Mr. George W. Austin, in his pamphlet on Bread, Baking, and Bakers4,’ says about the ferment2: ‘For each sack of flour (280 lbs.) about 8 lbs. or 10 lbs. of dry, mealy potatoes are taken, well boiled and mashed6 and washed through a strainer to take away the skin; to this is added 12 or 14 quarts of water, at a temperature varying from 80 deg. to 90 deg., and a quart of thick brewers’ yeast, or 1 lb. of compressed yeast—which is equal. Having well dissolved the yeast, and added 2 lbs. of flour, the mass is allowed to stand some three or four hours, until the head falls in through the escape of gas.’ The next process is the preparation of the sponge. The trough and flour being ready, the ferment is taken, and, with the addition of 28 quarts of clear water, at a temperature of 80 deg. to 90 deg., is passed into the trough through a sieve8 or strainer, and the mass, being kept well together, is made up into a nice dry sponge. It is allowed to remain thus and ferment for another five or six hours, when it will have risen and formed a head, which is allowed to break. As soon as this head is broken it commences to rise again, and as124 soon as it has broken the second time the remainder of the flour is added, and the dough made as follows:
Two and a half pounds of salt dissolved in 28 quarts of clear water, at a temperature of 80 deg., and mixed well into what is termed ‘the sponge,’ with the remainder of the flour, the whole being broken up and well and thoroughly9 mixed and kneaded until the dough is uniform in material and consistency10. It is then left to rise for another hour or more, when the dough is weighed out in pieces of the requisite11 size and speedily manipulated into the required shape. As the loaves are moulded they are placed on trays, covered with a light cloth (to prevent the dry and colder air forming a dry crust on the surface), and left to dry sufficiently12 before being placed in the oven. Before this is done the loaves are slightly brushed over with a small quantity of milk and water to improve the appearance of the outside of the loaf when it comes from the oven.
The oven is, for the purpose of baking bread, brought up to a heat of 400 deg. Fahr., and the bread, although seemingly baked by dry heat, is in reality boiled in the steam of the water which the bread contains.14
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Salt is added to make the bread more palatable13; but it has also another effect. With inferior flour dextrin is formed inside the loaf to some extent as well as on the outside, consequently bread made from inferior flour rises badly and is darker in colour. This inferior flour is made sometimes from wheat that has been damp, the dampness causing the soluble14 albumenoids which the grain contains to act on the insoluble gluten, decomposing15 it into soluble bodies, and producing dextrin by their action on the starch16 in the grain. The further decomposition17 of these albumenoids is checked by the action of the salt during the fermentation of the bread.
And now it will be well to say something about the leaven18 of bread. We have already seen the modern method of making a ferment with flour, potatoes, and brewer’s yeast; but there are other substances which do not cause fermentation, and yet lighten the bread, such as the different baking powders, and the American sal eratus, a mixture of bi-carbonate of soda19 and salt. Carbonate of ammonia, which entirely20 evaporates in baking, is used in confectionery to raise the paste by the bubbles it forms in its volatilisation. The unfermented breads, such as those made by the late Dr. Dauglish’s patent (of which more anon), are rendered light upon the same principle, the usual method being to mix soda with the flour, and hydrochloric acid with the water, in the proportions in which they unite to form chloride of sodium21, or common salt. The effervescence, like that produced in mixing seidlitz powders, converts the paste into a porous22 sponge, which, however,126 requires to be very quickly placed in the oven. The salt formed by the mixture replaces that ordinarily added to the dough in making bread; but this method is seldom used by practical bakers. Whatever, therefore, be the method by which bread is made light, the object to be attained23 is to pervade24 the dough with numerous cavities, which keep the particles of flour asunder25, instead of forming a compact and unyielding mass.
The science which gave an insight into the cause of the ‘rising’ of bread, and suggested substitutes for the ordinary fermenting26 materials, is but of recent date. These ferments27 operate by generating an infinity28 of gas bubbles, which honeycomb the dough. The earliest process was to employ leaven, which is still largely used in the manufacture of the black rye bread of the Continent, and consists of dough which has become more or less sour by over-fermentation. This is kept from one baking to another, to inoculate29 a fresh bulk of paste with its fermenting influence. No sooner does it come into contact with the fresh dough than it communicates its own properties, as by contagion30. Probably the discovery of leavening31 has, in many countries, been owing to accident, through neglected paste having been attacked by the fungus32 which is the cause of fermentation.
