Iron County register., 1883-04-26
but few bakers have succeeded in Dleas-

but few bakers have succeeded in pleas
ing the palate of people by it.
The loaf is apt to be dry and tasteless
and one soon tires of it. The other plan
was to put the chemicals themselves
into the dough, and thus make the loaf
light. But the difficulty here was to
find harmless substances to use. Hydro
chloric acid, tartaric acid, cream of tar
tar. acid phosphate of lime, and alum,
have all been used to set the carbonic
acid gas free from the soda or saleratus,
the compound made by this reaction
being left in the bread, as salt, tartrate
of soda, Rochelle salt, phosphate of soda
and phosphate of lime, or sulphate OF
soda and potash and alumina.
Each of these chemical processes has
its adherents, and while doctors disa-
gree it is not best for chemists to be too
decided. Hydrochloric acid and soda
are the best, theoretically, for the pur-
pose (because the product is salD, but
they are the most difficult to use. In
any case, the flour undergoes no chem,
ical alterations; it is only erated or
made porous. In any process of fer
mention, on the other hand, a portion
of the flour does suffer a change, and
this change is the basis of the claim on
the labels of some baking powders that
> by their use One-seventh of the barrel Of
flour is saved.
When bread is made with leaven OF
yeast the first stage of the change is a
quiet one; the conversion of a portion
of the starch into glucose sugar Chat
is, fruit sugar, not cane sugar). This
chemical action does not give off any
gas. The next step is the fermentation
of the sugar. This change is the same
which takes place in wine or beer max
ing, and is called alcoholic fermenta-
ton. The products are carbonic acid
gas and alcohol, in nearly equal parts
by weight, the alcohol being little in
excess. Graham, of Graham bread
fame, reckOned that in London alone
100000 gallons of alcohol Were sent into
the air from the bakeries. Undoubtedly
there is a loss of flour in any fcrmenta-
tive process, but when we find that the
decomposition of ten cents worth of
flour will yield as much carbonic acid
gas as one pound of soda and two
pounds of cream of tartar, costing one
dollar, or perhaps a dollar and a half.
we do not listen quite readily to the
plea of economy in the use of soda
bread. In good skillful bread-making
the loss in starch is said not to exceed
two per cent.
Yeast bread should be thoroughly
baked, in order that the germs of the
ferment may be killed, and new bread
should be eaten only when it has
large proportion of crust, and very little
crumb, for the thick loaf does not get
done through so as to stop the action of
the Yeast If the Thermometer were
more generally used by cooks, a better
obtained. On trial of the tempera-
ture of the inside of loaf of bread
which had been for an hour in an oven
heated to 45O degrees F.. the thermome-
ter showed a temperature Of little less
than 200 degrees F., which is less than
that Of boiling water. This shows how
it is possible for the bread not to be
done when it is taken from the oven.
Some change goes on for about ten
hours. and yet the bread does not lose
in weight.
The great danger in making soda
bread is that there may be an excess of
the soda. This is shown by the yellow
color and offensive smell, when hot, of
such bread. The yellow color is caused
by the action of the alkali on the gluten
of the flour, and the products of this de-
composition are very injurious to ths
digestive organs. Good bread is. in
deed, the staff of life, and it should re.
ceive more attention from the intelli-
gent women of America, a country |
where wheat is so abundant.-Nrs. Il. |
II. Richards, Massachusetts Institute Of |
Iechnol0gy.