Chapter VIII: Part IV: Miscellaneous (1)

MISCELLANEOUS

HEATING OVENS

BY PROF. E. W. HABERMAAS

Proceed to heat the oven as follows: Free the grate of ashes and clinkers, then put the wood (which should be thoroughly dry) in the furnace; then put some paper in the furnace and light it; then open the damper and the draft door. When using coal for fuel, put some dry wood in the furnace, then put coal on it and light it, then draw the damper and open the bottom draft door. Now watch your fire, adding fresh fuel. When about one-third of the fuel is burned, fill the furnace with as much fuel as it will hold, then close the door; continue this process about three times. When the last furnace of fuel has burned down about one-half, close the damper partly (to prevent the heat from escaping through the open flue) and as the fire continues to burn down, continue closing the damper, and when the fire has burned down completely, close the damper entirely and shut the bottom draft door. The oven should be fired at least one hour before you begin baking in it, to allow the heat to moderate and to become evenly distributed throughout the oven, producing what is known to the trade as a ground heat. If you bake in a freshly heated oven your goods will scorch on the outside and remain doughy inside. Some goods require a very quick oven, but the first heat in a fresh oven (providing the oven has been properly heated) is almost too hot for any class of goods. If you are compelled to bake in a freshly heated oven, open the damper and allow the oven door to remain open while baking, thus allowing a portion of the excessive heat to pass into the flue. This first heat is called flash heat, because it is not a lasting heat. An oven may be overheated or underheated to a degree as to render it unfit for service. Bakers should be very careful about heating their ovens. Little fuel can be used and excellent results obtained, providing the one who does the firing knows how to fire an oven. Follow our directions very carefully when firing ovens. If you have too much heat in your oven you can remedy that by drawing the dampers and leaving the oven door open. But if you have an underheated oven you will find that the only remedy is to build more fire. This is wasteful extravagance, though sometimes it is difficult to avoid, especially when you have damp or green wood. There is also a flash heat in an underheated oven, but it is not intense, nor does it last very long.

On the other hand, if the bottom draft and furnace doors are not air tight, though you have them closed and have the dampers open, and only a moderate breeze is blowing, the fire will burn briskly. If you want the fire to die, close the damper and the bottom draft door. When you close the damper and the bottom draft door you shut off the supply completely, or the life of fire, then it dies. Chimneys should be built to tower above the roofs of adjoining buildings, so that the air currents can pass over them unobstructed.

We have shown above that it is necessary to supply fire with air to create combustion, so we will now show what is understood by combustion.

Combustion is defined: “To burn, or burning. The process by which bodies combine with oxygen and are thus seemingly destroyed. Oxygen exists uncombined in the atmosphere to the extent of 22 per cent. by volume and more than 23 per cent. by weight.” The fact that air (and plenty of it) is absolutely necessary to produce combustion, seems foreign to most people who fire ovens, etc. These people poke a fire and give it draft as a matter of fact, but do not know why. All highly flammable material, such as pitch tar, resin, pine wood, paper, coal oil, gasolene, etc., and even gas will not burn unless mixed with a certain per cent. of air or oxygen, and all so-called inflammable (fire proof) material, such as mineral wood, prepared felt, asbestos, iron, steel, etc., can be entirely consumed by fire if subject to sufficient blast. Under ordinary conditions, so-called fire-proof material will not burn, but throw them into a blast furnace—one equipped with a powerful blower—and watch the results. In a short space of time you will find nothing left to indicate that such material had been thrown into the furnace.

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The above illustration is given simply to show what a necessary factor air is to produce combustion even in a limited degree. Not only is air necessary to produce combustion, but the more air or draft you give a fire the more perfect the combustion, and the more perfect the combustion, the greater the heat it produces, and the greater the heat produced, the less fuel is required. Air is less expensive than either wood or coal; bear this in mind and profit by it. You have learned the necessity of using the poker frequently, and you have learned what is meant by draft and combustion. Now be guided by what you have learned.

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It is not necessary to go into detail about the construction of continuous baking ovens, nor of the firing of these ovens. The builders of such ovens will furnish you the necessary information when you get ready to purchase such an oven. Enough is said when we say that more fuel is required to heat a continuous baking oven than furnace ovens, because the fire does not get inside of the oven proper (the baking chamber), but encircles it. The heat must pass through the brick before it enters the baking chamber. For this reason more fuel is required to heat the oven. But after you have the required temperature in your oven, and begin to bake in it, but little fuel is required to keep it at the regular temperature during the baking period.

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Proceed to fire continuous baking ovens same as you would furnace ovens, and when you have the temperature in the oven as required, close the damper partly and the bottom draft entirely, and put on fuel only when necessary, that is when the temperature begins to fall during the baking period. When the temperature begins to fall, open the bottom draft and also the damper and poke the fire frequently. It is not absolutely necessary to keep up the fire after your oven has the required temperature, unless your work requires it. In large bake shops where large batches of bread are baked continuously, it is absolutely necessary to keep up the fire, but in small shops this is not necessary unless a larger variety of goods are made; in that case it would be best to keep up a low fire.

