Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-07-31
Bread Making.

When we consider the fact that three
times day. every day in the year,
bread of some kind is placed upon the
table as an article of food, does it not
seem that every housekeeper should
exert herself to make it as palatable
and wholesome rs possible? And yet.
in many households heavy. soggy, sour
bread is often placed before the family,
and the hOusekeeper attributes the ia l.
ure to dad luck" rather than to the
true cause. When carpenter has fin
ished poorly made, bad looking build
ing, in which he has put bad material
and careless work, we might with equal
propriety say that he had had ''bad
luck" in its erection.
If the rules for making good bread
were faithfully complied with. there
be no such thing as ''bad luck" and
heavy. indigestiblc bread, that pro-
duces disordered stomachs and de-
ranged systems, would never be known.
But there are so many housekeepers
who nave no rules for measurement!
With such, the result of bread-making
is left to chance; at one time it will be
nice and light; at another, altogether
unfit for use.
In order to have good bread, there
are three things necessary, with which.
if care is taken in the mixing, one need
never fail; without which, good bread
is an impossibility. These are, first,
good material; second, exact proper
tons in compromising; and third, heat
| lust suited to perfect baking of the
| bread.
The difference of one or two dollars
on barrel should never be considered.
The best should be purchased always.
No one can expect to enjoy good health
when his food is made of inferior ma
terial, and so in the end it proves to be
poor economy to purchase such. When
making bread, the ingredients should
always be either weighed o: measu! ed,
but as measuring is much easier and
GU cker done, it is the most advisable
way. A Quart and pint measure, used
only for measuring breadstuf's, should
| always remain II a convenient place for
using, and measure for saleratus,
baking powder or whatever raising"
is used. should also have convenient
place of its own. My experience has
taught me that spoon is not an accu-
rate measure, and for that reason have
wholly abandoned its use as such.
Small measures of any desired size can
be made to order for mere triie at any
tin SHOP, and their use is invaluable to
good success in cooking.
think there are comparatively few
who realize how very important it is that
the oven should be of just proper heat
when the bread is first put in. An ex-
perieDced baker once told me that of
all the conditions necessary to good
bread, none were of more importance
than the temperature of the oven.
Bread and rolls raised with yeast do not
require so great a heat as if made with
saleratus or baking powder. No mat
ter how much care has been given to
the mixing of such bread, if the oven is
not sufficiently hot it will not be light.
Ii there is any place where a thermom-
eter is needed it is an oven, to guide
the cook in the matter of getting cor
rect heat. But since we are not blessed
with such convenience, each person
must experiment for herself and adopt
such plans for her guidance as she may
think best. When making any kind of
bread that must be Immediately baked,
the oven should be heated before mixing
the dough, so that the instant it is
ready it can be put in. / never place
the tin in which the bread is baked on
the bottom of the oven, but it is ele-
waited by thin, open CRATE, which
allows the hot air to pass under the tin.
and the bottom of the bread is evenly
baked and the danger of its burning is
avoided.
With little practice, the hand be-
comes very good thermometer for test
ing the heat Of the oven. BY plac-
ing it in the oven, one can soon learn,
from the feeling produced by the hot
air, the different degrees of heat re-
quired for the different articles of food
In our family is an invalid whose diet
consists mostly of bread. With view
to obtaining the best for lis use. 1 have
experimental largely in bread-making,
and have correspondent with some of
the best authority on the subject in this
country, hoping to receive advice that
would be help to US. have found that
none gives such satisfaction as that
made from whole wheat four. raised
with baking powder Bread. biscuits,
gems and cake made of flour give
excellent food. OF course it does
not make white looking bread as
does the white -four. but when We
consider that it contains all the nutri-
ment of the wheat, while the white
-four contains bu: small per cert,
the fact II its being dark should have
no weight whatever. For inyalids and
persons in delicate health, it is special
" adapted. Such persons often suffer
from loss of appetite. and take little
food, and from this -four they get o
larger amount Of nutriment from the
same quantity OF food than from that
made Of the white flour. Burns,
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