Chapter V: Part II: Bread Making (2)

There are two distinct ways of making doughs. One way is to set a sponge first, then make the dough, and the other way is to make the dough at once. The first is called a “Sponge Dough” and the second is called a “Straight Dough.” Straight dough is so called, because all ingredients such as yeast, salt, sugar, lard, water and flour are all mixed and formed into a dough. There are various reasons for making straight doughs, a few of which we will proceed to give. In the first place, it is more convenient to make a straight dough, because it does not require as much time to make as does mixing the sponge dough, because the mixing is all done at one time. Then, again, a straight dough can be taken in a shorter time than a sponge dough. By this I mean that in case of necessity the dough can be taken, in from 1½ to 2 hours after it has been made. I do not advocate taking the dough in such a short time, but it can be done, because I have done it with good results.

Straight dough requires more yeast than doughs made from a sponge, because the yeast has not as favorable a medium in which to grow, in the straight dough as it has in the sponge dough. It is conceded by some that straight dough requires a stronger flavor than a dough made from a sponge; by others that a stiffer dough is required; by others, that the finished product has a coarse texture, and that an “yeasty” taste predominates. The author made straight doughs daily for eleven years successfully. He neither made a specially stiff dough nor did his finished product have a coarse texture nor an “yeasty” taste. Sometimes when the temperature of the shop was very high or an exceptionally weak flour was sent us, then would our product have a somewhat coarse texture, but this would soon be remedied by using less yeast and reducing the temperature of the liquid used. There are advantages in using strong flour, but they are alike in the straight and the sponge dough, and they are larger yields and larger goods, but these are not the only points to be considered.

Some bakers are partial to spring wheat flour, because the yield in bread is greater than when a blend is used.

Too often is quantity preferred to quality. It seems that most bakers are working to the one end, namely, to get the flour which yields most bread. In this endeavor they are sacrificing quality for quantity.

Spring flour containing a larger per cent. of gluten than winter wheat flour naturally takes up more moisture, producing in turn more bulk, therefore more bread.

Then again the gluten in the spring wheat flour is of a tenacious character, producing a tough elastic dough. Such a dough can resist a greater gas pressure than can one made of weaker flour, and can therefore stand more proof, thus producing a larger and better appearing loaf than one made of a winter wheat flour or a blend.

If a blend is used, we will say two parts of a high grade winter wheat, and one part of spring wheat flour, and the dough is properly worked, the bread will have a fine, smooth, soft, velvety texture, and a mild, sweet taste. The loaf will not be as large a loaf as the one made of spring wheat flour, but will remain soft and moist longer than the loaf made of spring wheat flour. The reason for this is, that winter wheat flour contains a larger per cent. of natural moisture and a smaller per cent. of gluten than the spring flour, therefore it takes up less moisture, and consequently does not lose as much by evaporation in baking; thus leaving a larger per cent. of moisture in the bread.

The chemist’s test cannot decide the true baking value of a flour. A bakeshop test, made by a practical baker, is absolutely necessary to decide this matter.

The principal points to be considered when making straight dough are these: the temperature of the ingredients, the temperature of the shop, the quantity of yeast, and the quality of the flour used. If the temperature of the shop is very high, the liquid used should be cool, and the quantity of yeast should be reduced.

The most favorable temperature for fermentation is from 80 to 90 degrees Fahr., though I prefer to have the dough 85 degrees Fahr.

Before proceeding to make the dough, take the temperature of the flour and the shop, then heat the water to a temperature which will give your dough a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr. when ready. For example, if the temperature of your flour were 5 degrees Fahr., the temperature of the water would have to be 10 degrees Fahr. Now if the temperature of the shop were 70 degrees Fahr., the temperature of the water could be raised to 110 degrees Fahr. I would advise you not to get the temperature of the dough too high, but would rather that you raise the temperature of your shop. Dough chills very quickly when it is on the bench, and after a dough is chilled it will come up very slowly. When making dough in a dough-mixer, the temperature of the water should be at least 5 degrees higher than when making it by hand, because the mixers are more or less cold, while, when dough is made by hand you have the animal heat of the hands to keep up the temperature of the dough. When the weather is very warm, the temperature of the water must be changed to suit. For example, if the temperature of your shop is 90 degrees Fahr., your flour would naturally be very near the same temperature (providing it were kept in the shop), then the temperature of the water would have to be at the utmost 75 degrees Fahr., because the temperature of the dough would continue to rise while it was in the trough or mixer.

Process for Making Straight Dough.

Heat the liquid to the required temperature, then dissolve the yeast in a portion of the liquid, then, when the yeast is dissolved, add it to the rest of the liquid; then add the salt and dissolve it; then add the fats and sugar; then add the flour. (As above mentioned for uniform results it is best to weigh the flour, sugar, salt and fats.) After the flour has been added, work it into a smooth dough.

