The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1888-01-05
I In A BIG BAKERY.
AN INoUlSlTIVE REPORTER SPENDS
ANlGHT WITH THE PROPRIETOR.


AN INouISlTIVE REPORTER SPENDS
ANlGHT WITH THE PROPRIETOR.
A Crowd of Men, Women and Children
in Front of New York Bread Making
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and Dis
tribution-Sponge, Dough and Flour:
A disorderly crowd of men, women and
children swayed in front of q bakery on
East Seventy-fifth street the other after
noon. Nearly all carried covered baskets
ON their arms. Occasionally little fell
low received blow over the head from a
basket for crowding some one older than
himself
When questioned concerning the cause
of the excitement the proprietor said: eve
supply almost every restaurant in the city
with fresh baked bread. All that is left
over from the preceding day we take back
and give fresh loaf in exchange. When
1t is returned to the bakery we sell it to
these poor people at three cents loaf. 1t
is really more wholesome than when fresh
from the oven and sold at eight cents q
loaf. The stale bread is always in de-
mand, and we sometimes see lively scenes
around here when the supply is short"
The proprietor then invited the reporter
to spend a night with him in the bakery.
He led the way through aisles of loaf bread
piled six feet high. There were all kinds
of bread in these piles, from the long vi
emma and long French baseball bats to the
chubby loaf of rye.
"We make thirty-two different kinds
and styles of bread, and ten different
styles of rolls" said he. ''They are baked
in six huge ovens, having a capacity Of
1000 loaves an hour. Our reel oven is
the largest and only one of it's kind in the
country. 1t is two stories high and about
thirty feet square. 1t contains large
turbine Wheel on which the kneaded
dough is placed. AS the wheel revolves
the bread remains upright. Twelve hun
dred loaves are baked in this huge oven
every forty-five minutes"
In the basement of the bakery clouds of
flour dust nearly choked the spectator.
The forms Of busy men, arrayed in white,
could be seen through it. Over the long
troughs the workmen were leaning, dash
ing the flour to and fro, and mixing the
dry with the wet flour until all in the
trough was pure dough. Caldrons of fer
ment stood ready to make stock yeast.
Sponge into dough was converted and the
loaf was ready to bake.
After being baked the loaves were piled
in such manner that they could be easily
counted by two men who began work at
OPP. m. and worked all night. These men
fill the orders of the drivers, who deliver
to the customers early in the morning.
At II p. m. the men were REINFORCED
by ten more bakers. The rapidity with
which flour was changed into dough was
surprising Barrel after barrel was turned
into the long troughs and quickly handed
over to the men at the oven, who took
charge of it until it was ready for baking.
Each of the forty men in the establish
ment works eleven hours only. Some
work during the day one week and at
night the following week. Bench men
are paid $14 per week and oven men SIT
per week. The place is never idle and
the fires are never drawn. Nothing short
of an earthquake could check the current
of the staff of life which flows from the
bakery.
About forty-f1ve barrels of flour are
used daily. The empty barrels are headed
up and sold to coopers for 20 cents apiece.
''Over 1850 loaves of rye bread day
are baked here" said the proprietor. SIT
took two years of experimenting to pro-
Guce the right favored rye bread, but to-
day we make the handsomest fifteen inch,
two pound loaf you ever laid your eyes
upon"
'Do you supply families9'' ked the
writer.
'.Not directly" was the reply. "Fami-
lies now buy their bread from grocery
stores, and we supply the grocer. There
is no money supplying families direct, and
the bakers who have tried it have failed.
Our wagons carry from 500 to 500 loaves
n trip, which they deliver inside of two
hours. 1t would take day and half to
deliver that number at private houses"
"What is your head yeast or ferment?"
asked the writer.
'sHead yeast is the source from which
fcrment is obtained for making stock
yeast. The ingredients of head yeast are
hops and malt and water and -four. These
are the only ingredients we use, although
some use porter and sugar instead of malt,
Great care is taken in the making of yeast,
and none but the oldest and best glutin-
ous flour ought to be used. Weak flour
would produce feeble yeast, and unsatis-
factory bread would be the result.
''Stock yeast is so called, !" he continued,
t'because it is the stock or supply of yeast
used in making the sponge. 1t is simply
q continuation of the ferment. Potato fer
inent is also used by US. Its ingredients
arc flour, water, head yeast and potatoes
The bread made with it will not dry out
as quickly as bread made with yeast.
Bread ordinarily weighs fye-sixteenths
heavier than the flour it contains, the ex-
cess being water.
The sponge is a mixture of flour,
water and fermenting substance of some
kind When mixed with the dough it
fcrrents the entire mass, rendering it
porous, spongy and elastic. Sponge is
also made to test the fermenting quality
of the yeast without using all the flour. TO
make the dough you work the sponge with
such quantities of flour, water and salt as
will give the proper consistency to the
baked bread. If the dough is too thin the
;,as will escape too rapidly, the raising
4viii subside too early and the bread will
DC damp, heavy and sour to taste and
smell If the dough is too dry-that is,
# too little water has been used-the fer
incubation will be slow. If too slow it
may turn sour.
EVERY kind of flour requires treat
mcnt peculiar to itself to give the best re-
suits. We often waste large quantities of
it in experimenting. The very best quail
lies of -four often fail to make good bread
when insufficiently kneaded, because the
water is too slow to combine with it.
Other flours, whether kneaded much or
little, will absorb water, make q strong
Cough and produce strong bread. u
New York Evening Sun.
Fun of the 'sRacy'' Novels.