Many of my readers probably do not know that yeast is a plant. It belongs to the class of fungi33, and, in accordance with the general habit of its kind, it differs from the green forms of vegetable life by feeding upon organic substances. The yeast plant represents one condition of a species of fungus re127markable for the diversity of forms it exhibits, its wide, nay34, universal distribution, and the magnitude of the effects, sometimes beneficial, sometimes mischievous35, which it is capable of producing. The forms in which it is familiar to most persons, although its nature may be unsuspected, are yeast, the gelatinous vinegar plant, the ‘mother’ of vinegar, and many decomposing vegetable infusions36, and the common blue or green mould (penicillium glaucum) which occurs everywhere on sour paste, decaying fruits, and, in general, on all dead organic matters exposed to combined moisture and moderate heat.
Yeast and the vinegar plant are the forms in which it vegetates37 under various circumstances when well supplied with food. Mildew38 is its fruit, formed on the surfaces exposed to air at certain epochs, like the flowers and seeds of the higher plants, to enable it to diffuse39 itself, which it does most effectually, for the microscopic40 germs, invisible singly to the naked eye, are produced in myriads41, and are so diminutive42 that ordinary motes43 floating in the atmosphere are large in comparison.
Yeast, when examined under the microscope, is found to consist of globular vesicles about 1/2300th part of an inch in diameter when fully44 grown. They are multiplied by little vesicles budding out from the sides of the parent. These soon acquire an equal size, and repeat the reproduction, either while attracted to the parent globule or after separating from it. The multiplication45 goes on to an indefinite extent with a fitting supply of food and at a moderately warm temperature (70 deg.-90 deg. Fahr.). The vesicles128 are nourished by sucking in a portion of the organic liquid in which they exist, decomposing this chemically, and either actually giving off, or causing the separation of their outer surface, of carbonic acid in the form of gas. To give a familiar illustration of the action of the carbonic acid which is evolved from yeast on the dough, I may say that it is analogous46 to the froth formed on a tumbler of bottled ale or ginger-beer. The cavities or bubbles in the dough are produced in an exactly similar manner; but two circumstances occur in bread to render them permanent—first, the fact that they are slowly formed; secondly47, that they are generated in a substance which, while it is soft enough to allow the bubbles to expand, is tough enough to retain them.
There are several kinds of yeast besides barm, or brewer’s yeast, which, in spite of its bitter taste, is generally used by bakers because it is the least expensive. Next in consumption is what is termed press yeast, in German press hefe or pfund hefe, commonly known in commerce as German yeast, so called because it originally was a monopoly of that country, but it is now largely manufactured in Scotland. Of these yeasts48 Mr. Austin says:
‘Press yeast is obtained partly by the brewing49 of beer or distillation50 of spirits as a by-product51, partly it is made artificially. In the former case, the beer upper yeast is mixed with ten times its quantity of water, to which one per cent. of carbonate of ammonia is added, macerated and well washed for an hour, and then mixed with a compound of two parts129 of finely-powdered malt and ten parts starch, so that we have a firm mass, which is made into cakes half-an-inch thick. This yeast must be made fresh every two or three days, and must be kept in a cool place. A better press yeast is made from the yeast of the distilleries. The pasty residue52 of the mash7 tub is passed through a hair sieve to get rid of the grain husks. The filtrate is allowed to settle, and the sediment53 is put into linen54 cloths and washed with water, and the water squeezed out again under gentle pressure. The yeast is thus obtained in the form of cakes.’
Very many people prefer to make their own bread instead of buying it from the baker5; not that there is a great saving, but there is a certain satisfaction in knowing by whom it is made, and as, doubtless, many of my readers have never attempted to make and bake their own bread, I venture to give Miss Acton’s ‘very plain directions to a quite inexperienced learner for making bread.’15
‘If you have never yet attempted to make bread, and wish to try to do it well, and have nobody to show you the proper manner of setting about it, you may yet succeed perfectly55 by attending with great exactness to the directions which are given here; but, as a large baking is less easily managed than a small one quite at first, and as the loss would be greater if the bread were spoiled, I would advise you to begin with merely a loaf or two.
