearly blood-warm (92° Fah.) and poured into half a peck of flour, which has previously had one ounce and a quarter of salt mixed with it.
  5. The whole should then be kneaded into dough, and allowed to rise in a warm place.
  6. In warm weather it will rise sufficiently in two hours; but in cold weather it will take a longer time.
  7. After the dough has risen, it should be turned out on a floured table or paste-board, divided into pieces of the size required for loaves, and lightly kneaded up into shape, with sufficient flour to prevent its adhering to the table.²
Lighter Bread Variation
  1. If required to be made into lighter bread, a portion of the dough, when ready for the oven, should be very well kneaded, with sufficient flour to make it rather solid, divided into small loaves or rolls, placed on a slightly greased tin, and set in a very warm place to rise again.
  2. The loaves are then washed over with a little milk and baked immediately for about twenty minutes.
  3. They should be covered over with cloth after removal from the oven, to prevent the outside becoming hard.
Notes on Bread
  1. Bakers' bread sometimes contains a small proportion of alum; this is added to inferior flour, made from wheat harvested in wet seasons, in order to prevent it making sticky and uneatable bread.
  2. Bread contains nearly half its weight of water; good freshly ground flour absorbing or taking up a larger quantity than such as has been long exposed to the air.
  3. Newly baked bread is much less digestible than that which has been baked the previous day.
  4. Stale bread may be rendered soft and palatable by covering it closely with a tin and placing it for half an hour in an oven very moderately heated.
Original Text
52. Bread-making.—In order to make the bread as light and spongy as possible, bakers mix a small quantity of the flour they are about to use with water and the yeast and set it to rise some time before mixing up the mass of dough; this is called by them “setting the sponge.” The advantage of this plan over that usually employed in making “home-made bread” is that a smaller quantity of yeast is required; and as the whole “sponge” acts as a ferment, the bread is much better and softer than if made inthe ordinary manner. To increase the fermenting qualities of the sponge, bakers always add a small quantity of mashed boiled potato, which greatly quickens the rising of the dough. To make half a peck of flour into bread on this system, take three-quarters of a pound of well-boiled mealy potatoes and mash them through a cullender or coarse sieve into a large pan, mix with them a pint of flour; take an ounce and a half of German dried yeast, mix it in a separate basin with a pint and a half of lukewarm water,¹ and strain into the flour and potatoes; beating the whole well into a batter. This should then be covered with a blanket and set to rise by the side of the fire, or in a warm place. If kept quite warm it will be found to have risen greatly in two hours, constituting the sponge. This, which is very tenacious or gluey, should then be perfectly beaten or broken down with the hand, and mixed with one pint a half of water nearly blood-warm (92° Fah.) and poured into half a peck of flour, which has previously had one ounce and a quarter of salt mixed with it. The whole should then be kneaded into dough, and allowed to rise in a warm place. In warm weather it will rise sufficiently in two hours; but in cold weather it will take a longer time. After the dough has risen, it should be turned out on a floured table or paste-board, divided into pieces of the size required for loaves, and lightly kneaded up into shape, with sufficient flour to prevent its adhering to the table.² If required to be made into lighter bread, a portion of the dough, when ready for the oven, should be very well kneaded, with sufficient flour to make it rather solid, divided into small loaves or rolls, placed on a slightly greased tin, and set in a very warm place to rise again. The loaves are then washed over with a little milk and baked immediately for about twenty minutes. They should be covered over with cloth after removal from the oven, to prevent the outside becoming hard. Bakers' bread sometimes contains a small proportion of alum; this is added to inferior flour, made from wheat harvested in wet seasons, in order to prevent it making sticky and uneatable bread. Bread contains nearly half its weight of water; good freshly ground flour absorbing or taking up a larger quantity than such as has been long exposed to the air. Newly baked bread is much less digestible than that which has been baked the previous day. Stale bread may be rendered soft and palatable by covering it closely with a tin and placing it for half an hour in an oven very moderately heated.
Notes
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