Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-28
FACTS ABOUT BREAD
And Some Secrets OF the Bakers Bush
ness.

FACTS ABOUT BREAD
And Some Secrets OF the Bakers BUSH
ness.
From the Nsto YORK Maitland EopreSs.
Four thousand journeymen bakers work
night and day to make bread for the city
of New York. Their labor is oppressive
and weakening, and their pay is poor.
Some of them by dint of untiring industry
and the most saving habits have accumu-
lated sufficient means to start little shops
for themselves. They do their own bak'
ing, supply the surrounding nelghbor-
hood, and send their bread around In the
morning by the apprentice boy, who car
ries 1t in a large willow basket which he
balances on his head. But the baker who
succeeds in winning out shop is one
among a hundred. The average baker
moves along in the same rut from day to
day, and dies In harness, very often WIN
out money enough. to pay his funeral eX-
penses. Nearly all the bakers are Ger
mans or French. Some are irish ano
American, but they are in vast minor
ity. The bakers or this CITY have 2 traue
organization, but at is badly conducVeu
and possesses but little practical power
1t is a good baker, indeed, who can COM
mand $l2 per week, and many work for
So. Had they perfect trades unions this
state of affairs would soon change. The
French baker is the finest in the world
and the most Independent. They know
their own value and conduct themselves
accordingly. A German baker in Third
avenue employed French workman 60
make the finest grade of fancy bread.
Everything was pleasant for week or
two. when the foreman gave the
Frenchman an inferior grade of -four
to work with. Mr.. Gaul at once de-
tected the change and put on his street
attire.
''Vat is de matter NIT youp' inquired
the boss.
II cannot wild re selfrespect work
MORE" answered the Frenchman. "Ze
grade of re flour IS inferieur."
"Vot has dot to do init youP shouted
the German, "dot is my business"
"Pardon, m'sieu," replied the son OF
France "Et is not re question Of re flour
or re bread, ct is ze reputation OF myself
and no amount of persuasion could induce
him to return to work.
SOME SECRETS OF THE BUSINESS
A barrel of good flourshou make from
go to 2S5 DC. lOaves. Many bakers blend
four brands, say two Minnesota springs
and two Indiana winters, before they get
luH TlBUb dllOy. Obu6Tb use Onlf Dub Rldue
of spring and two of winter wheat. These
make the best brands Of fancy bread.
Formerly yeast was made of malt, pota-
toes and hops, and this is extensively
used. Fancy bread bakers, however, use
a patent yellow compressed yeast. 1t is
popularity supposed that bakers use alum
extensively in order tc whiten their bread
Such is not the fact There is no neces-
sity for the use of alum, and it is not used
IN the trade. There are about twenty
large steam bakeries in New York which
give employment to several hundred men
One of these, noted Broadway establish
ment, makes a specially Of Vienna bread
and does an immense business
Vienna bread is made in air
tight ovens, of the best grade
offiour, and milk is used instead OF
wafer in mixing the dough. In baking
the steam settles back on the bread in
stead Of escaping. This makes the outer
crust thin and tender and gives the bread
peculiarly rich taste and pleasant
aroma. What is known TO the trade as
"steam" bread is another recent inven-
ton. 1t is made of the very finest of flour
and baked in alright pans which in
close it on all sides. 1t is thus baked in
it's own steam and possesses flavor
peculiarly its own. One very large bakery
in the city is devoted solely TO the
production of aerated bread. 1t is steam
factory, and the bread so made is ex-
tremely light and spongy. The invention
Is an English one, but mas been in use
here for years. When the dough has
reached a certain consistency, 1t is run
into an air-tight cylinder and strongly
impregnated with carbOnic acid gas. This
creates the lightness and sponginess with
out detracting in the slightest from its
nutritious qualities.
There are few bakers in this city who
make speciality OF Boston brown bread,
which New EnglandeTs adore and eat
with their Sunday morning breakfasts OF
baked beans. 1t Is composed OF yellow
corn and rye meal, sweetened with
molasses or brown sugar. During the
balance of the week B0stOnians content
themselves with ordinary bread and are
partial to fresh tea biscuit at night. Our
German fellow citizens eat rye bread al
most exclusively, and are particularly
fond OF the schwarZ and kummel brod,
which at this season are TO be found on
the lunch table Of almost every beer
saloon. Both are made from black rye,
but the kummel has carawaY seeds
sprinkled through the dough before bak-
ing. Americans, English, Irish and
French prefer wheat bread as fresh and
white as possible. Southern people eat
corn bread smoking hot, and their wheat
bread is usually i'm the form OF small, fiat
soda biscuits, which are not palatable
when cold-whence may be OWNED the
reason for the reign Of dyspepsia and
heartburn in the South. In strong con-
trast, strange as it may seem, are our
cOlored brethren, who never eat corn
bread II they Jean help IL, and who like
their wheat bread warm and spOngy.
Italians and Chinese live on stale bread
bought at the large steam bakeries and
seldom suffer from tOOthache. Many inn
proyements have been made In the con-
struction OF bakers ovens. Now they are
air-tight, and the wOrkmen are as far as
possible protected from tho glare Of the
fire, and by an ingenious system OF self.
acting telemeters, ana automatic levers
acting on fues and air-valyes, the tenn
perature inside the oven can be regulated
TO a half degree without opening the
doors. Some years ago machine was
invented, the purpose OF which was 10
knead dough by steam power. IL proved
an utter failure, and dough Is kneaded
to-day, as IL has always been, by hand
The silly story that bakers kneaded their
dough with their feet never had any