AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING BREAD IN A REDUCED BULK
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR PRESERVING BREAD IN A REDUCED BULK."-A communication
from abroad by Jean Joseph Auguste Mouriés, of 37, Boulevard
Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, France.
Sealed the 15th July 1870, and dated the 21st January 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st January 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son,
of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING BREAD IN A REDUCED BULK," a com
munication to me from abroad by Jean Joseph Auguste Mouriés, of
37, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, France, to be as follows: .
Bread holds the first rank amongst the alimentary products supplied
to us by the vegetable kingdom. This superiority is due 1°, to the

page_text: elementary composition of corn, which contains various substances, some
capable of transformation into blood and organized tissues (gluten,
albumen, caseine,
), the others capable of sustaining and of
producing animal heat (starch, dextrine, glucose, and fat). 2°, to the
various mechanical and chemical operations to which wheat is submitted
before its transformation into bread. These operations are the grinding,
the bolting, the kneading, the fermentation, and the baking, and they
aid the functions of the organs of nutrition by eliminating inert matters
and increasing the digestibility of the parts fit for sustaining animal
life. Fermentation plays a very important part in bread making; it
occasions a disengagement of carbonic acid, which raises the dough and
produces in the bread numerous openings: facilitating the baking and
rendering the crumb lighter. This operation requires great care in order
to obtain an aliment agreable to the taste and casy of digestion.
Unfermented bread is heavy, the fluids of the mouth and of the
ossophagus and the gastric juices penetrate it but slowly, and therefore
the work of decomposition that takes place in the stomach is laborious.
Bread by reason of the water which it contains will only keep for a few
days, it is of large bulk compared with the quantity of nutritious matter
which it contains, and loses its. form when packed close for carriage.
Bread making requirès a considerable plant, which a campaigning army
exposed to frequent and unforeseen movements cannot encumber itself
with, and this is also the case in maritime voyages and caravan journeys.
This precious food is in such cases replaced. by biscuit which is a very firm
paste, unfermented, flattened, and cut into cakes, which lose in baking
and pressing not only the water which has served for the kneading but
also a part of the vegetation water of the flour. This product is not
cumbersome, is easily carried, and preserves for a length of time, but it
only imperfectly replaces bread, it is very hard, difficult to masticate,
does not become thoroughly impregnated with saliva, and fatigues the
throat, it digests badly, and in certain cases its prolonged use may pro-
duce gastric disorders, further biscuit does not soak well and must be
broken into small pieces to make soup.
These considerations led the Inventor of the process the subject of
this Invention to seek a means of dispensing with biscuit while pre-
serving bread as the staple food of soldiers, sailors, and travellers.
Starting from the principle that organic matters decompose under the
11

page_text: 1°, render bread susceptible of long preservation by eliminating the water
which it contains without causing it to lose its alimentary properties;
2°, reduce its volume by compression..
'
....
"
A satisfactory solution of this problem was not arrived at without
many experiments, nevertheless the the system of preparation adopted is
of the simplest, it is as follows:-Choose well made and well baked
bread and expose it until complete siccity to dry currents of air. The
evaporation should be slow in order that the bread may not crack. The
duration of the desiccation varies from 8 to 15 days, it is dependent upon
the size of the loaves and the drying arrangement adopted. If the bread
were compressed in the state in which it is left by the desiccation it
would break, and to prevent this it must before being-pressed be submitted
during 4 or 5 minutes to a heat of from 234 to 424 degrees "Farenheit"
(150 to. 200 degrees centigrade) in a stove filled with steam. To effect
this operation the bread is arranged in layers separated by iron plates
which form moulds in which the bread will assume the shape and size
previously determined upon. These layers are loaded upon a cast iron
carriage running upon rails, and thus introduced into the stove, which is
immediately closed, in a few minutes the bread becomes soft although
it will have absorbed but a very small quantity of water the load or
batch is then withdrawn and pushed by means of a carriage between two
pressing plates in order to be compressed. Any press will serve, but as
the pressure should be rapid and powerful the hydraulic press is the best.
The bread should remain in the press for 24 hours, it may then be
removed, is dry and cold and will preserve the shape which has been.
given to it.
Bread thus prepared should be put in cases, to, preserve it from the
attacks of insects, and should be stored in places free from damp, it may
thus be preserved for several years. This compressed bread has a nice
colour, the teeth masticate it without effort, the fluids of the mouth
penetrate it rapidly, it has an agreable taste and reaches the stomach
without fatiguing the ingestion canals, it digests, well and a piece of 3 oz.
in weight thrown into broth will absorb in 3 or 4 minutes 15 ozs. of
liquid and swell considerably.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Gedge, 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, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING BREAD IN A REDUCED BULK,"
a communication to me from abroad by Jean Joseph Augusto Mouriós,
of 37, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 immedately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
Bread holds the first rank amongst the alimentary products supplied
to us by the vegetable kingdom. This superiority is due, 1°, to the
elementary composition of corn, which contains various substances, some
capable of transformation into blood and organized tissues (gluten,