‘Take, then, let us say, half a gallon of flour, or a 130quartern, as it is called in some places. This will weigh three pounds and a half, and will make two loaves of nearly two pounds and a quarter each. There are two ways of making the dough, either of which, in experienced hands, will generally be attended with success. The most common mode of proceeding56 is to mix the yeast carefully with part of the liquid required for the whole of the bread, and to stir it into the centre of the flour; then to add by degrees what more of the liquid may be necessary, and to convert the whole with thorough, steady kneading into a firm but flexible paste, which, after standing57 in a suitable place until it has swollen58 to nearly double its original size, is again thoroughly kneaded, and once more left to “rise” or become porous before it is moulded into loaves and despatched to the oven.
‘To Make Dough by Setting a Sponge.—This method of making dough is usually followed when there is any doubt either of the goodness or of the sufficient quantity of the yeast which is used for it, because if it should not become light after standing a certain time, more yeast, mixed with a little warm liquid, can easily be added to it, and the chance of having heavy bread be thus avoided.
‘If you are sure of the goodness of the yeast you use it will not much matter which of them you follow. The quickest and easiest mode is to wet it up at once; the safest to guard against failure is to set a sponge thus: Put the flour into a large earthenware60 bowl or deep pan, then with a strong metal or wooden spoon hollow out the middle, but do not clear it entirely131 away from the bottom of the pan, as in that case the sponge (or leaven as it was formerly61 termed) would stick to it, which it ought not to do. Next take either a large tablespoonful of brewer’s yeast, which has been rendered solid by mixing it with cold water and letting it afterwards stand to settle for a day and a night, or nearly an ounce of fresh German yeast. Put it into a large basin and then proceed to mix it, so that it shall be as smooth as cream, with three-quarters of a pint62 or even a whole pint of just warm milk and water or water only, though even a very little milk will much improve the bread. To have it quite free from lumps you must pour in the liquid by spoonfuls just at the beginning, and stir and work it round well to mix it perfectly with the yeast before you add the remainder, otherwise it would probably cause the bread to be full of large holes, which ought never to be seen in it. Pour the yeast into the hole in the middle of the flour, and stir into it as much of that which lies around it as will make a thick batter63, in which, remember, there must be no lumps. If there should seem to be any you must beat them out with the spoon. Strew64 plenty of flour on the top, throw a thick clean cloth over, and set it where the air is warm; but if there is a large fire do not place it upon the kitchen fender in front of it, as servants often do, for it will become too much heated there; but let it always be raised from the floor, and protected from constant draughts65 of air passing over it. Look at it from time to time when it has been laid for nearly an hour, and when you perceive that the yeast has risen and broken through the flour, and that bubbles132 appear in it, you will know that it is ready to be made up into dough. Then place the pan on a strong chair or dresser, or table of convenient height; pour into the sponge a little warm milk and water (about a pint and a quarter will be required altogether for the quartern of bread), so that if three-quarters of a pint was mixed with the yeast at first there will be half a pint to add. Sometimes a little more will be needed; but be always careful not to make the dough too moist; stir into it as much flour as you can with the spoon, then wipe it out clean with your fingers and lay it aside.
‘Next take plenty of the remaining flour, throw it on the top of the leaven, and begin with the knuckles66 of both hands to knead it well. Quick movement in this will do no good. It is strong, steady kneading which is required. Keep throwing up the flour which lies under and round the dough on to the top of it, that it may not stick to your fingers. You should always try to prevent its doing this, for you will soon discover that attention to these small particulars will make a great difference in the quality of your bread and in the time required to make it. When the flour is nearly all kneaded in begin to draw the edges of the dough towards the middle, in order to mix the whole thoroughly, and continue to knead it in every part spreading it out, and then turning it constantly from the side of the pan to the middle, and pressing the knuckles of your closed hands well into and over it. When the whole of the flour is worked in, and the outside of the dough is free from it and from all lumps and crumbs67, and does not stick to the hands133 when touched, it will be done, and may be again covered with the cloth and left to rise a second time.
‘In three-quarters of an hour look at it, and should it have swollen very much, and begin to crack, it will be light enough to bake. Turn it then on to a paste-board, or very clean dresser, and, with a large sharp knife, divide it into two, when, if it has been carefully and properly made, you will find it full throughout of small holes like a fine sponge. When it is thus far ready make it up quickly into loaves, and despatch59 it to the oven. If it is to be baked in a flat tin or on the oven floor, dust a little flour on the board, and make them up lightly in the form of dumplings, drawing together the parts which are cut, and turning them downwards68. Give them a good shape by working them round quickly between your hands without raising them from the board, and pressing them slightly as you do so; then take a knife in the right hand, and, turning each loaf quickly with the left, just draw the edge of it round the middle of the dough, but do not cut deeply into it; make also two or three slight incisions69 across the tops of the loaves, as they will rise more easily when this is done.