Preparing Ovens for the Baking Process.

This applies to furnace ovens only, because the fire enters the baking chamber. The flames as they circulate around the oven carry with them more or less ashes, and scatter them over the hearth. This necessitates cleaning the oven before it can be used, especially when baking bread on the hearth. A mop or “swab” is used for this purpose. This mop or “swab” consists of a long pole, on the end of which a cloth or gunny sack is fastened. An old peel handle may be used for this purpose or you can purchase a swab pole from any supply house. Proceed to swab the oven as follows: Dip the cloth into a vessel of clean water and get it thoroughly wet, then put it into the oven and push it back as far as possible and let the pole rest on the hearth, then take hold of the pole with both hands and bear down on it so as to raise the cloth slightly to allow it to whirl around freely, then draw it out about 1½ feet with a rotary motion; then push it back again; do this quickly. By pushing the pole forward and drawing it back with the rotary motion, you cause the cloth to whirl around and throw the ashes or dust forward towards the oven door. Continue this process, beginning at the back of the oven and working forward to the oven door, then take out the swab and put it on the rack; then take a broom and sweep out the dust or ashes.

While swabbing the oven you raise considerable dust, therefore it is necessary that the damper should be open to allow the dust to pass into the flue. Usually while swabbing the oven the atmosphere in the oven is thick with dust and if the damper were closed this dust would settle on the hearth; but by keeping the damper open during this period most of the dust is drawn into the flue. When the atmosphere in the oven is clear (free from dust), close the damper and the oven door. Your oven is now ready for the baking process, but I would advise you not to bake in the oven immediately after it has been heated, unless it is absolutely necessary, because the first heat in an oven is usually intense.

FLOUR AND WHAT FLOUR WILL PRODUCE

BY F. D. EMMONS, MINNEAPOLIS

Bread-baking is becoming more and more each year a manufacturing process. Gradually the baker is introducing improved machines and improving his process of making bread by the introduction of new methods. Bread-baking has reached the stage where the process can be operated throughout practically by machinery.

The bakers operating the smaller bakeries usually have a mixer and molding machine. A few years ago even bakeries of large capacity did not have even these machines. The baker has come to see that a larger knowledge of the proper conditions of baking and what takes place during the process of bread-baking gives him better bread.

In going through the bakeries of the United States, we find the uppermost question in mind of the master baker is “QUALITY.” His constant endeavor is to make a better lot of bread. The people of the United States are receiving a better loaf of bread each year, as the increase in the sale of baker’s bread testifies.

There is still room for improvement, however. The baker’s difficulties are not only encountered through the ingredients used in bread-making. In fact, these cause only a small part of his troubles. The baker not only has to be a baker and understand baking thoroughly, but he must also be a weather prophet. Weather conditions affect bread-making more than any other conditions which arise. There are very few bakeries having absolute control of their dough room. To have uniform bread each day it is necessary to have control of the dough room. There are very few who realize the importance of controlling these factors. I would like to leave this one message—“Watch Your Dough Room.”

Flour Storage.

To have flour in the best condition for the baker’s use is a problem which most of us do not give enough attention. Flour should be kept in a dry, light and well ventilated room. The temperature should be from 70 to 75 degrees F. and the flour should be so piled as to allow a free circulation of pure air to every sack.

Light is a strong factor on the proper aging of flour for baking purposes. Give the flour all the light you can. There are a great many bakers who store their flour in a dark basement. Some of these may be fairly well ventilated and dry, but the flour receives no light. Darkness and dampness go hand in hand. Flour requires light to give it the best conditions for it to age.

Putting flour in a cold, damp cellar is like putting meat in cold storage. The aging process is checked by the cold and the flour remains as it was when first put in storage. No aging process takes place. The flour has simply been preserved in the same state as when placed in the cellar.

Possibly you have placed a handful of flour in a thin layer in the bright sunlight for two or three hours, and then compared it with the original flour. It has been bleached by the sunlight, and if it were baked beside the same flour which was not placed in the sunlight, you could hardly believe they were the same flour.

Occasionally moving flour helps to age it; if it is turned over once a week, or preferably more often, the aging process is hastened.

Flour should always be sifted before using. In packing in packages, flour is compressed and sifting loosens the small particles and mixes air in the flour. There are machines on the market specially adapted for this work. Besides being sifters these machines have beaters, which throw the flour and drive air into it. This aerating not only assists in aging but has added value of giving it greater water absorbing power, thus having the flour in much better condition for bread-making process.

Under conditions of a well ventilated room, pure, dry air, well lighted, and at temperature of 70-75 degrees F., flour will probably be in the best condition to use in about ninety days.

Many bakers do not have storage facilities for carrying their flour ninety days. With this in mind, we stored flour at a temperature of 84-86 degrees F. for thirty days. The results received were very satisfactory. This manner of storing for thirty days could be readily carried out by many bakers who have not facilities for storing their flour for a longer time. This would give much better results than the general storage conditions which many bakers have now.

