BREAD-BREAD-MAKING REQUIREMENTS

IMPORTANCE OF BREAD AS FOOD
1. BREAD
is sometimes defined as any form of baked flour, but as the word is commonly understood
it means only those forms of baked flour which contain some leavening substance that produces
fermentation. The making of bread has come down through the ages from the simplest methods
practiced by the most primitive peoples to the more elaborate processes of the present day. In truth, to
study the history of bread making would amount to studying the accounts of the progress that has been
made by the human race. Still, in order that the production of bread from suitable ingredients may be
fully understood, it will be well to note the advancement that has been made.
2.
In the earliest times, what was used as bread was made in much the same way as it is today by
many uncivilized and semicivilized people. The grain was ground between stones, usually by hand, and
then mixed with water to form a dough; then this dough was formed into flat, compact cakes and baked
in hot ashes, the result being a food very difficult to digest. Later on, some one discovered that by
allowing the dough to stand until fermentation took place and then mixing it with new dough, the whole
mass would rise, and also that by subjecting this mass to the action of heat, that is, baking it, the mass
would be held in place and become a loaf of raised bread that was lighter and, of course, more
digestible. It was this discovery that led up to the modern bread-making processes, in which substances
known as
leavening agents
, or
ferments
, are used to make bread light, or porous. Chief among the
substances is yeast, a microscopic plant that produces fermentation under favorable conditions.
Indeed, so important is this ferment that, in the United States, whenever the term
bread
is used alone
it means
yeast
, or
leavened
,
bread
, whereas, when other leavening agents are used, the bread is referred
to as
hot bread
, or
quick bread
, as is fully explained in another Section. It will be well to note this fact,
for in all cases throughout these cookery lessons yeast, or leavened, bread is always meant when the
term bread is used alone.
3.
References in the history of the ancient Hebrews show that bread made light by means of
fermentation was known thousands of years ago, but it was not until after the accidental discovery of the
action of yeast that the making of wholesome and digestible bread became possible. Through this
important advance in the making of bread came a demand for better grains and more improved methods



of making flour. Indeed, so much attention has been given to these matters that at present the three
important processes relating to bread-making--the raising of wheat, the milling of flour, and the
manufacture of yeast--are carefully and scientifically performed. These industries, together with the
commercial manufacture of bread, occupy an important place in the business of practically all civilized
nations.
4.
Among people who are not highly civilized, bread forms the chief article of food and often almost
the entire diet, even at the present time; but as man progresses in civilization he seems to require a
greater variety of food, and he accordingly devises means of getting it. Since bread is only one of the
many foods he finds at his disposal, it does not assume a place of so much importance in present-day
meals as it formerly did. However, it still makes up a sufficient proportion of the food of every family to
warrant such careful and extensive study, as well as such mastery of the processes involved, that the
housewife may present to her family only the best quality of this food.
Although it does not have such extensive use as it had in the past, bread of some description, whether
in the form of loaves, biscuits, or rolls, forms a part of each meal in every household. This fact proves
that, with the exception of milk, it is more frequently eaten than any other food. A food so constantly
used contributes very largely to the family's health if it is properly made. However, there is possibly
nothing in the whole range of domestic life that so disturbs the welfare of the entire family as an inferior
quality of this food, which, besides proving detrimental to the digestion, adds materially to the
household expense.
5.
Of course, in many bakeries, bread of an excellent quality is made in a perfectly hygienic manner,
and to be able to procure such bread is a wonderful help to the busy housewife or to the woman who
finds it inconvenient to make her own bread. Still, practically every person enjoys "home-made" bread
so much more than what is made commercially that the housewife will do well to make a careful study
of this branch of cookery. If it is properly understood, it will not be found difficult; but the woman who
takes it up must manifest her interest to master a few essential principles and to follow them explicitly.
After she has obtained the knowledge that she must possess, experience and practice will give her the
skill necessary to prevent poor results and a consequent waste of material.