Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1921-11-03
THE ROMANCE IF A HOT BISCUIT

yes, thoEsands of years OF experimen
tation. Romance is all along thu
backward way from the modern mill
to the days Of the quern, the saddle
stone, and the old old rounded grind
ing stone of the Stone Age.
Those ancient forefathers, or rather
foremothers of mankind, first ground
their grains and nuts by using q
round piece of sandstone as a grind.
er, and another, stone, the surface Of
rock, as base.
Then came the saddle stone, a con-
cave base on which grain was spread
and rubbed into a coarse meal. The
dough was laid on heated fiat or con-
vex stones covered with hot ashes and
baked.
Somewhere around 200 B. C. the
quern came into use. One stone re-
volved and crushed the grain against
another. Huge mill stones driven by
water power are credited to the Ro-
mans; steam power to the men of the
18th century. Romance is thus found
even in pan Of hot biscuits.
Bake ovens of kind have been dis
covered in the ruined courtyards of
the ancient Chaldeans. Apparently
each houreholder possessed one where
some kind of cakes or biscuits were
baked.
Modern grinding of wheat might
be called the first step toward the
achievement Of present day hot bis
cults; knowledge of the uses of
yeast and baking powder the second;
and the manufacture of self-rising
flour which began in Charleston, S. C.
and enabled housewives to prepare
hot biscuits and bread more easily
and economically than before, the
LulrQ anu last.
Over 100000 barrels of self-rising
-four are now being sold annually in
the Southeast alone. Biscuits are as
common there as soda crackers and
ginger crackers are in the North.
Self-rising -four is nothing more or
less than high grade Of plain -four,
plus refined acid phosphate, ordinary
baking soda, and dry table salt-sub-
stantially the same chemical proper
ties as appear in the usual baking
powder formula. The acid phosphate
and soda, under the influence of mois-
ture and heat, react and liberate leav-
ening gas, which bubbles up, giving
to the dough the light, cellular struc-
ture required for perfect baking.
Calcium phosphate, used in this
flour, is necessary for perfect nutri-
tion. Cereals C Cereal Products"
issued by the U. S. Department of
Agriculture states that:
Phosphate is perhaps the most
valuable of all the mineral foods of
plants. 1t is certain that phosphate
plays most important role in the
vital organism, aside from its useful
ness in the building of bone. Phos-
phate is quite as indispensable as
water or air to vegetable or animal
life"
The usual formula for baking pow
der and that for the self-rising -four
is about the same, except that bak-
ng powder contains a considerable
quantity of corn starch or some filler
used as a preservative.. The manu-
facture rof self-rising -four has intel
ligently added just the right quantity
of ingredients to a barrel of -four to
enable the housewife to prepare her
food properly. No overdose or under
dose is possible.
Baking powder, however, on ac-
count of the necessity of covering the
price Of cans, corn starch and the.
tremendous cost of distribution costs
the consumer at the rate of 81 bar.
rel. A barrel of flour, containing self
rising ingredients has but % cents
added to its cost. Adding a loss of
40 cents worth of -four which has to
be taken out to make room for these
gives a total of 65 cents.
This is saving Of 1886 barrel On
IL 100000 barrels used in the
Southeast annually it means a saving
of s33,5OO,OOO.
Self-rising flour has been subjected
to the closest scrutiny and examina-
tion by many State and National food
authorities who have never question
ed its purity and wholesomeneSs. No
rule or regulation has ever been pub
lished to prohibit its sale, all authori-
ties recognizing the saving to the
consumer and the absolute purity of
the product.
Mrs. E. l.. Siler, of Maxton, n. c.,
is expected to arrive in Cheraw today
Thursday to visit Miss Laura Inglis.