Where the flour storage is limited and no heated warehouse, the space on the floor above the ovens can be used for flour storage. The heat from the ovens keeps the flour warm and insures a warm place to store flour. It is also warmed quickly if it is necessary to use the flour immediately. If the flour can be held for some time stored in such a manner it ages quickly. It is necessary, however, to be sure no flue gases come in contact with the flour, as these gases quickly destroy the gluten. The above method has been very successfully used in places where flour storage was limited and no means of heating the flour was available.

During the aging of flour there is a slight loss of moisture, which is utilized in two ways:

1. Part is absorbed by the air.

2. Part is used by the gluten in the aging process.

When water is added to aged flour in mixing dough, the loss in moisture is more than made up by the larger percentage of water it will absorb. Flour which is aged will on the average absorb 5 per cent. more water than flour which is freshly milled. The baking value of the flour is greatly increased by proper aging. The gluten is much more elastic and tough and makes a much better handling dough. The flour is whiter in color, the fermentation period is more easily handled, and it makes a much better loaf of bread in general.

Flour Mixing.

Many bakers mix flour from different mills, thinking they receive a more uniform and better blend of flour, that when one flour is poor the other usually is good and helps it along. In reality the opposite is the case.

Every mill has its own separate system of bolting flour, so that they have the small particles of flour of the same uniform size. The sizes of flour particles from different mills will differ, consequently if these flours are blended, there will be flour particles of varying sizes. When mixed into dough, the smaller particles take up the water first and much faster than the larger particles, and fermentation begins immediately on the smaller particles. The larger particles require a longer time to take up the water, therefore the fermenting dough is not uniform—the dough from the larger particles being slower than that from the smaller particles. Thus, part of the dough will be “too old” and the remainder “too young.”

Some mills select their wheat and mill the flour by systematic chemical and baking analyses, so that the gluten is of uniform quality and gives the best results when it is handled alone. If another flour is mixed with it, the gluten being of a different character will make an inferior gluten of the first flour and it will not give as good results as when handled alone.

Color of Flour.

The progressive miller is a close student of the wheat berry. It is necessary that he understand thoroughly the constitution of wheat to obtain the best results in the flour he grinds.

Milling in its simple form is merely the separation of the bran coats and germ from the floury part of the kernel. To make these separations as thorough as possible requires a vast amount of machinery and a large number of operations.

The gluten of the wheat is not evenly distributed throughout the berry. The central portion contains the least, and it increases toward the outside. Starch, on the other hand, is found to be just the reverse—the largest percentage being found in the center and the percentage decreases toward the outside. Some flours are made from the very central portions. This gives a flour deficient in gluten and excessive in starch, and will not stand the treatment given it by the baker. It is starchy in color on account of the excessive amount of starch and the small quantity of gluten.

An excessively white color and strong gluten are never found together in the same flour. In studying the needs of the baker in flour, we find he does not want an intensely starchy, white color, as this flour will not give a corresponding white color in the bread.

What the baker does want is a flour containing the greatest strength and best color combined. It will be slightly creamy in color, but when baked will make as white a loaf as intensely white flour, and has the added advantage of having larger water absorbing powers, and the power to withstand the harsh treatment given it by the baker. The baker in his mixing and fermentation develops the color in a loaf of bread. An intensely white flour will give a very dark loaf of bread if not fermented properly. On the other hand, a flour with good strength and creamy in color will, when handled under proper conditions of fermentation, give as white, if not whiter bread than the whiter flour. It also has the added advantage of withstanding the vigorous treatment of the machines. It gives a better volume, texture and pile in the loaf, and if through accident there is any delay in taking the dough when it is ready, the strong flour will stand it, while the white flour will have to be taken at just the right time to give good bread.

Color in bread is not necessarily obtained by using a white flour. A better color can be obtained by using a strong and slightly creamy flour handled properly in the fermentation. The mixing of the dough at a high speed, and proper fermentation at the correct temperature, are the factors which make white bread.

Mixing the Dough.

To start a dough right is to mix it right. A properly mixed dough should be mixed twenty minutes, in a single arm machine, mixed with a speed of at least 36 revolutions per minute. Some mix their doughs the same length of time in mixers at a speed of 60 revolutions per minute. This gives toughness to the dough and makes it take up more water. There is one danger, and this is allowing the dough to warm up too much. The mixed dough should be 80 degrees Fahr. It is necessary to find the amount the mixer warms up the dough in twenty minutes’ mixing, and allow for this in the temperature of the water added. A dough properly mixed should be tough enough to be pulled out like a rope without breaking.

Too many bakers are running their doughs too hot. We have had an exceptionally early spring—the change from cold to warm weather was very sudden. The bakers have not considered this and made the necessary changes, and consequently the dough is mixed too warm.

Humidity plays a very strong part in the fermentation. With a high humidity the dough works much faster than with a low humidity. It is necessary to take this into consideration in preparing the dough.

Fermentation.

Probably the most important step in bread-making is the fermentation period. To start the fermentation correctly means to have the dough mixed correctly as to temperature and ingredients added, to obtain the best results in fermentation.