‘Should it be put into earthen pans, the dough must be cut with the point of the knife just below the edge of the dishes after it is laid into them. To prevent it sticking to them, and being turned out with difficulty after it is baked, the pans should be rubbed in every part with a morsel70 of butter laid on a bit of clean paper. When they are only floured, the loaves cannot sometimes be loosened from these without being broken. All bread should be turned134 upside down or on its side as soon as it is drawn71 from the oven; if this be neglected, the under part of the loaves will become wet and blistered72 from the steam, which cannot then escape from them. They should remain until they are perfectly cold before they are put away and covered down.
‘The only difference between this and the other way of making dough, mentioned at the beginning of these directions, is the mixing all the flour at first with the yeast and liquid into a firm smooth paste, which must be thoroughly kneaded down when it has become quite light, and then left to rise a second time before it is prepared for baking. A pint of warm milk and water, or of water only, may be stirred gradually to the yeast, which should then be poured into the middle of the flour, and worked with it into a stiff batter with a spoon, which should then be withdrawn73, and the kneading with the hands commenced. Until a little experience has been gained, the mass of dough which will be formed with the pint of liquid, may be lifted from the pan into a dish, while sufficient warm water is added to wet up the remainder of the flour. This should afterwards be perfectly mingled74 with that which contains the yeast. A better plan is to use at once from a pint and a quarter to a pint and a half of liquid; but learners are very apt to pour in heedlessly more than is required, or to be inexact in the measure, and then more flour has to be used to make the bread of a proper consistence than is allowed for by the proportion of yeast named in the receipt. It is a great fault in bread-making to have the dough so moist that it sticks to the135 fingers when touched, and cannot be formed into loaves which will retain their shape without much flour being kneaded into them when they are made up for the oven.
‘When it is to be home baked as well as home made, you must endeavour to calculate correctly the time at which it will be ready, and have the oven in a fit state for it when it is so. Should it have to be carried to the baker’s, let a thick cloth or two be thrown over it before it is sent.’
In these very plain directions I do not find that Miss Acton specifies75 the quantity of salt to be used. Some, however, is absolutely necessary, to make good bread—say half an ounce to a quartern of flour.
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1
yeast
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| n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫 | |
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ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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bakers
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| n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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mash
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| n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情 | |
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sieve
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| n.筛，滤器，漏勺 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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10
consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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13
palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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soluble
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| adj.可溶的；可以解决的 | |
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15
decomposing
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| 腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等） | |
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16
starch
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| n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆 | |
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decomposition
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| n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
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leaven
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| v.使发酵；n.酵母；影响 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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sodium
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| n.（化）钠 | |
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porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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fermenting
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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ferments
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| n.酵素( ferment的名词复数 )；激动；骚动；动荡v.（使）发酵( ferment的第三人称单数 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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inoculate
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| v.给...接种，给...注射疫苗 | |
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contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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leavening
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| n.酵母，发酵，发酵物v.使（面团）发酵( leaven的现在分词 )；在…中掺入改变的因素 | |
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fungus
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| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
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fungi
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| n.真菌，霉菌 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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infusions
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| n.沏或泡成的浸液（如茶等）( infusion的名词复数 )；注入，注入物 | |
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vegetates
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| v.过单调呆板的生活( vegetate的第三人称单数 )；植物似地生长；（瘤、疣等）长大 | |
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mildew
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| n.发霉；v.（使）发霉 | |
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diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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43
motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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45
multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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48
yeasts
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| 酵母( yeast的名词复数 )； 酵母菌； 发面饼； 发酵粉 | |
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49
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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50
distillation
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| n.蒸馏，蒸馏法 | |
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51
by-product
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| n.副产品，附带产生的结果 | |
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52
residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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53
sediment
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| n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物) | |
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54
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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55
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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56
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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57
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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58
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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59
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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earthenware
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| n.土器，陶器 | |
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61
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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63
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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strew
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| vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于 | |
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draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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66
knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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67
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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incisions
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| n.切开，切口( incision的名词复数 ) | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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71
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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73
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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specifies
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| v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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