Household Bread.—There are different ways of making this, though they vary more in appearance than in reality. One of the easiest for home baking is the following: Turn a quartern (3½lb.) of flour into a large basin, and set this in a warm place, or even in a slack oven, till the flour is thoroughly warmed through, as this helps in bread-making considerably. Now mix into this two teaspoonfuls of fine salt, stirring it well together, then with your knuckles make a deep hollow in the flour, being careful, however, to keep a good layer of flour at the bottom of the pan. Next rub together 1oz. of German yeast with a teaspoonful of caster sugar till it “creams” (or liquefies), then mix it with rather more than three-quarters of a pint of tepid water (to secure tepid liquid of any kind you must pour together one part absolutely boiling water to two parts of cold, and you will then have the right temperature, whether you use water, milk, or milk and water); pour this yeast and water into the hollow of the flour, which bakers term a “bay,” and draw down lightly from the sides just enough flour to bring the liquid to a thin batter of about the consistency of single cream. Dust this lightly with a little dry flour, cover the basin with a flannel or a doubled cloth, and set the pan in a warm corner, out of the draught, to rise, or “prove” as it is technically termed. If the yeast is good, in about twelve to fifteen minutes you will find the batter is working well, and is all covered with large bubbles. Now mix in gradually all the flour, working it to a rather soft dough, and using about a pint of tepid water to mix it; it is best, however, to add this water cautiously, for different flours require different quantities of water to bring them to the right texture; the finer the flour the more liquid will it take up. Having mixed your dough to the right stage, you knead it by working it with your fists, throwing the full weight of your body first on one side and then on the other, doubling the edges over towards the centre of the dough, working it in this way till the whole has been thoroughly and evenly kneaded. The time it will require to knead properly depends, of course, on the amount of dough, but for the quantities given above (which I have purposely made small) about twenty minutes will be ample, though it is easy to judge when the dough is sufficiently kneaded, as it will then come clean away from both hands and basin. If you find at the end of the time given above, or even a little later, that it still clings, dust it with a little more flour and knead it again; but in bread making it is always well to have a little patience, for it is one of the things for which no strictly accurate rules can be given, and it is only by experience that one learns to judge offhand of the condition and requirements of the flour, dough, etc. It cannot be too often impressed on the beginner that the goodness of the bread depends far more on the care in the mixing and the kneading than on the fineness of the flour, an experienced baker producing infinitely better and sweeter results with coarse flour and good management than the unskilful or negligent practitioner will secure with the finest materials and accessories. Having kneaded the dough till you can lift it out of the basin, leaving the inside quite clean, dust the basin lightly with a little flour, return the dough to the basin, cut it sharply across and across with a knife, re-cover the pan, and let it rise till it is double its original size and the cross cuts are nearly invisible; this will take, for the quantities given, about an hour. Now turn it out on the board and re-knead it for a few minutes, then mould it. If you mean to bake it in tins have these ready buttered, and put in the dough, shaping it lightly to the tin, which must never be more than half full. If you wish for cottage loaves, make the piece of dough chosen into two balls, a large and a small one; put the little ball on the top of the big one, and with either your floured finger, or the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole right through the two balls, at the same time cutting down the sides of the larger ball all round to secure a crusty loaf. A very convenient shape for kitchen use is what bakers call a Coburg loaf, which is simply an exaggerated edition of the half-penny dinner roll; for this you shape the dough into an oval, cutting it across the top rather deeply. Whatever way, however, you choose to shape your loaves, when so shaped they must be at once returned to a warm place to rise again. When they have become double their original size they must be at once put into the oven to bake, for if allowed to over-rise they will very likely drop in the baking and become sour and sad. Be sure the oven is right when you put in the loaves. The easiest way to test the oven is to throw in a teaspoonful of flour, or a piece of white kitchen paper; if the flour browns in five minutes, or the paper becomes the colour of deal in two or three, the oven is ready; if you happen to have a thermometer, you will find 350° Fahr. about right. The bread should be in the oven about ten minutes before it begins to brown, and this stops its rising, which it always does for a few minutes after entering the oven. If the above quantities are divided into two, the loaf will take one to one and a quarter hours to bake. If only made into one loaf, this will take from one and a half to two hours. Directly the bread is done, and taken from the oven, turn the loaves upside down, or on their sides, to allow the steam to escape, which it can only do through the soft under-side. Be sure the bread is perfectly cold before storing it in the bread-pan.
The great point in bread making, as said before, lies first in the kneading and then in the firing. If the dough is not regularly and steadily kneaded it will be full of holes and hard lumps, in consequence of the fermentation being uneven. If, when rising, the air, much more a draught, gets at the dough, it will “catch cold,” as bakers say, and form a crust on the top, which will arrest the fermentation, as will uneven, careless kneading. Before putting your bread into the oven, make up the fire so that it shall not need replenishing till the baking is done. If the oven is too cold when the bread is put into it the latter will continue to rise, and will run all over the mould. If, on the contrary, the oven is too hot, the crust will form too soon and too quickly, and then either the outside will be badly burnt, or the inside will not be cooked. Please note that in baking, as in every other culinary operation, the very strictest cleanliness is indispensable. Many a batch of bread has been condemned owing, it was considered, to the inferiority of the yeast, or flour, or both, when the fault really lay with the careless, slovenly baker, who neglected the due cleansing of his utensils, and the thoroughness of his kneading. I have been thus particular in describing ordinary bread making because the same remarks apply to every kind of bread. It may be added that if the above recipe is carried out exactly as given, only using milk, or milk and water, instead of plain water, it produces an extremely good imitation of Vienna bread.