Weighing and Measuring Ingredients Used in Baking.

By Professor E. W. Habermaas.

All solids used in baking should be weighed, and all liquids should be measured accurately. Varied results and failures in baking are very often due to inaccurate weighing and measuring of ingredients. If your recipe calls for a pound of sugar, don’t use 1¼ pounds instead. Or if a recipe calls for 1 gallon of milk, don’t use ⅞ gallon instead. The author has often seen bakers use 1¼ pounds of some ingredient when 1 pound was what should have been used. Many bakers are exceptionally careless about measuring the liquids, such as milk and water. They will dip a quart or pint measure into a can of milk or into a bucket of water and draw it out on a slant, thus causing a portion of the liquid to run out. Often as much as one-fourth of a pint of milk will run out of the measure, still they will count that a full measure. This may seem a trifle, but when measuring a number of quarts or pints, it ceases to be a trifling matter but becomes a matter of vital importance. For example, you are about to make a dough of four quarts of milk or water, and you measure the milk or water as above shown. After having added the flour and you are making the dough, you will find that the dough is too stiff. This is based on the fact that you use a given quantity of flour to every quart of milk or water used, as should be the case, if you expect uniform results. You have the correct amount of flour, but not enough milk or water. Then again, the yield of such a dough would be less than it should be. Most bakers do not weigh the flour for their dough. Where this is the case, flour is usually added until the dough is of the proper consistency. So in that case the fact that the baker had not measured the liquid accurately would not necessitate getting too stiff a dough, because he has not a given quantity of flour to work in but adds it until the dough is of the proper consistency, but the yield will be less because there is less dough.

I do not approve of this method of making doughs, because the results are not uniform, and it requires more time to make the dough, because you are compelled to add more flour occasionally to get the proper consistency. Whereas, when you have the exact amount of flour and add it at once, you can proceed with dough without interruption. Then again, when you weigh the flour for your dough, you always have uniform results.

The flour, sugar, malt extract, salt and fats (if any) should be weighed, and the milk or water measured or weighed for every batch of dough, no matter how large or how small, if you would have uniform results.

One of the “hit or miss” methods prevalent in most shops is that bakers measure the water and weigh the salt, and guess at the rest. Fats, sugar and flour are seldom weighed. What are the consequences? Sometimes they have a stiff dough, sometimes a soft dough, and sometimes a medium dough. Sometimes the dough comes up too fast and sometimes too slow, owing to the consistency of the dough. Then, again, they never get the same number of loaves out of the same size batch. If the dough is too stiff, they get more than the required number, and if the dough is too soft they get less than the required number out of the batch.

In large shops such methods would not be tolerated, then why should they be tolerated in small shops? Thousands of dollars could be saved monthly in bakeshops if more accurate methods were adopted.

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When using a very strong flour you can use a little more yeast than ordinarily without fear of mincing the dough, because strong flour can stand more proof; but unless absolutely necessary, don’t use any more yeast than is required under ordinary conditions. During the summer months it is well to use more salt than during cold weather, because salt acts as a governor—it holds the dough in check and keeps it sweet.

Too much yeast creates an over-abundance of gas, and if the dough is not tough enough to withstand the pressure of the gas, it tears and allows the gas to escape; the dough then falls and loses its vitality. If this dough were “made up” into loaves, and when baked were cut in two, it would be seen that the texture would be very coarse; it would be a mass of holes, and the taste would betray a trace of lactic fermentation. This bread would not be fit to eat. Don’t allow your doughs to get too old. If a dough gets too old it loses its vitality, and when baked it will have a coarse texture and will have a sour taste. Test your doughs as follows: When the dough has set about one hour, jam your hand into it; if it begins to fall it is ready to take; if it does not fall, allow it to set about one-half hour, then try it again. A dough may be taken before it falls, but I would not advise you to make a practice of doing that. I have made a batch of bread and had it baked and out of the oven in three hours. I set the sponge at 9.30 a. m., made the dough at 10.30 a. m., and had the bread baked at 1 p. m. This bread had a very fine, smooth texture, and had a very sweet taste. I advocate taking doughs as soon as they are ready, if you want a nice, smooth texture and a sweet taste to your bread; and trust that it is your aim to produce such a loaf.

The third process in the art of bread making is pushing or “punching” the dough down.

Pushing or “Punching” the Dough Down.

When the dough is well “up,” or raised, push or “punch” it down (using both hands), to force out the gas, then raise up one end of the dough and lap it over the other, then push it down again. Continue this process until the dough is firm and compact, then cover it, and when it is up again take it. This is done to prevent the dough from getting too old, or from losing its vitality. When a dough is required at a certain time and there is no time to push or punch the dough down, this process may be omitted.

The fourth process in bread making is breaking the dough.

Breaking the Dough.