Yeast ferments best at a temperature of 86 degrees. But, if a dough is set at this temperature, and has a tendency to warm up during fermentation, it gives even a higher temperature when the dough is ready for the pans. Other ferments also start to develop at this temperature which cause the dough to become sour, to a more or less degree, and in this way either cause sour bread or at least a loss of the rich wheat flavor.

A dough works best at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr., having the room at 76 degrees Fahr. The danger points in the temperature of a dough under these conditions are 76 degrees and 86 degrees Fahr. If a dough is mixed at 80 degrees Fahr. and put into a dough room having a temperature of 76 degrees Fahr., it will probably go onto the bench at 82 degrees Fahr., which gives the best results in the bread. If a dough is mixed warmer than 80 degrees Fahr. it is necessary to watch it much closer and take it at exactly the right time. Even with the most careful observation of a dough at a warm temperature, a loss of flavor or a tinge of sourness develops. Our advice is to be wary of a warm dough.

The age of dough is the critical point in bread-making. How to tell the age of a dough is a question we have never seen satisfactorily answered. Most bakers tell intuitively, and this has required long experience. The color, texture, volume and flavor of the resulting bread are dependent almost entirely on the age of the dough.

The length of time of the first rising in a straight dough is a point many bakers do not consider. If the dough is too young, give more time on the first rising; if too old, shorten the time of the first rising. The age of a dough is governed to a considerable degree by the first rising.

A strong flour requires three risings by the ordinary methods of bread-making. There are processes used where the dough is punched at stated intervals. This, however, is used more successfully where very good control is had over the temperature and humidity.

Technically, a dough is ready when the yeast has reached the maximum of its energy. If the proper development of gluten and the maximum of energy of the yeast is not reached, a young dough is the result. A young dough will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color will be yellow in varying degrees, and a generally poor loaf is received.

If the fermentation is carried too far, the yeast will have lost its vitality, other ferments will have started to develop. The loaf will have a tendency to fall in the oven. It will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color dark and the wheat flavor lost, a sour odor will also be noticeable.

If the dough is fermented at too high a temperature, both young and old characteristics will be noticeable in the loaf.

Any improper handling of a dough, either by ingredients added, length of the period of fermentation, or wrong temperature, will give a dark, coarse and small loaf. The miller is usually blamed for these results, which in reality are not caused by the flour, but by the improper use of the ingredients and methods of handling.

Ingredients.

The ingredients in bread-making that have a vital influence upon the finished bread, are: Flour, water, yeast, salt. It is always necessary to have these. Other ingredients act in the capacity of hastening fermentation, yeast foods, flavor, etc., to give a character or special flavor to bread.

We contend there is no bread recipe. What we call a bread recipe is merely a combination of ingredients in proportions to suit the conditions under which the baker is working. We all have books full of bread recipes, each a little different from the other, and all striving to obtain the same bread, or give their bread a slightly different character.

One baker finds his conditions are suitable for one combination of ingredients; another finds he cannot use this recipe at all. He finds another combination which suits his conditions. All are working under different conditions of climate, temperature and manner of handling. Consequently, it is necessary to find the proportion of ingredients which best adapt themselves to the present conditions. The character of bread desired naturally influences the ingredients used, and as conditions change the ingredients must change to meet these conditions, if a special character and individuality in bread is desired.

Water.

Most bakers do not use as much water as is possible in bread-making. A hard, northwestern flour requires a slack dough if the flour has been made from wheats having the right characters and properly milled. The best results are obtained by setting the dough as soft as can be handled. When mixing the dough the water at first is not thoroughly absorbed by the flour particles, as the gluten is so hard it takes some time for these particles to thoroughly absorb all the water they will hold. This continuing to absorb is known to the baker as “tightening up.” This feature is characteristic of Northwestern flours, and is lacking in other flours. When mixing a dough from Northwestern flours always allow for “tightening up,” and mix the dough softer than it is intended to be when you “take the dough.” The opposite is the case in softer flours as they “slack off.”

Any flour will lose this characteristic of “tightening up” if a dough when mixed is too hot. Gluten is in reality a vegetable glue and softens when the dough is mixed warm, and consequently will not absorb the amount of water it should, and it will have a tendency to “slack off” instead of “tightening up.”

