South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-11-24
ARMY BAKING
IS GREAT TASK
American Bread-making Pro-
cess is Wonder to Curl
Gus Foreigners.

AMERICAN ADVANCE ZONE.
Nov %. - Correspondence -
Bread for the Yankee soldier in
France is baked not in the dainty
one-pound Ioaves used at home. bat
in loaves that weigh - pounds
each They are so big as 10 be in
convenient and the size now is being
changed 70 a uniform square loaf
of four pounds.
AL the baking is on a huge scale.
Asked for the recipe by which
American bread has attained its SUI
periority among al the allied arm
les, the chief baker gave ii as fol-
lows:
Flour, 160 pounds; sugar. salt.
yeast. lard and water 56 pounds: to-
tai, PIC pounds. Re did not define
the amount Of the various inCred-
tents. possibly from fear of giving
information 20 the bakers of the
German army.
The huge quantities Of dough al
ways on hand "again" or rising un-
der the influence of the yeast look
like a giant battery Of snowballs.
Each dough is a huge mass weigh
ing $50 pounds which two men
handle with difficulty over II the
soldiers bend. naked to the waist.
kneedirg and mixing Then the huge
mass rolls along TO the next table.
where ii is drawn into long thick
strings. which the soldiers deftly
chop off in 12-pound lOaves, never
varying an ounce, ready for the
ovens.
One Standard Of Bread
There is but one standard CT army
bread. for officers and men alike,
and Gen. Pershing eats exactly the
same kind of four pound loaf as the
soldier in the ranks. In fact, the
American army bread is so superior
TO the civilian bread commonly on
sale in France. that it IS regarded as
a great LUXURY. officers and men
are besieged by civilians to get them
some of the fine, white American
/ bread and American officers at ho-
tells are the envy of other guests for
the army bread they are able to
eat
It was suggested to the head baker
I that tradition gave women the first
place as bread makers. and ne was
asked If women could not be utilized
/ IN making this army bread. thus re-
/ iieving 1000 men for service on the
/ fighting lines.
Women wouldn't last one day in
this kind Of hard work" ia said.
This is bread making by the ton.
and by millions of loaves. and II
! takes physical strength 10 handle the
huge quantities of material 1t would
I he impossible for women and IL is
the hardest kind of work for men"
At the ovens a baking had just
( started There are seven of these
I bakings each day. and seven each
night. for the work goes on night
and day with two shifts of men.
one going at a. m. and the other
at s p. m. There are 20 companies.
and each company Of 100 men has 10
ovens Each baking takes about an
/ hour and 80 minutes, which yields
an average of IA bakings through
/ the "a hours.
Thousands Of loaves Of hot bread.
fresh from the ovens were being
stacked in the tent warehouses,
where for two days the bread is
| being allowed to cool. dry. and sea-
son. before being shipped to 1.-THE
front Hot bread, the escort ex-
l planned, cannot be shipped as il
steams in the cars and begins to get
J musty and mouldy There has been
some complaint OF this from the
front of late, due 10 shipping the
bread soon after baking so the sol
diers could have it crisp and fresh.
and so the regulation has been fixed
/ OF holding it two days before ship
ment
1t is a huge process. the bread
making for a whole army. and like
all the American undertakings. il
! IS an object Of admiration and won
/ der 10 the foreigners for the
/ smoothness and perfection with
which the gigantic field esta blish-
! ment is ca -ried on
]