When the dough is ready remove it from the trough or bowl and put it on the bench or table; then cut it into pieces weighing about 10 pounds; then pat it down with both hands, then take up one end of the dough and lap it over the other, then pat it down again until you have the piece of dough very flat; then fold it over and over. Continue to pat down and fold over the dough until it is very compact, then take up the next piece, and so on, until you have the entire batch of dough firm and compact. In some large shops this work is done by machines called “dough breaks.”

“Breaking” is done to free the dough from excessive gas and to keep the dough young and also to produce a firm loaf of bread. If the dough is “made up” before it has been freed from excessive gas, it will produce a spongy loaf of bread, with large, irregular holes in it. Such a loaf of bread will dry out very quickly. After the dough has been freed from excessive gas it becomes firm and compact, and the loaves of bread made from this dough will likewise be firm and compact. (At this period of the dough all gas contained in the dough can be classed as “excessive,” because it is of no real value, but rather a hindrance, because it makes additional work to get the dough into proper shape for making it up into loaves.) Now, when the yeast again becomes active and gas begins to form, the loaf will raise evenly, because what gas remains in the loaf is evenly distributed throughout the loaf, thus producing a nicely shaped loaf.

The fifth process in the art of bread making is weighing.

Weighing the Loaves.

Cut the dough into pieces of as near a uniform size as possible, then weigh them as required. The exact weight I cannot fix; that must be determined by the price of material used, the locality in which you are located, the cost of labor, etc.

In making up a selling price, every detail, such as cost of material, labor, rent, light, fuel, heat, wrapping paper, twine, advertising display, wear and tear on horse and wagon (if you have any), feed, etc., salary for yourself, interest on money invested, etc., must be figured in, or “you will come out of the small end of the horn,” as they say.

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After the dough is made, proceed as follows to work it smooth: Cut off (with a scraper) a portion of the dough and place it on the bench, then spread it out (using both hands) as wide and long as possible, then fold it double, then spread it out again, as before directed, then fold it over. Continue this process until you have a nice, smooth, dry dough, then take up another piece of dough and proceed as directed. Continue taking up pieces of dough and working them as directed until you have worked the entire batch of dough, then put it in the trough and allow it to “raise.” When making straight dough with a dough mixer, proceed as follows: Put the water into the mixer (but keep back a small portion in which to dissolve the yeast), then dissolve the yeast, then put it into the mixer, then add the sugar, fats, salt, etc., then start the mixer, then add the flour and allow the machine to run until you have a smooth, dry dough. Some bakers allow their mixers to run ten minutes and others allow them to run twenty minutes. This is simply a matter of opinion. My advice is to run the mixer until you have a smooth, dry dough.

Processes in Bread Making.

Before we have the product called bread, it has passed through fourteen processes, which I will name and describe in rotation. The first of these processes is called setting sponge.

Setting Sponge.

Setting sponge is the first process in the art of bread making. Proceed to set sponge as follows: Measure the quantity of liquid desired and put it into a mixing bowl or trough, then take out a portion of the liquid and dissolve the yeast in it (about ½ gallon for each pound of yeast used). The yeast must be thoroughly dissolved; then add it to the rest of the liquid, then add flour to give it the consistency of medium dough (2¼ pounds of flour, one-half spring wheat and one-half winter wheat will give you a fine sponge), then work it well to prevent crust from forming on it, then allow it to raise. The length of time required to raise the sponge depends upon conditions, namely, the quantity of yeast used, the temperature of the shop, the temperature of the liquid and flour, the consistency of the sponge, and the size of the sponge. Large sponges require less yeast (in proportion), and raise quicker than small sponges, because they are not as easily chilled as small sponges are. Some bakers prefer an old sponge and a young dough, while others prefer the opposite—a young sponge and an old dough. I prefer to take the sponge as soon as it is ready, and the dough likewise. By so doing we always get an article that is not overproved, and without a trace of lactic fermentation. Goods made from an old overproved dough are not fit to eat. If you make a nice, sweet product you will have no difficulty in establishing a good trade. Watch the sponge and take it just as soon as it begins to fall. If you want to test a sponge shake the vessel, and if the sponge falls it is ready to take. If the sponge is not ready, the shaking up which you gave the sponge will not check the growth of it. I have taken sponge one hour old and produced excellent results.

The second process in the art of bread making is making dough.

Making Dough.

Melt the fat (if lard or compounds are used), dissolve the sugar and salt in the water, then add them to the sponge and work them thoroughly, tearing the sponge to pieces and working it until you have the whole a smooth mass, then add the flour (in portions), enough to make a fairly stiff dough, and work it thoroughly until you have a smooth, dry dough. Work the dough same as when making a straight dough. Keep the dough covered and at a temperature of not less than 80 deg. F. When the temperature of the shop is below that, and the dough is to be taken in two or three hours, both the sponge and the dough must be kept above 85 deg. F. While a little chill would not affect a dough, still it would delay it considerably. Chilling retards the growth of the yeast, and after the dough has been chilled it will take some time to raise its temperature to continue the growth of the yeast cells.

