Improvements in the Preparation of Leaven for use in the Manufacture of Bread, Pastry, and Biscuits
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 26th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 18.h June, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Preparation of Leaven for use in the Manufacture
of Bread, Pastry, and Biscuits.
I, EUGÈNE LECONTE, of Estaires, Nord, in the Republic of France, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
The invention has for its object an improvement in the preparation of leaven,
whereby I am enabled to dispense with the use of yeast and potatoes as
ferment, and at the same time obtain an effective leaven which is perfectly
sweet.
For this purpose I prepare a leaven by taking a suitable quantity of dough
from the last batch prepared and intimately mixing therewith a certain proportion
of extract of malt prepared from germinated barley or other cereal and con-
taining or not its usual contingent of diastase, extract of malt being the best
agent to maintain in the leaven a good, active, and sound fermentation, which will
keep it perfectly swect for the next day's use and thereby assure the production of
good, sweet bread, pastry or biscuits. In lieu however of using extract of malt as
above described, other saccharine extracts may be employed, such for instance
as sugar, glucose, &c., but the employment of these latter materials will not produce
so good a result as when using extract of malt as above described.
D
1001
EUGENE LECONTE,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
EUGENE LECONTE,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Preparation of Leaven for use in the Manufacture
of Bread, Pastry, and Biscuits.
I, EUGENE LECONTE, of Estaires, Nord, in the Republic of France, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
-
The invention has for its object an improvement in the preparation of leaven
whereby I am enabled to dispense with the use of yeast and potatoes as ferment
and at the same time obtain an effective leaven which is perfectly sweet, that is to
say, which is neither bitter nor sour.
For this purpose I prepare a leaven by taking a suitable quantity of dough from
the last batch prepared (when this dough is ready to be put into the oven) and
intimately mixing therewith a certain proportion of extract of malt prepared
from germinated barley or other cereal and containing or not its usual contingent
of diastase.
This leaven being prepared over night, I revive it the next day, two or three
hours before the first baking, by an addition of water and of extract of malt
and of flour well mixed and worked, thus increasing it to a third of the quantity of
dough to be worked. When this is done I prepare my first baking.
From this first batch I take about a third of the dough, which I leave to ferment
during half an hour, three quarters of an hour, one hour, or more, according
to the temperature and the seasons; this third portion of the dough, when
fermented, serves as leaven for my second batch; I work upon this, as upon

page_text: the first, by taking therefrom the leaven for the third batch, and so on, always
taking great care to intimately mix with this leaven the proper quantity of
water, in which has been previously dissolved the necessary proportions of extract
of malt and of salt.
The work for the day being done, I take from the last batch a small quantity of
leaven, which I revive the next day in the manner above described.
The quantity of extract of malt necessary to operate upon a sack of
100 kilogrammes of flour may vary according to the climate, the temperature,
the seasons, &c., the quality of flour employed, but may be approximately estimated
at 500 grammes.
Extract of malt being the best agent to maintain in the leaven a good, active,
and sound fermentation, will keep it perfectly sweet for the next day's use and
thereby assure the production of good sweet bread, pastry, or biscuits. In lieu
however of using extract of malt as above described, other saccharine extracts may
be employed, such, for instance, as sugar, glucose, molasses, &c., but the employ-
ment of these latter materials will not produce so good a result as when using
extract of malt as above described.
The use of leaven and prepared dough with extract of malt renders possible the
manufacture of bread in a continuous and mechanical manner.
Supposing, for example, a kneading trough capable of working a sack and a
half of flour and an oven charge of the quantity of one sack. The ordinary work
being done and the dough well worked ready for the oven, 1 take the necessary
dough to fill the oven, say a sack, (or the two thirds of the contents of the
kneading trough), I put aside the other half sack which will serve as leaven for
the following batch, and I allow it to work during about half an hour, three
quarters of an hour, one hour, or more, according to the temperature and the
season. When sufficiently worked I mix it in the kneading trough with water, in
which the necessary quantity of salt and extract of malt have been dissolved, I
add thereto a new sack of flour, I knead, &c., &c., I then again take from it
dough containing a half sack which will serve me as leaven for the next batch,
and so on in a continuous manner.
In working mechanically the maximum amount of work is obtained by putting
aside a third part of two batches, forming thus two leavens, one of which is used
in a batch whilst the other is getting ready for the next batch.
The extract of malt in this manufacture fulfils this double end: 1st, to consider-
ably aid a good and active fermentation throughout the mass; 2nd, to prevent
the dough from becoming bitter or sour, the ferment finding in the extract of malt
(which under the action is transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid) the nourish-
ment necessary to support the good and sound fermentation above referred to, which
will retain in the dough its sweet and agreeable flavour. The soluble gluten
contained in the extract of malt also supplies a very energetic ferment.
Besides, bread made by this process becomes stale less quickly and can be
consumed as new bread the next day or even two days after having been made.
It is universally acknowledged by those in the trade that working with leaven
produces a bread of quality superior to that made by means of yeast and which will
keep fresh and sound longer.
The net cost is also not so high because yeast is entirely dispensed with.
Moreover my process, by enabling leavens to be used which are always new,
fresh, and active, assures a much larger yield of bread, which more than covers the
small expense of maltine.
I would here remark that I do not confine myself to the proportions herein
described of maltine to be used, nor do 1 confine myself to the proportion of
dough to be taken from a working to be used as leaven for the next batch. Further
I do not confine myself to the precise method of carrying my process into effect, nor
do I confine myself to the use of the extract of malt, as other saccharine extracts
may be employed in lieu thereof, although not so advantageously.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is
The improvements in the preparation of leaven by the use, in combination with
a suitable quantity of dough from the last batch prepared, of extract of malt
or other saccharine extracts as herein described, whereby I am enabled to
dispense entirely with the use of yeast and to manufacture bread in a continuous
manner and by mechanical means, and at the same time to obtain a product in
bread, pastry, or biscuits, which is perfectly sweet and free from unpleasant
taste.
Dth 1 f Mach 1905.
EUGENE LECONTE,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
EUGENE LECONTE,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.