MILK VALUE IN BREAD

BY W. E. BREEZE, OF LONDON

Of course, we all know that wheat grown under certain conditions varies, and, as the climate and soil differ, so does the gluten, as is exampled between comparison with a soft and a strong flour. In the same way it applies to milk. The composition of fat in new milk is determined by the breed, climate, food and health of the cow. A really rich milk would produce as much as ¾ ounce to 1 ounce of fat to the pint, especially just now, when the animals are kept up and fed pretty well. They give less milk, but it is much higher in quality. In summer, when there is plenty of grass, the cows give more milk, and, on the whole, more fat, but the percentage is not so high as it is just now. In Holland, for instance, milk is poor, and more deficient in fat, because the pastures are more moist and watery. Whether the various fancy brown breads do or do not carry out, as they are reputed to do, all the properties accorded to them I am not prepared to say. Time must be given for a suitable trial, and if they are are not found suitable we must turn our attention to something else. A milk loaf of a favorable quality is generally being inquired for, but I am sorry to have to record that the majority of bakers do not treat it with the same respect that they accord to its rivals. Its rivals are sold under certain conditions. You must not adulterate it in any sense, for if you do you are liable to prosecution. But the old milk bread is not standardized as to its composition, and there is hardly a bread-maker who does not sell “milk bread.” I may also safely venture to say that the milk added to the bread is as varied in quantity as there are purveyors of the commodity. There is no stipulated or understood quantity, and in consequence the quality of the loaf suffers.

During my experience I have known and seen bread sold as “milk bread” which had never seen the sight of milk, but, on the other hand, there are other bakers who are most particular and have the most liberal quantity of milk, the result being they produce a beautiful and most honest loaf. I have seen other bakers who put in about six quarts of milk, and the bread is made up in fancy shapes and weights, and styled fancy bread. There is no recognized standard for the quantity of milk used per sack. Whether it is of sufficient importance to the trade that such a loaf should be made and sold is another matter. But I wish to put before you the value of milk in bread-making, and also to emphasize the benefits which, in my opinion, are derived from bread made with the addition of milk. I have eaten brown bread which has set up irritation in the stomach, but this has never happened to my knowledge when the bread has been made with good sweet full cream milk. I am convinced if this milk bread were kept before the public, made, of course, from the proper ingredients and in proper proportion, there would be no doubt as to the best loaf to be obtained at fancy prices, a loaf which would leave the baker an equal, if not better, profit than we obtain to-day for our fancy browns. In 1908, at the London Exhibition, for the first time, a milk powdered loaf won the first prize in the milk bread competition, and thus beat the new milk itself. That bread looked very nice, and its color was excellent, the weight sent in being about 2 pounds. It is true there is no recognized standard shape for milk bread, so several shapes were sent in, the competitors seeming to satisfy themselves to produce an ordinary loaf with milk in it. I do not know whether it would be possible for the manufacturers to suggest lines upon which shape and quality could be combined to produce a standard milk loaf. I do not know whether I am asking too much, but in time it would not amount to anything more than asking for a cottage loaf, a crumby or tin loaf. If manipulated and produced properly, it would increase it dietetic value, and be a different commodity, with changed properties, and yielding nourishment in a new and concentrated form.

Dry Milk.

I do not say that the combination I have spoken of is a correct one or not, but I do not think it should beat the use of full cream milk, for I have always noticed a distinctive delicate flavor with the new milk in comparison with the dried article, and I did not intend to treat of dried or condensed milk, but only of new milk, skimmed milk and separated milk. To make my subject more complete, I will, after all, first touch upon dried milk. This is a very useful and unvarying commodity. It is fairly quick in solution in warm water, and is convenient, especially in cases where really good dairy milk is scarce or unobtainable. Its fat and sugar are more or less varied, or practically nil, and as dried milk is minus lactic acid, the flavor being sometimes interfered with by evaporation, I cannot recommend it in preference to good new milk. Of course, with a little doctoring, you may improve some faults, but the delicate flavor of new milk is not so pronounced.

Condensed Milk.

I will now pass on to condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk is a most desirable substance from an economic and handy point of view. It may be used in water alone or in conjunction with separated milk. Of course, you use it for what it is worth. If used separately, milk fat, or some other fat, such as good sweet lard or neutral fat, will have to be used to make up the deficiency, the usual quantity being about one small tin and 3 ounces of fat per gallon of water.

Buttermilk.

We will now pass on to buttermilk, which you all know is very useful in the manufacture of soda and powdered goods, as the lactic acid already formed has the property of softening the gluten in the flour, thereby rendering the goods soft and mellow. As, however, I am concerned with bread-making, we will leave the powdered goods alone. I have had some very good results from condensed milk by keeping it active, and not allowing it to lag. It seems to have a bleaching effect, and from a nutritive point of view comes very near to new milk. Again, the proteids of the milk and mineral matter are practically digested by the action of the lactic organisms, and new milk undergoes no change during fermentation in the dough. The changed condition in the buttermilk is of great advantage, and lactic acid adds flavor to bread made with compressed yeast. There is no reason to suppose that bread made with buttermilk will go sour sooner than that made with fresh milk if the fermentation is managed properly. To use buttermilk in bread-making the milk must be fresh—not more than twenty-four hours old. Old milk will not do, and when fermentation is started the dough must be attended to and baked in a good oven. Of course, I am not going to advise a novice to use buttermilk, or he would most probably be doomed to failure, but I have indicated the possibilities of the use of buttermilk. I will give you an analysis of buttermilk and also of new milk. New milk contains 4.0 per cent of fat, 3.6 of proteids, 4.5 milk sugar, 9.7 of ash or mineral matter, 87.2 per cent. of lactic acid. Buttermilk has the following proportions: Fat 0.8, proteids 3.7, milk sugar 3.8, ash or mineral matter 0.7, H_{2}O 90.85, lactic acid 0.85. The production of lactic acid is limited to the proportion of milk sugar present. I have not made large quantities of bread with buttermilk, but have treated certain quantities as a hobby to try what I could really do with it, and the results were quite satisfactory.