There are various ways of hurrying doughs, a few of which are as follows: By using a little more yeast than ordinarily, and by making a soft dough, and by reducing the quantity of salt, and by keeping both the sponge and the dough at a high temperature. When using a larger per cent. of yeast than ordinarily, watch both the sponge and the dough, and take them young (just as soon as they are ready), or lactic (souring) fermentation will take place. Don’t use too much yeast. Too much yeast will give the baked product a peculiar taste, and will compel you to be very careful in the handling of the dough, especially so in warm weather.

VARIATIONS IN BREAD TEXTURE

BY C. MILLER

That there is a wide variance in texture or grain in bread from day to day, or from batch to batch, produced under seemingly same conditions, is not to be denied. There are several causes, any one of which may produce the difference between good and poor texture:

(1) Improper fermentation, the most fruitful source.

(2) Improper handling or preparation of the dough
previous to panning.

(3) Over-proofing before baking.

(4) Ovens too hot or too cold.

By taking up these causes in the order named I hope to point out to those who are not practical some of the difficulties which confront the operative baker, and which make the production of uniform texture in bread almost as difficult at it would be to bail the water out of Lake Michigan with a bucket.

My observation, covering a period of more than thirty years, leads me to believe that absolutely uniform texture or grain in bread will never be produced so long as we make bread with yeast. This brings me to the first cause named, that of fermentation.

As there are no known mechanical means of determining the amount or degree of fermentation in dough, this must be left to the judgment of the baker, and his judgment is prone to err. If the dough is under-fermented the resultant texture of the bread will most likely be rough, waxy and heavy to the eye and touch. If the dough be over-fermented, the texture takes on a grayish look and feels coarse and dry and inclines to crumble. The difference in time between under and over-fermentation is not long, and, as previously stated, depends entirely upon the judgment of the operative baker, and were his judgment infallible, which it is not, other conditions in the bakery many times make it impossible for him to take the dough at the proper period of fermentation, due to the erratic and eccentric nature of fermentation of the various batches under course of manufacture. Although made apparently identical, in which every ingredient, including the water, has been carefully weighed, the revolutions of the mixing machine counted, to produce as near as possible one dough like the other, these doughs, all of a temperature not to vary more than half of a degree, and this temperature controlled in a room specially constructed for this purpose—with all of this care and fidelity to detail, it is seldom that any two doughs will ferment exactly alike. That being so, what may be expected where such facilities are lacking, and where such close attention to detail is not practiced? The subject of fermentation is a long one, and I only touch upon it as it relates to the texture or grain of baked bread, pointing out the difficulty of its control outside of the laboratory.

Taking up the second cause of poor texture (in the order named), that of improper handling of the dough before panning, I may say it is impossible to make bread of a fine texture or grain without a certain amount of manipulation of the dough during the process of fermentation. This has been termed by the baker “cutting over” or “turning back.” If this part of the work is not properly done there will be a consequent sacrifice of texture or grain. This cutting over, when properly done, consists of cutting the dough in pieces as large as can be conveniently handled, and stretching these pieces as long as possible and placing the same again in the trough, one piece on top of the other, until the entire batch has been so treated. This serves two purposes: (1) That of again bringing the dough, which had become warmer in the center of the batch, to a uniform temperature throughout; (2) it makes a more thorough distribution of the air cells which were produced by the gases in their attempt to escape by rising upward through the mass of dough. It is this repeated redistribution of the air cells to finer size and greater number which aids materially in the production of a bread of fine texture. This can best be illustrated by calling your attention to the “snow-flake” bread, or brake dough, which was once quite popular in many sections of this country. The process of manufacture, in which the dough was run through iron rollers from twenty to thirty times, always folding and running through the rollers again and again, is an intensified redistribution of the air cells, and this process produces a texture or grain very fine and pleasing to the eye and touch.

The over-proofing of the dough before baking is a weakness inherited by environment by about 99 per cent. of the operative bakers. This desire to see a large loaf at the expense of flavor and texture is caused largely by the criticism of the smaller loaf by the general public. It is an inevitable law of nature that you cannot get something for nothing. You cannot have quality, with fine texture or grain, and at the same time have a large loaf which only pleases the eye on its exterior. Either quality or quantity must be sacrificed. It is for the individual baker to say which it shall be.

And last, but not least, the cause of poor texture or grain is due to improper heat of the ovens, as without a perfect baking heat it is quite possible to spoil the most perfect dough. If the oven be too hot, causing the bread to crust before the loaf has had time to become heated through, the result will be poor grain or texture, as the gases within the loaf would be imprisoned by the crust already formed, and as these gases become more heated and light as the loaf grows hotter, they eventually follow along the lines of least resistance and break through the loaf at its weakest point of crust already formed, causing the loaf to be ill-shaped and drawn, and the grain to be uneven and furrowed. Again, if the oven be too cold, the loaf is too slowly heated to stop in time the action of fermentation, and the result would be much the same as over-proofing—open texture with inclination to be dry and crumbling.

