AN IMPROVED LEAVEN
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frédéric Ludewig, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Chemist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED LEAVEN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frédéric Ludewig at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st November 1856.
I, FREDERIC LUDEWIG, of Paris, in the Empire of, France, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED LEAVE,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention, patented in France for fifteen years in my favor, from the
Thirty-first May, One thousand eight hundred fifty-six, relates to the manu-
facture of an improved leaven, called white sweet and dry leaven, and is
intended to be employed in the manufacture of bread and of any pastry, as well
as in distilling operations.
The advantages resulting from its use are, first, in the cost price, which
is much less than that of the leaven heretofore used; second, in its forming
an active fermenting agent; third, its preservation, which may be rendered
almost indefinite; fourth, and lastly, its white color, which does not alter
that of the meal or flour.
It is conducive to the production of a bread (or pastry) sweet, white,
nutritive, digestive, and healthful.
The products and their proportion, which constitute the composition of my
leaven, is the following: -

page_text: 1st, meal of germinated barley (malt)
1st, 2nd, meal of germinated white beans
-3rd, potato starch -
2nd, gelatin, in a state of jelly
66 pounds avoirdupois.
66 pounds avoirdupois.
-
66 pounds avoirdupois.
6 pounds avoirdupois.
3rd, sweet leaven, obtained in a previous operation - 8 pounds avoirdupois.
The meal of malt, "the meal of germinated white beans," and the meal of
potato starch are mixed together in the above equal parts; they are afterwards
mixed in water heated to about 147° Fahrenheit, in quantity just sufficient to
form a well-mixed pasto without any clot. When so prepared, I add water
till it becomes a thin paste, which is heated gradually to the temperaturo
of 190° Fahrenheit, after which the mixture is allowed to cool. I add six
pounds (avoirdupois) of gelatine, previously softened in water, and mix it with
the above thin pasto when it is reduced to 140° Fahrenheit. After it is mixed
eight or ten hours, according to the temperature of the atmosphere, the thin
paste will have a sourish taste, and when this tasto is attained, and it is cooled
by allowing the mixture to rest, or by adding water at a temperature of about
74° Fahrenheit, I take of it about one hundred pints, which I mix with eight
pounds (avoirdupois) of a sweet leaven obtained in a previous operation. This
eight pounds of leaven is first mixed in a quantity of lukewarm water;
fermentation is produced in the mass; and when fermentation has arrived at
its most active state, that is, after one or two hours, the whole quantity is
mixed with the remaining paste.
This mixture causes a new fermentation to be produced in the mass, which
is continued during twelve or thirteen hours, after which all the paste is trans-
formed into a white and sweet leaven. This leaven is sifted and washed in cold
water, where it remains about twenty-four hours, and is then removed &
submitted to the press, dried in the open air, and, lastly, put in sacks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frédéric Ludowig in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRÉDÉRIC
LUDEWIO, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, för Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto nie, the
said Frédéric Ludewig, Her special licence that I, the said Frédéric Ludewig,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frédéric Ludewig, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED LEAVEN,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frédéric Ludewig,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frédéric Ludewig, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention, which is patented in France for fifteen years in my favor,
dated tho Thirty-first May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, is
relative to the manufacture of a particular leaven, which I denominate a white
leaven; it is a whito leavon, sweet and dry, and is intended for the manu-
facture of bread and all kinds of pastry, as also for distilling operations.
The advantages which it has over ordinary materials used as a leaven are,
the cost price, which is much less; its activity as a fermenting agent; its being
capable of preservation to almost an indefinite period; and, lastly, its white
colour, which does not in the least alter that of the flour. It thus serves for
the production of bread or pastry, being sweeter, whiter, more nourishing,
lighter, and healthier than ordinary kinds.
The products and their proportions entering into the composition of my
leaven are as follows:-
1st, flour of germinated barley
1st, 2nd, flour of germinated white beans
-
Sixty-six pounds.
-
Sixty-six pounds.
-
Sixty-six pounds.
"
Fifty pounds.
3rd, potato starch
2ndly, sweet leaven, produced from a preceding operation
3rdly, gelatine
4thly, of exhausted wort resulting from a brewing operation,
a sufficient number of pints, as herein-after described.
5thly, sweet leaven, produced from a preceding operation
-
Six pounds.
Eight pounds.

page_text: The flour of malt, the flour of germinated white beans, and potato starch
being all three mixed in equal quantities of sixty-six pounds, they are worked
up in water of a temperature of about 129° Fahrenheit.
The quantity of water cumployed in this operation is just as much as is
necessary to form and will work up into a thin paste, taking care not to leave
any lumps, &c. in the mass. When this is obtained, fifty pounds of white
leaven is added, (the produce of a previous operation,) which is diluted in tepid
water; sufficient water is added to the whole mass in order to reduce it to a
very clear paste, which is gradually brought to about 167° Fahrenheit, after
which it is allowed to cool slowly. I further add six pounds of gelatine,
softened in water, which is mixed and worked up with the paste at the moment
the latter becomes reduced to the temperature of about 117° Fahrenheit;
after being mixed from eight to twelve hours, according to the state of tho
atmosphere, the paste will acquire a sourish taste, its cooling is then
quickened till it is down to about 77° Fahrenheit by the addition of some
exhausted wort, which should not have been made more than twenty-four hours.
Eighty-seven pints of this paste is then mixed with eight pounds of sweet
leaven, obtained from a previous operation; these eight pounds being mixed
and held in suspension by several pints of tepid water; a fermentation then
takes place in the mass. When it has reached its highest state of fermentation,
which continues during one or two hours, the whole mass is mixed with the
remaining paste, care being taken to add about two ounces of carbonate
of ammonia dissolved in water. This mixing produces a fresh fermentation in
the mass, which lasts about twelve or thirteen hours, after which the whole
paste is formed into a white and sweet leaven.
For washing it, it is sifted and rinced in cold water, in which it is allowed to
remain about twenty-four hours; it is afterwards removed and submitted
to pressure, then dried in the air, and put into bags to keep.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Frederick Ludewig, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
FREDERIC LUDEWIG. (L.S.)