Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 3 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| White Bread | 1 slice (30g) white | 79 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 quart warm water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon
- 94 white bread
- two kinds kept on hand
- 95 put the flour
- half fill the greased tins
- one housekeeper says
- 96 wliite bread
- one filled
Directions
This is brought about by ( a ) the growth of the yeast plant or by the action ( b ) of bicarbonate of soda on some acid. Both of these methods have their ad- vantages.
The action of the yeast plant when
brought into contact with flour and water is to develop carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. This it does at the expense of the little sugar already
94 White Bread.
in the flour, but still more at the expense of that which it manufactures out of the starch, or as some say, out of the gluten. The chemist ascertains this loss of nutritive matter to be as high as 1$, and Lie- big, who was strongly opposed to this method of bread raising, estimated that 40,000 people might be fed on the flour that was wasted in this way in Ger- many alone. But notwithstanding this waste, the method, on account of its convenience and the good taste it gives to bread, still holds its ground.
The time cannot be far distant when the baker will furnish us better and cheaper bread than we can make in our own kitchens. This has long been the case on the continent of Europe, but for some reason we have not yet reached that point in civilization and the housekeeper must still learn this art and practice it, for good bread is a necessity.
The best flour is, even for the poor,
Quality of flour. . , , . . , -T ,
the cheapest, as it makes more and bet- ter bread to the pound. There should always be two kinds kept on hand; the yellowish, high-priced gluten flour for bread making, and the whiter, cheaper sort for pastry, cake and thickenings.
No recipe for making yeast will be given, as the com- pressed yeast is so much better than the house-wife can make, and is now obtainable even in small towns.
Proportions. 1 quart warm water, To make bread. _ , , , . v „ n . , ,
2% qts. (about) of flour, 1 tablespoon
salt, 1 tablespoon or one cake of compressed yeast, or -J cup liquid yeast. The proportions of flour and water differ according to the quality of the flour, the gluten flours taking up much more water than the starch flours.
White Bread. 95
Put the flour and salt into your bread pan and make a hole in the middle, then pour in gradually the water in which the yeast has been dissolved, mixing as you pour with your hand or with a spoon. As soon as the mass will hold together, take it out on a moulding board and with floured hands work it grad- ually into a tender dough, using as little flour as possi- ble, for the dough must remain as soft as can be handled. This first moulding should take from 15 to 20 minutes. Then let the bread rise in a warm place ; the yeast plant can live in a temperature ranging from 30° to 170° F. but thrives best at about 72°. Cover with a cloth and in winter keep by a warm stove. If made with compressed yeast, the dough will rise the first time in an hour. Take it at its first lightness, before it begins to sink back (it should be like a honeycomb all through, and double or treble its original bulk), put it on your moulding board, or ^ of it at a time, and mould it well until it is fine and tender again. Add no flour this time but keep the hands moist with warm water or milk or with lard. Divide into loaves — small ones — which should only half fill the greased tins, and set again to rise, keeping it at the same temperature and letting it get very light again. Flour that is rich in gluten requires longer to rise than that containing more starch.
It is difficult to give directions about the heat of the oven. One housekeeper says " hot enough so that you can hold your hand in till you count twelve," another, " until you can count thirty," and the puzzled novice can only inquire " how fast do you count?" The oven must be hot
96 Wliite Bread.
enough to brown the bread lightly in ten minutes, and to bake a small loaf in from twenty minutes to half an hour.
If more convenient, a bread sponge
Additional facts. , , G . , , ,
may be made at first with the water, yeast, and part of the flour, and when light, the rest of the flour added. It hastens the process a little. HOW many times Do not let the bread rise more than
shall bread rise? twice; it loses each time some of its nutritive qualities. Bread raised once is coarse of grain but sweet to the taste. TO keep bread Mould it harder than you do bread
long. that is to be eaten soon.
Dough that has Set the bread pan immediately into
become chilled. a larger one filled with warm water and as the water cools replace with warm until the dough begins to rise again. Dough raised du- This method is often convenient, and
ring the night, does very well if slower yeast is used, but bread is better to be raised quickly with com- pressed yeast. If the latter is used a forenoon is suf- ficient for the process of making and baking. TO delay the -^or convenience, as to make warm
baking of bread biscuits for supper, rising dough may
dough. be kept at a stan(istill for hours with-
out injury at a temperature of about 50°, as in a cel- lar, and an hour before baking brought into a warm room to finish the rising process.