Greek Bread.

One-half pint milk (bare measure), 1 ounce yeast, pinch of flour, 2 eggs, ½ ounce sugar. Ferment 90 degrees F.

Dough.

One pound flour, ¼ pound butter, 3½ ounces sugar, ounce ground cinnamon.

Make the above quantities into a very light dough, and allow to lie covered in warm place for 45 minutes. When ready to turn out on to the board, hand up, and pin out to little more than ¼ inch thick. At this stage sprinkle some granulated sugar over the dough, splash with little water, and bring two sides over to meet in the center, so as to entirely enclose the sugar. Pin out again and repeat same operation of adding sugar and folding over. The dough will now require to be pinned out to ¼ inch thick, when it should be cut into strips 2½ inches wide and placed on warmed greased baking sheets. Wash with milk, sprinkle over a good layer of granulated sugar, and place into the prover containing little steam. When ready bake in hot oven, allow to cool, then cut into small square pieces, according to size required.

AMERICAN RYE BREAD METHODS

In Europe most all of the rye breads are raised with sour dough, but American bakers employ a variety of methods; some bakers are using the sour dough process, others are taking a part sour dough and use compressed yeast with it, others use a potato ferment, or compressed yeast without sour dough. The sour dough process recommends itself because it is cheap; all that is required is a small piece of rye bread dough left over from the previous day’s batch for a start; there is no yeast to pay for. It is a process which requires experience and close attention to make a nice and palatable bread. The difficulty lies in the treatment of the sour dough. This dough should not be sour, as the name would make one believe; it should be kept up to a certain degree of sweetness by refreshing or renewing it regularly. Rye breads made with sour dough have a peculiar characteristic flavor; this flavor is lacking in rye breads which are raised only with yeast.

A combination process, in which yeast and sour dough are used together, either with a sponge, or also in a straight dough, produces a sweeter loaf, and there is not as much danger of getting the bread too sour (which may happen in the straight sour dough process), if not closely watched. Yeast added to the sour dough secures a stronger and shorter fermentation, and only one sponge is used in the process, while, with sour dough only, two successive sponges are employed. The short yeast and sour dough process gives just enough acidity to the dough to give a good taste.

Rye bread is also made with ferment. One Detroit bakery makes from 400 to 600 loaves per day by this process. The potato ferment is made in the afternoon (they use potato flour), stocked away with dry yeast, and in the morning a straight dough is made with ferment and more water. This process makes a nice, moist and sweet loaf and sells well.

In other bakeries, the left-over pieces of rye and wheat dough which accumulate during the day from the dough-mixer and the dough, are used for a sort of sour dough, for a start, or in place of the regular sour dough. The scraps are thinned down with water, and in the evening some yeast is added and a sponge is set with more rye flour; the rye dough is made from this sponge afterwards. This method works all right, but care must be taken not to add too much old dough, and also to take the dough young, otherwise it is apt to make a dry, flat loaf and the bread cracks easily in baking.

Some bakers set a sponge with compressed yeast and rye flour and let the sponge drop twice. The sponge is made very slack, and contains two-thirds of the water, and the other third part of the water is put on for the dough. Letting the sponge drop twice gives it a little more acidity to the dough. This process would make a much better flavored bread if the sponge was taken on the first drop, and for doughing three or more pounds of old rye dough added, according to the amount of bread to be made; it would give better flavor and make a moister loaf.

In other bakeries where only a small quantity of rye bread is required, bakers do not set a separate sponge for rye; they dip out of a broken-up wheat sponge and make the dough with rye flour; a piece of sour dough is added by some bakers, which gives better flavor to bread made by this method. The sour dough process consists of a succession of sponges; every day a small piece of sour rye dough is left over for this purpose to begin with. It is important in this process to keep the sour dough from getting too old, because when too old it becomes putrid and loses strength. Where rye bread is not made every day, or where sour dough is kept over from Saturday to Monday, we used to work plenty of rye flour with some salt in the piece of dough kept over, and make a very stiff dough, and rolled this in a well-dusted flour bag and kept in a cold place till required. (In southern Germany the sour dough is kept in a liquid state, it is thinned with cold water and kept in a cold place.) Only a small quantity is required for a start; this is freshened up once or twice before it is made into the first and second sponge, after which the final dough is made. For instance, to make a batch of 100 pounds of rye flour into bread the procedure is as follows: Two pounds of sour dough are freshened up with one quart of water and one pound of rye flour into a soft sponge at about 75 to 80 degrees Fahr. After three hours add two more quarts of water and about six pounds of flour and make this into a medium firm sponge, this is called “grund sour.” In from five to six hours this will be ready for the second sponge or “voll sour.” For this second sponge add fifteen quarts of water and with about forty pounds of flour make a soft sponge. This sponge will be ready in from three to three and one-half hours and drop. For the dough add fifteen quarts of water, about one and one-half pounds of salt and about fifty-two pounds of rye flour and make a smooth stiff dough. After the dough is made it should not be given much time to come on before scaling and moulding, because the large second sponge will cause the dough to ripen quickly during the time it is scaled and moulded. This should be done in as short a time as possible so the first loaves do not get too much proof before the rest is moulded. For a smaller batch more time can be given. This process of getting the sponges ready for the final dough may seem tedious to some readers, but the rye bread is baked generally during the daytime, while breads and rolls are baked at night, the freshening-up and setting first and second sponge is done during the night, this is particularly so where there is only one oven.