Skimmed Milk.

Now we will consider skimmed milk, or separated milk. We must bear in mind they have very little fat, though the milk sugar is retained; it is simply fresh milk minus the cream. As butter-fat is about 4 per cent. of the total milk, often less, the fat can be replaced by lard or any neutral fat. They are really as good, and the public in any case will hardly give you credit for having used butter. A quart of separated milk, containing 2 ounces of sweet lard or neutral fat, will make nearly as good bread as fresh milk. Do not get the idea that it will be thinner, and therefore use more fat than is necessary. One gallon of separated milk and 7 ounces of fat equals one gallon of fresh milk. Lard and neutral fats only affect the texture and shortness, and even butter added as a fat does not give that mild flavor imparted when the full cream is used.

New Milk.

I will deal lastly with new milk, and its advantages in comparison with the last named. The composition of new milk consists of 87 per cent. of water, 5 of milk sugar, 4 of fat, and about 3½ of albuminoids, the rest being mineral matter. The effect of added milk to bread in place of water is, other things being equal, to increase its nutriment. Providing the bread is worked on a short and quick system, as it should be, it will get a bloom, with a rich crumb, color and even texture. The crust will be thin and fine, and the flavor will be most appetizing. Although the table just given is the average composition of milk, there are variations. The casein and albumin are the nitrogenous constituents of the milk, and may be regarded as flesh-formers. The fat consists of stearine, and other constituents which give to butter its characteristic flavor. Milk sugar or lactose is the only carbohydrate present in starch. The ash consists chiefly of phosphates of lime and potash. Taking the figures given, it can be said that new milk has from three to four times the value of separated milk, and, taking a careful valuation, we get, say, 1s. per gallon of new milk and 3d. for separated. Of course, where large quantities of new milk are bought there would be a corresponding reduction in the price. I get it by the ten gallons; there is no transit to pay, and no second handling is required, the milk coming direct from the farm to the bake-house. The excessive fat per gallon in new milk is worth 9d. per gallon above separated milk, which would cost 3d. The value of a standard sample would be as follows: New milk—Fat 3.5, non-fat 9.0, total solids 2.5. Separated milk—Fat 0.3, non-fats 9.0, total 9.3, value 3d. Taking as a maximum quantity eight gallons of new milk per sack, and as a minimum quantity six gallons, the price of the loaf would be higher. To assist in cases where a large quantity of milk is used the dough must be softer because of the binding effect of the milk. Taking into account the added solids, we should have a larger output per sack, together with a better loaf, one of high dietetic value, while the milk and butter contained in it would improve the flavor, texture, color and physical properties of the crumb. Evenness of texture and cleverness of loaf make a better crumb color, the effect most noticeable with added milk, being due to the percentage of fat present. As a comparison, take 1 ounce of butter with 10 pounds of flour, as against 1 quart of milk. The butter or fat gives a very fine texture and thin crust, whilst the milk results in a better bloom, owing to the unfermentable sugar of milk. Of all milks, fresh full cream is best, and ought to be used with water in equal proportions, as half milk and half water give excellent results.

Miscellaneous.

A good idea followed by many is weighing the ingredients required for as many custard pies used in a week or two. For instance, if you make 4 pies a day, or 24 a week, weigh the required amount of sugar, starch, salt and mace, mix and sift together and put away in a can or box, and every time you make 4 pies weigh off one pound, or four ounces to each pie. This saves time in weighing, and does away with the guessing of the salt and flavor, which is hard in small mixes. The same is done with pumpkin pies, adding to the whole amount the required spices. This enables you to make a uniformly spiced and tasting pumpkin pie, which is the most important feature of it.

Recipe for Preserving Rhubarb for Pie.

The following is a recipe for preserving rhubarb for pie purposes, and it is simple and cheap. Take the rhubarb and cut it in pieces, and put it in fruit jars, filling them with water, and thereby keeping it all winter, or as long as you want it, and when you get ready to use it, it is all ready for use, after sugar, etc., is added.

Bacterial Contamination in Bread

James Grant, an English chemist and teacher of the bakery classes in the Manchester Bakery School, in England, gave the following illustrated lecture before the Bakery Students’ Society, on the Bacterial Contamination of Bread, which is of considerable interest to American bakers:

It is well known that wheats and other cereals, owing to the deep crease or furrow down the center of the ventral side, and to the hairs (especially in the case of wheat), known as the beard, at the top of the berry, are liable to cause bacterial diseases in our food supplies. It may be objected that washing during the preparation for milling will get rid of dust and its accompanying bacteria. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as may readily be shown by washing wheats that are ready for milling and incubating the washing water. Fruits, equally with cereals, are liable to this contamination. Wines, for example, for hundreds of years have been fermented by the yeasts which adhere to the grape in the “bloom” on the outside of the fruit. Hansen, the great expert on yeasts, has proved that during the period of the year when there are no grapes, the yeasts and other micro-organisms that exist in the soil in the form of spores, which are able to endure periods of stress that kill the adult micro-organisms. Similarly in the case of barley. We have found in our work, time after time, that germs of all kinds exist on the wrinkled surface of the grain. Not many years ago we were able to isolate pure cultures of the bacillus which induces tetanus or lockjaw. During the milling process it can be seen that germs left on the surface of the berry must necessarily pass into the finished flour. Flour, then, is not germ free.