page_text: albumen, caseine, and salts), the other capable of sustaining and of
producing animal heat (starch, dextrine, glucose, and fat). 2°, to the
various mechanical and chemical operations to which wheat is submitted
before its transformation into bread. These operations are the cleaning,
the grinding, the bolting, the kneading, the fermentation, and the
baking, and they aid the functions of the organs of nutrition by eliminat-
ing inert matters and increasing the digestibility of the parts fit for
sustaining animal life. Fermentation plays a very important part in
bread making. It occasions a disengagement of carbonic acid, which
raises the dough and produces in the bread numerous openings facilitating
the baking, and rendering the crumb lighter. This operation requires
great care in order to obtain an aliment agreable to the taste and easy of
digestion. Unfermented bread is heavy, the fluids of the mouth and of
the ossophagus and the gastric juices penetrate it but slowly, and there.
fore the work of decomposition that takes place in the stomach is laborious.
Bread by reason of the water which it contains will only keep for a few
days, it is of large bulk compared with the quantity of nutritious matter
which it contains, and loses its form when packed close for carriage. Bread
making requires a considerable plant which a campaigning army exposed
to frequent and unforeseen movements cannot encumber itself with, and
this is also the case in maritime voyages and caravan journeys. This
precious food is in such cases replaced by biscuit, which is a very firm
paste, unfermented, flattened, and cut into cakes, which lose in baking and
pressing not only the water which has served for the kueading but also
a part of the vegetation water of the flour. This product is not cumber-
some, is easily carried, and preserves for a length of time, but it only
imperfectly replaces bread, it is very hard, difficult to masticate, does
not become thoroughly impregnated with saliva and fatigues the throat, it
digests badly, and in certain cases its prolonged use may produce gastric
disorders, further biscuit does not soak well and must be broken into small
pieces to make soup.
These considerations have led the Inventor of the process the subject
of this Invention to seek a means of dispensing. with. biscuit while
preserving bread as the staple food of soldiers, sailors, and travellers.
Starting from the principle that organic matters decompose under the
influence of water and heat, the following was the problem to be solved.
1°, render bread susceptible of long preservation by eliminating the water

page_text: which it contains without causing it to lose its alimentary properties;
2°, reduce its volume. by compression.
M
A satisfactory solution of this problem was not arrived at without
many experiments, nevertheless the system of preparation adopted is of
the simplest. The process the subject of this Invention is, as follows:-
Choose well made and well baked bread and expose it until complete siccity
to dry currents of air. The evaporation should be slow in order that the
bread may not crack. The duration of the desiccation varies from 8 to
15 days, it is dependent upon the size of the loaves and the drying
arrangement adopted. If the bread were compressed, in the state in which
it is left by the desiccation it would break, and to prevent this, it must
before being pressed be submitted for a few minutes to a heat of at least
148 degrees. Farenheit (100 degrees centigrade"), in a stove filled
irith steam. The bread then becomes very soft and clastic although it has
absorbed but a very small quantity (about two per cent.) of water.. It is
then placed for two or three minutes in an oven heated, to about 232
degrees. "Farenheit" (150 "centigrade") to thoroughly dry the outside of
the crust. On withdrawing the bread from the oven it is placed on plates
forming moulds in which it will assume the shape and size previously
fixed. These plates are submitted to the rapid, and forcible action of any
kind of press. When the bread is cold it is withdrawn from the mould,
is dry, and will preserve the form given to it. After being shifted about
for a few days it should be put in cases, to preserve it from the attack of
insects, and should be stored in places free from damp, it will thus keep
good for several years. This compressed bread has a nice color, it
breaks vitreously, the teeth masticate it without effort, the fluids of the
mouth penetrate it rapidly, it has an agreable taste, and reaches. the
stomach without fatiguing the ingestion canals, it digests well and a
piece of 3 oz. in weight thrown into broth will absorb i 1 3 or 4 minutes
15 ozs. of liquid and swell considerably, the soup being all that can
be desired. The density of the bread is 0.5, if this degree is exceeded the
bread will be too hard.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
I would have it understood that no particular apparatus is claimed, but
such apparatus is used as may be found suitable for any part of the
process, and that I claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein.
before in part recited Letters Patent, the process of preparing bread

page_text: by submitting it firstly to a slow drying, thien to momentary contact with
steam, succeeded by a momentary drying, and finally to a powerful
compression, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.