“The baking of flour which has been made from
germinated grain ought to be proceeded in with
much greater rapidity than that of flour from
uninjured grain; because, the gluten of such flour
having been more or less destroyed, the process of
its fermentation goes on much more quickly. The
water employed ought to be cooler; the paste
should be kneaded more firmly (made stiffer,
in fact), and divided into loaves of less thickness.
The batch should be put into the oven a quarter
of an hour sooner after it is completed. The oven
should be hotter; the bread should be left in it
forty-five minutes, instead of an hour, as in ordi-
nary cases; and it ought not to be given out for
consumption until two or three days after it is
baked.
“By attending to these directions, bread will
be obtained from germinated corn, which, without
being as good as that made from the best flour,
will yet be sufficiently salubrious, and of suffi-
ciently good appearance. It is necessary to
observe, however, that it is only from the flour of
such corn as has been very slightly germinated,
that bread of the above description can be obtained,
unless the corn has been dried before being ground.
But when corn, even greatly germinated, has
undergone such previous desiccation, it will yield
a flour capable of making much better bread than
flour from corn which, though less germinated,
has not had the benefit of drying.
“It deserves to be noticed, that it is vain to em-
ploy a greater quantity of yeast, in the hope of
improving the fabrication of the bread. The paste,
deprived of gluten, is unable to retain the effects
of the fermentation excited by the yeast. The
bread has a good enough external appearance; but,
in proportion as there has been an excess in the
quantity of yeast, its consistency is so much the
less, and all the bad qualities of the flour, in
respect of flavour and taste, are more fully de-
veloped.”
Professor Donovan further states, that it has
been proved by a series of experiments that the
addition of from twenty to forty grains of the car-
bonate of magnesia of the shops (calcined magnesia
has a quite different effect) to a pound of the flour
of germinated wheat, “materially improves it for
the purpose of making bread.” The dough, he
says, “rises well in the oven; and after being
baked, the bread is light and spongy, has a good
taste, and keeps well.” It is commonly believed
that bakers mingle often magnesia with inferior
flour, to improve its appearance; and it perhaps
may be so; but—though equally a fraud—it is
less objectionable than alum; and in seasons when
the entire corn-crops of a country have been
seriously injured by an excess of humidity, any
wholesome means of converting the flour of da-
maged grain into eatable bread becomes of infinite
value. It must, however, always be remembered
that it is only when the corn is dried before it is
“garnered,” that any good result will be obtained.
Nothing will effectually remove the taste of must
or mould from flour; therefore every precaution
should at once be taken to secure the grain itself
from the destructive attack of either. A portion
of sound flour, mixed with that of sprouted or
malted wheat, will render it more easily convertible
into bread of fair quality and nutritious character
than magnesia or any thing else can do; for a
certain amount of gluten will then be supplied to
the dough, and will assist the fermentation, while
it gives the bread increased value as food.