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In the large rye bread bakeries, where they bake many batches per day, a batch is baked every two and a half to three hours. A larger “grund sour” and less water on the “voll sour” with a moderately warm temperature ripens sponge and doughs more rapidly and gets the bread ready for the oven in a short time.

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_How to make Genuine Rye Bread._

In a recent paper upon this same subject, Geo. Freeman, of Kalamazoo, an expert baker, had the following to say upon how to make genuine rye bread.

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During my career as journeyman baker, working in different shops, I have found there were hardly two who made rye bread precisely the same. But although they work different ways the result aimed at was the same. Some got it pretty regularly and others did not. But since giving the subject a little extra thought I see where I and others have worked very much in the dark, and during the course of my remarks I shall endeavor to throw as much light on the subject as I possibly can, from the viewpoint of a baker, to bakers, and so enable you (who do not already) to see it as clearly as I do myself. I have here, gentlemen, two loaves of what I consider genuine rye bread, the formula for which has never given me any trouble since I adopted it. I will tell you first how I made them and the why and wherefore afterwards.

We will take for example a six gallon dough for a 125 pound batch. From the previous day’s rye sponge, I have saved one pound of sponge in the crock and kept it in the ice box, so the first thing I do is to take half a pint of water and skim milk and bring it up to required temperature; and add to the one one pound of sponge in the crock and stir in sufficient rye flour to make a little stiff dough, the temperature of which must be from 92 to 95 degrees, and let stand until the sponge is ready.

Next take half an ounce of hops and boil about 20 minutes in two quarts of water; strain off the hops, saving the liquor for the sponge.

Next I prepared the blend of flour taking 40 per cent. blended Wisconsin rye; 20 per cent. pure black Wisconsin rye; 40 per cent. low grade spring.

We now come to the sponge, making a six gallon dough. I take four gallons for the sponge, being two-thirds of total liquor in the sponge and one-third or two gallons at doughing stage.

I take three and one-half gallons of water (at required temperature); seven ounces of yeast, two quarts of hop liquor, twenty-eight pounds of prepared blend of flour, about one-third of total required.

Mix thoroughly. Temperature when mixed 80 degrees in summer; 84 degrees in winter.

You will notice I allow seven pounds of flour to the gallon of water in the sponge, which makes it medium soft, causing it to show the drop good. A stiff rye sponge will sometimes hold up on top until it is completely rotten. On this account I have water and flour weighed accurate for rye sponge.

The sponge is usually ready in three and a half to four hours. I give it a full drop and regulate how far it comes up the second time by the strength of the flour. In this instance the sponge took one full drop and had risen half way up the second time when I took it. I have already had to give the sponge the second full drop when using very strong flour.

Now we come to the doughing stage: Two gallons water (about 10 degrees lower temperature than required for sponge); two pounds of sour from crock; one pound eleven ounces of salt; 50 pounds of the same blend of flour as used in the sponge. Mix good and thorough. The temperature should be about 80 degrees in summer when finished, and 84 in winter.

I cover it up and allow to stand until when I push my fist well into it and withdraw quickly, it recedes slightly instead of resisting. It is generally one and a half to two hours in getting ready. I then throw it out on the table and have it scaled, rounded up, made into loaves, set in boxes, dusted with corn meal, with the crease down and set away to prove. When the loaves had risen or increased in bulk about 50 per cent. we washed them over with boiled corn starch and water, and set them in the oven to bake; the oven being as near 400 degrees as we can get it, with steam running in. The steam is left running in until the loaf is done rising, then we shut it off and open the steam damper a few minutes. A few minutes before we commence to draw we turn the steam on again to glaze the crust, which does away with washing after it comes out of the oven. We let it bake until it a good rich brown and gives a firm sound when rapped with the knuckles. The result of this description you see in these two loaves.

Now, gentlemen, I will endeavor to tell you in as short and plain a way as I know how why I did or did not do certain things.