It is claimed by certain millers, who bleach their flours, that one of the chief objects is to render it sterile or nearly so. Research has shown that this claim is justified only to a very limited extent. In the year 1904, Dr. F. M. Blumenthal studied the subject very thoroughly. Two of his results, as examples, will be quoted. In an unbleached rye meal there existed no less than 2,400 micro-organisms per gramme of the meal. After bleaching there still remained 1,600 micro-organisms per gramme. With flour unbleached he found 540 organisms per grain, and with bleached flour 170. In both cases the best figures are only given. It is pretty evident, then, that milled products are not germ free; and further, those spoken of as meals, or in other words, those that contain the husk, are much more contaminated than those from which the husk has been separated, e. g., the ordinary flour.

The chief object of this paper is to give students an idea as to the best methods of undertaking a research or investigation into the cause of contamination. Since taking up the study of bread-making, between five and six years ago, a number of very interesting cases of bacterial diseases of bread have come under my observation, but the one that impressed me more deeply than others was that of a case of bread baked in special tins at a very low temperature, and known in the trade as sandwich bread. For this purpose the bread must be cooked at the lowest possible temperature, so as to form little or no crust. In this particular case of sandwich bread, after a few days keeping, a peculiar formation, resulting in a hole, was developed in the center of the loaf and running in the direction of the length. Accompanying this development was a very unpleasant odor. All around the low flat hole the crumb had a dull, sodden appearance. The question to be settled was: What was the cause of this unpleasant formation? To one acquainted with the life history of very many of the lower forms of life, especially of vegetable life, there was little difficulty in ascribing it to filth bacteria. From the general appearance of a section of a loaf the only conclusion that could be arrived at was that the trouble was due to bacterial action, together with the products formed. Starting from these premises it became necessary to inquire into the sources of such contamination. These might be due to either (1) Dirty and unclean premises and plant, or (2) to the water used, or (3) to the yeast, or (4) to the flours, or (5) to bread improvers used (if any). It could not possibly be the salt, because salt is so strong an antiseptic that there could be no risk from this source. Numbers (1), (2) and (5) were easily eliminated. This narrowed down the work to a study of the flours and yeast. The details of the research will show the means taken to determine, if possible, the actual causes of the trouble. The work was still further narrowed down by the fact that if bacteria were at work it could only be a group capable of withstanding comparatively high temperatures. Again, a large number of expensive media were unnecessary, as bread was a suitable food for our purpose. The requisite appliances were those of an ordinary well-filled bacteriological laboratory.

* * * * *

Ordinary microscopic slides of the diseased bread were made with sterile water, and these examined by microscope. This revealed the presence of moulds and mucor spores, yeasts—both the ordinary cultivated and wild—and numerous bacteria. On further examination after incubation at suitable temperatures, most of the above-mentioned proved to be just the common micro-organisms existing in flours and bread. Some of the bread was then incubated at 80 degrees Fahrenheit for four days. The piece of bread was then found to be covered with a whitish-colored growth, which later developed into a dark yeasty color and possessed a very peculiar and strong odor. Samples of the flour and yeast used in the manufacture of the bread were treated in a similar manner. In four days the flour specimens showed the same peculiar growth which, in two days, changed to the dark fawn color possessing the same characteristic odor. The yeast, on the other hand, behaved quite normally and developed none of the strange symptoms.

* * * * *

The next step was to try to infect some sterile bread with this peculiar disease, if possible. To this end sterile bread was introduced into Petri dishes, moistened with sterile water, and some of the dish contents sprinkled with flour, and others with crumbs of the diseased bread. The incubation temperatures were 68 and 80 degrees Fahr., respectively. At the lower temperature, as well as at the higher, the cultures were all successful, but it took several days longer in the specimens—at the lower temperature. Various other cultures were now put on, with other media and different apparatus, with a view to isolating the special cause of the disease. All specimens, and also micro-slides from these, had to be examined regularly at fixed periods, entailing, of course, an enormous amount of detail work which cannot here be set forth. Suffice it to say that ultimately by varying the media and mode of cultivation swarms of very minute oval-shaped non-mobile bacteria, and also many rod-shaped mobile organisms, were isolated. By this time all yeasts, moulds, mucors, and other complex growing organisms had been eliminated. To ensure that all the apparatus and media were sterile, blank specimens were put on so as to be parallel with the special culture in each case.

