Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/174

150] BAK a moderately warm place till the following morning., that it may rise and duly ferment. The remaining two-thirds of the flour must then be added, with a proportionate quantity of hike- w arm water, and the whole 1 neaded into such an elastic dough as will draw into Strings without breaking, and not adhere to the fingers. In this it is again covered, and allowed to stand (while preparations are mak- ing in the oven), and not disturbed till it begins gently to rise, when it should be formed into loaves. 3. A proper degree of heat is an essential requisite to the bak- ing process. When die inner arch of the oven appears entirely white, it is generally considered as suffi- cieutiy heated. But this being a fallacious criterion, we would re- commend die following : Place a handful of flour before the aper- ture of the oven, and if it turn of a brown colour, the heat is tiien nearly of I : required; but if it become black, t . white, in the former case die fire must be considerably reduced ; and in the latter, more fuel must be added. Lastly, all parts of die oen should be uniformly heated; and though we cannot enter into farther particulars, yet the attentive house- wife will easily, fromher own observations, regulate the d< of heat, with the s; I as it might be done by ^lr. Wedge- wood's Pyrometer for the baiting of earthen-ware. Remark. — Musty flour, when baked into bread, is not only ex- tremely detrimental to health, but it also imparts a bittev and nauseous, taste. When suqb flour is not too strongly tainted, it may be coi ed by first kneading it with 1< or sweet barm, then malting . B A K holes with a wooden cylinder in the dough, filling up the cavities widi flour that is perfectly sweet, suffering it to remain in this pre- paratory state till the next morn,-, ing, tiien removing the dry flour carefully with long spoons or simi- lar implements, and afterwards converting the dough into bread, widi the addition of such flour as is not musty. By this simple pro- cess, the flour first mixed up will be sweetened, but that which has been left over night in die dough, is said to become so corrupted, that it can be given only to animals. It has frequently been attempted, and not without success, to bake good, wholesome bread, with littie or no barm. In consequence of a dispute between die brewers and bakers of Dublin, concerning die price of yeast, in the year 17*0, the latter carried the point, by malting tiieir bread without it. As this proof ver, could not be readily imitated in ic life, we shall here state a method qj ing a bushel of a tea- spoonful of barm ; first practised by James Stone. It is as follows : Put a bushel of flour into the knead- ing-trough or trendle; take about three-quarters of a pint of warm water, and thoroughly mix with it a spoonful of thick, sweet barm ; then mak He of the flour, large enough to contain two gallons of water 5 pour in your . quantity, and stir it with a . so that it may, widi some of the flour combining with it, acquire pud- ding : then strew a little dry flour over it, and let it stand for about I .1 you will find die small portion so raised, that it will break through die dry dour scat-. . i . this, pour in