I will take the sour first: That is the cause of endless trouble to most bakers, and many have stopped using it altogether. The idea is to produce just a little acid taste to the bread and still retain the full, sweet rye flavor, a kind of “bitter sweet” as one may say. People who like a little of it in their rye bread would be the first ones to disdain sour and flavorless rye bread from over-fermentation. And I would not blame them either. So the old fashioned idea of adding sour is an excellent one, if conducted rightly. And I find when it is done right it contains a high per cent. of lactic acid—the same bacillus the farmers and dairymen develop by letting their milk sour before churning to give a flavor to their butter and cheese. The same bacillus gives the acid taste to buttermilk and cottage cheese, and what German does not like them? Now milk may be said to be the home of lactic bacillus; that is why you heard me say add water and skim milk. The ideal temperature for its development is 95 degrees. You notice milk turns sour very quickly during hot weather; that is the reason.

Do not make the sour over night, as at the conclusion of the lactic ferment others, undesirable, may commence and cause you endless trouble.

Do not put the sour in the sponge and think to save a little yeast that way. It may turn your whole sponge sour, and spoil your bread. If you want a little more acid taste to the bread, use a little more sour, and vice versa.

You will notice I use a little hops (or rather hop liquor) in the sponge. The reason is to keep the sponge as pure and sweet as possible. Rye flour differs from wheat flour in that there is in rye flour scarcely any of what we call gluten. It analyzes a higher content of albuminoids than the average wheat flour, but they are nearly all soluble in water, and therefore, ready for easy assimilation by bacteria, and as it is this the proteids bacteria thrive on they have an easy chance to start a very undesirable fermentation, unless something is used to hold them in check. Therefore, I advise using a little hops which will do it effectually.

Now we come to the doughing stage again: We have kept our sponge in good condition and it is ready. We must still keep the dough cool and maintain the alcoholic fermentation throughout, but here we do not need to use any hops, even though we have the sour, as here we have the best retarder of all, plenty of salt, which not only brings out the flavor, but holds in check all foreign ferments, as long as there is any food left for the yeast to thrive and work on. So be sure to take your dough as soon as you know it is ready.

Regarding the blending of flour, gentlemen, everybody knows the blend of flour to make the loaf that his trade demands. Some places they demand a big loaf and the baker uses more spring; some places they do not trouble about size, and the baker used less spring and more rye.

I think I have said sufficient, so in conclusion let me remind you: Keep your sponge cool, use plenty of good yeast, do not let your sour get too old, keep your dough cool, use plenty of salt, and do not have it wait when you know it is ready and you will have no trouble in making Genuine Rye Bread.

MALT EXTRACT IN BREAD-MAKING

What is known in the bakers’ trade as malt extract is a natural cereal sugar syrup made by dissolving wholly or partially malted cereals in warm water, and evaporating the extract thus formed to a thick syrup.

Used in connection with bread-making it is a positive benefit in many ways.

One of the most vital points in good bread-making is to permit fermentation to proceed just far enough to ripen the dough without injuring the delicate flavor of the gluten in the flour. Sugar to some extent injures this delicate flavor, giving the bread a slight acidy smell which is avoided when malt extract is used. With sugar you also get a dead brown color and a crust that will soften, whereas malt extract gives a lively, snappy brown that will retain its crispness, usually lacking when sugar is used.

Malt extract will shorten up the time of the doughs in hastening fermentation and giving more life with less yeast, and if handled properly will produce a loaf superior in every respect.

The writer has watched carefully the growth of a great many doughs during the course of fermentation, both with sugar and malt, and while the malt process is shorter it is much more gentle than the sugar and gives a more compact dough from start to finish. It will also save the baker considerable money in the course of a year, as it saves sugar and cuts down yeast and you can almost if not entirely cut out shortening.

Too much malt should not be used, as it is a powerful factor in a dough and might defeat the purpose for which it is used. From one pint to one quart of 120 deg. malt to the barrel is a good proportion. Good results are obtained with one pint malt, one pound yeast, eight quarts milk to the barrel of flour. No sugar and no shortening. By a different process with the use of malt, one and a half barrels of flour can be worked with one pound of yeast, obtaining the best of results. Of course, some flours require more than the pint of malt to the barrel, but those flours would also require more sugar. A quart, however, may with safety be used to the barrel of flour.

* * * * *

A vast amount has been written on the subject of malt extract, many writers disagreeing as to its value. The following article by Henry A. Kohman, of the Fellowship in Baking Technology in the University of Kansas, covers the subject pretty thoroughly, pro and con:

It will be remembered by members of the National
Association that last year the Executive Committee
established a Fellowship in Baking Technology in
the University of Kansas, and that Henry A. Kohman,
of Lawrence, Kansas, was appointed to this position
for a term of two years. The agreement between the
association, on one hand, and the University of
Kansas and Mr. Kohman, on the other, was that Mr.
Kohman should devote his time and best attention in
an endeavor to solve some of the chemical problems
which so often perplex the baker, the result of his
researches to be the property of the association, on
terms to be mutually agreed upon.

