The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-12-08

Is there any part OF the report, or OF
would modify?"
/" Not word. My examination was most
carefully and accurately made; the deduc-
lions drew from the tests were the newt
able ones, and the opinions ] expressed
were unquestionably correct"
You say, DOCTOR that the Royal Baking
Powder is superior to any other baking
powder which you have examined"
That is my report"
Have you examined many other baking
powders?"
quite a number"
Wherein, doctor, consists this superb
GRITTY which you find in the Royal over
other brands?'
I" AS stated in my report, in the great
purity of its ingredients, in the unques-
toned propriety and wholesomenesS of those
ingredients, in the exact proportions of the
same, and the chemical accuracy and skill
with which they have been combined. As
| said before, it is, | believe, a baking pow
der unequaled for purity, strength and
wholesomenesS.'
Doctor, the Journals lady readers would
like you to inform them what are the pecu-
liar virtues of good baking powder over
other and more old-fashioned methods of
raising bread, biscuit and cake?"
THAT would require n long answer, some
thing in the nature of lecture. Briefly,
! however, the advantage of such baking
| powder over yeast consists in the quicker
work it accomplishes, in the preservation of
! some of the best elements of the flour which
! are destroyed in the production of the car
bonic acid gas by the use of yeast, and in
| the absolute certainty OF sweet, light and
| digestible food Over other methods for
! quick raising, the merits of pure baking
| powder are great 1t is always ready Tor
! use, the acid and alkali are combined in
exact proportions to produce definite re-
| suits, or to render the largest amount of
! leavening gas and leave nothing more than
a neutral residuum. which is not the result
where cream of tartar and soda are bought
separately and mixed in the kitchen, for it
will always occur where this is done that
one or the other of these substances will
predominant, making the food yellow,
heavy, bitter and unwhoesome. Besides,
| the cream of tartar which can be procured
! by the housekeeper is mostly aduterated,
adding to the uncertainty of the results or
the Embellishments of the food. All these
difficulties are avoided in the use of a pure,
properly-made baking powder"
"Will baking powders keep? How long
will they hold their strength?''
" If properly made, until used A perfect
baking powder must combine superlative
strength with power to retain it in
definitely. Baking powders generally are
| robbed of the necessary preserving agent in
order to give present strength, or else have
their efficiency largely destroyed by the adj
dition of large quantities of flour to prevent
premature decomposition. The method by
which both these qualities are retained in
the highest degree produces the perfect ar
ticle, and this | believe is fully accom-
plished in the Royal Baking Powder. have
seen AN analysis of baking powder which
showed twenty-one per cent of Rochelle
salts. The baking powder was not fresh,
and because of the improper manner in
which it had been made the ingredients had
combined forming the purgative salt. |
give this as an illustration of those baking
powders whose keeping qualities are sacr-
feed to present strength. How TO get both
strength and keeping quality is the secret OF
baking powder success"
" Doctor, what about ammonia in baking
powder"
g." SesQui-carbonate of ammonia is some
times used in the higher class of baking
powders"
Is it injurious or Objectionable"
" Nonsense! Quite the contrary. 1t has
been used for generations in the finest food.
1t is very volatile agent Heat entirely
evolves it into gas, leaving no residuum
Were it used in sufficient quantity to do the
entire work of aeration, | am inclined to
believe it would be the acme of leavening
agents. Some of the highest authorities, as
Hassall, recommend its exclusive use fol
this purpose in preference to yeast or other
kinds of leaven. 1t is universally admitted
to be a wholesome and valuable agent, and
no chemist of reputation will class it other
wise. | have become indignant when
have read the silly charges that have fire.
quently been made through ignorance oil
otherwise against it,"
"Then those manufacturers who adver
tse that their powder does not contain it
"Confess that their powder lacks a mos
useful, wholesome and excellent ingre-
dent"
But they say its origin is flthy?'
" Its origin and method of preparation
are no more filthy than are the origin and
preparation of bread. All this talk about
ammonia in baking powder and its filthy
origin is the verest rubbish. a man dis
graces himself when he lends himself tC
any such statements. 1t is particularly un
fair for baking powder manufacturers tt
seek to pervert the truth or prejudice the
ignorant or unwary by statements that it il
either harmful or dirty. Ammonia exists
in the very air we breathe, and is largely
present in nature as a wholesome sub
stance"