BREAD

Home-made bread is very much more palatable and more nutritious than baker’s bread and it is worth while to spend time and effort in its preparation.

To make good bread, it is necessary to have good flour, fresh yeast and the liquid used in moistening must be neither too hot nor too cold or the bread will not rise properly.

FLOUR

The housekeeper should know about the different kinds of flour.  We get the bread flour from the spring wheat; the pastry flour from the winter wheat.

Bread flour contains more gluten than pastry flour and is used for bread on that account.  Pastry flour having less gluten and slightly more starch is more suitable for pastry and cake mixtures and is used wherever softness and lightness are desired.

Graham flour is the whole kernel of wheat ground.

Entire wheat flour is the flour resulting from the grinding of all but the outer layer of the wheat.

Rye flour is next best to wheat flour for bread making, but is generally combined with wheal flour, since by itself it makes a sticky bread.

Cornmeal is also combined with wheat flour.

Variety bread is composed of bread flour, rye flour and cornmeal combined in one loaf.

If flour is musty; it is not kosher and must be destroyed.  Keep flour either in tins or barrels in a dry atmosphere.

YEAST

In cities where fresh compressed yeast can be obtained, it is not worth while to prepare one’s own.

Compressed yeast is always in proper condition to use until it becomes soft, often the yeast cakes are slightly discolored, but this does not affect the yeast, being caused by the oxidation of the starch in the cake.

Keep yeast in cool place.

HOME MADE YEAST

Grate six large raw potatoes, have ready a gallon of water in which you have boiled one and one-half cups of hops.  Strain through a fine hair sieve, boiling hot, over the potatoes, stirring well, or the mixture will thicken like starch.  Add a scant cup of sugar and one-half cup of salt.  When cold, add a yeast cake or a cup of fresh yeast.  Let it stand until a thick foam rises on the top.  Bottle in a few days.  If kept in a cool place, this yeast will last a long time.  Use one cup of yeast for one large baking.  In making yeast, from time to time, use a cup of the same with which to start the new yeast.

One cup of liquid yeast is equal to one cake of compressed yeast.

When yeast is not obtainable to start the fermentation in making yeast, mix a thin batter of flour and water, and let it stand in a warm place until it is full of bubbles.  This ferment has only half the strength of yeast so double the amount must be used.

TO MAKE BREAD