By means of the plate (Petri dish) cultures and Bottcher moist cells, a group of minute bacteria belonging to the Thermo or film species was obtained by which this particular disease could be produced at will. Moreover, prepared in this way, the bacteria which cause the disease were, and still are, very virulent. It only remained now to identify the particular species of the Thermo-group, but this was not an easy matter, as the members of the Thermo group are exceedingly minute. The plate cultures yielded colonies which rapidly increased in size, the disease spreading over the media in all directions. It was finally identified as belonging to the Proteus division of the Thermo or septic bacteria. These exist in most fertile soils, hence the research showed that the flour was produced from near the outer skin of the wheat berry, or, in other words, a low grade of flour. Further, it proves that the miller, with all his modern machinery, has not yet perfected that portion which does the cleansing or washing of the wheat. It should be remembered that the complete washing of the wheat, so as to free it from dust and micro-organisms, especially in the deep crease, and the fine hairs or beard at the top of the berry, is not at all a simple matter; but much more could be done, even if only a very dilute antiseptic was used in the final or next to the last washing water, instead of finishing with the muddy fluid as at present.

BAKERY ACCOUNTING

BY WM. W. ALLAN

Next to the baking business itself, the most important item is that of an accounting system.

Checking Drivers

The first step in this direction is the making up of a list of the various kinds of bread wanted by each driver, showing in total the number of loaves of each brand ordered in the total column. In another column under heading “Total Made” have the foreman enter the number of loaves of each kind made. If a shipping business is conducted the amount of bread needed can also be shown on this sheet under heading “Shipping.” If a retail store is conducted in connection with the bakery the amount needed for store may also be shown on this sheet under heading “Store.” This completes the Bread Order. (See Fig. “A.”)

FIGURE “A.”

DAILY ORDER SHEET.

Date..................191..

Driver Driver Shipping Total Total
No. 1 No. 2 Store Order Articles Made

...................................... Buster Brown.........
...................................... Home Made............
...................................... Large Vienna.........
...................................... Small Vienna.........
...................................... Large Cream..........
...................................... Small Cream..........
...................................... Large Rye............
...................................... Small Rye............
...................................... Graham...............

Now prepare a loading sheet for each of the drivers which will show at the end of the day’s business the total amount of each kind of bread taken out and charged to each driver. (See Fig. “B.”) These sheets can be extended and used for checking in the drivers, as shown.

FIGURE “B.”

DRIVER’S LOADING SHEET.

Driver................No. 1 Date...........191..

1st 2nd 3rd Total Dr. Cr.
Trip Trip Trip Out Articles Amount Amount

................................ Buster Brown $.......$.......
................................ Home Made $.......$.......
................................ Large Vienna $.......$.......
................................ Small Vienna $.......$.......
................................ Large Cream $.......$.......
................................ Small Cream $.......$.......
................................ Large Rye $.......$.......
................................ Small Rye $.......$.......
................................ Graham $.......$.......
...............................................................
...............................................................
Total Charges $.......
Cr. Expense $.......
Cr. Cash $.......

A form called “Driver’s Returns” (See Fig. “C”) should also be used, showing the number of loaves of each kind of bread returned by the drivers, and which should be kept, and all entries made thereon, by the bread counter. It is very essential to have some one person, other than the drivers themselves, to check out the drivers and keep the drivers’ loading sheets.

FIGURE “C.”

DRIVER’S RETURNS.

Driver................No. 1 Date...........191..

Total
Returns Articles Amount

............................. Buster Brown $.....
............................. Home Made $.....
............................. Large Vienna $.....
............................. Small Vienna $.....
............................. Large Cream $.....
............................. Small Cream $.....
............................. Large Rye $.....
............................. Small Rye $.....
............................. Graham $.....
..................................................
..................................................
Total.........$.....

Signed...................................
Counter.

* * * * *

Another form called “Proving Sheet” (See Fig. “D”) should be kept in connection with the above forms, and upon which the daily driver’s, store, and shipping sales may be entered and compared with the daily output or total made.

FIGURE “D”

PROVING SHEET.

Date ............ 191..

Charged Bu. Hm. Lg. Sm. Lg. Sm. Lg. Sm. Gra.
To Br. Md. Va. Va. Cr. Cr. Ry. Ry. Gra.

Driver No. 1.
Driver No 2.
Store Account.
Shipping Account.
Total Charged ..............................................
Total Made ..............................................

Bread Department.

A Bread Department account should be kept in the ledger, and credit to this account should be made for drivers, shipping and store sales, and if bread is sold on the basis of four cents per loaf the total credit to this account divided by four will give the total number of loaves approximately sold for a month or any given period, which figures may be used in arriving at the cost of production per 1,000 loaves for any item of expense, such as bakers’ salaries, fuel, merchandise, etc., etc.

At the end of the month charge to the bread department all items of expense for that month, such as advertising, salaries, sundry expenses, light and fuel, merchandise, stable expense, and the monthly proportion of insurance and taxes—the balance will show the profit or loss in this department for such period.

Shipping Department.