At the February meeting of the Executive Committee, in Kansas City, Mr. Kohman was present and made a verbal report on the work so far accomplished by him, and was instructed to prepare a paper on the subject for publication in the trade press, which paper is given herewith. In transmitting his paper Mr. Kohman says that he has spent much time in collecting publications relating to the science of bread-making, in order to get a thorough understanding of the whole subject, and that in order to be practical as well as theoretical he has spent part of his time in the bakeshop.

The paper is as follows:

The Use of Malt Extract in Bread-Making.

When the National Association of Master Bakers made it possible for me to visit a number of the best bakeries in this country and Canada, I met with frequent inquiries in regard to the malt extract question. Some bakers used it to good advantage, but the majority used little or none. Looking over the formulas which I obtained through the kindness of the bakers in these different baking establishments, I find that only about five or six per cent. of the bread contains malt extract.

Practical Experiments.

In order to throw some light upon this question I undertook a series of experiments, the result of which I give below.

Preliminary experiments were made with five different commercial brands of malt extract. Their reducing-sugar content and diastatic activity were determined. The percentage of reducing sugar showed no great variation and needs no further comment. The diastatic activity, however, varied considerably. By the diastatic activity is meant the number of times its (own) weight of maltose a given quantity of extract will produce when allowed to act upon acid-free soluble starch for one hour at a temperature of 40 degrees C. (104 degrees F.).

The activities of the five extracts mentioned above are as follows: No. 1—8.56, No. 2—15.71, No. 3—8.60, No. 4—9.69, No. 5—20.13. These results were obtained under similar conditions, and are, therefore, strictly comparable. It is quite evident that these extracts have different sugar-producing values. No. 5, for example, will produce 2.35 times as much sugar as No. 1.

Malt Extract vs. Sugar.

Having determined the relative diastatic values of the malt extracts, it was desirable to determine their values as sugar producers in bread-making; and to see if the saccharine material in bread could not be supplied cheaper by means of malt extract than by the use of granulated sugar, as is commonly done. Five different breads were made, all conditions and ingredients being kept as nearly similar as possible, except the kind and quantity of saccharine material used. After the breads were made and dried the percentages of reducing sugars were determined. The tabulated results follow:

P’c’t’ge
Grams Saccharine Sugar
Flour. Material. Pound.

No. 1 800 20 gm. cane sugar 5.37
No. 2 800 None 3.64
No. 3 800 8 gm. malt extract No. 5 6.00
No. 4 800 8 gm. malt extract No. 1 5.68
No. 5 800 1 gm. malt extract No. 5 and 30 gm. cooked flour 5.27

The percentages found are calculated on the dry bread. The results reveal several interesting and significant facts. The eight grams of the lowest diastatic extract (activity 8.56) produced more sugar in the bread than the twenty grams of cane sugar. It is also evident that the lowest diastatic extract produced nearly as much sugar as the highest. The ratio of their activities is 8.56 to 20.13, while the ratio of the percentages of sugar produced is only 5.68 to 6.00. We might expect that the extract with an activity of 20.13 would produce more sugar than the one having an activity of only 8.56, but the results show that it did not. The explanation seems to be that both have an activity sufficiently high to convert into sugar and dextrin all the starch that is freed from the cellulose by having the cell walls broken, and neither attacks the starch granules that are still enclosed by cellulose.

It is a quite significant fact, too, that the one gram Of malt extract No. 5, together with thirty grams cooked flour, produced nearly as much sugar in the bread as the twenty grams of granulated sugar. This bread, No. 5, in addition to having the sugar supplied in the cheapest way, had its moisture and freshness retained longer than the other breads.

The bread having no saccharine material added showed on analysis to have 3.64 per cent. of reducing sugar. Some of this sugar was in the flour, but the larger part of it was formed by the enzymes in the flour during the fermentation period and the baking of the bread.

Knowing the percentage of sugar and the weight of dry bread produced from the 800 grams of flour, I calculated the amount of sugar in the total quantity of bread produced in each baking. Then by deducting the amount of sugar in bread No. 2, which had no sugar added, from the amount in the other breads, the total amount of sugar produced by the malt extract was obtained. In this way it was found that the malt extract No. 5 produced 2.65 times its weight of sugar when added directly to the dough as is commonly done, and that it yielded 14.67 times its own weight of sugar when a portion of the flour was cooked, as in experiment 5; or it produced 5.5 times as much sugar when added to flour, the starch of which had been gelatinized by cooking, as it did when added to the raw flour. The cooked flour was cooled to 120 degrees F. and then the malt extract added. The results show that while malt extract produces considerable sugar when added directly to the raw flour, it produces much more sugar when a portion of the flour is cooked.