BREAD 185 



white as one made from a blend of the weak white flour and a 

 strong flour, even though the latter may as flour be darker than 

 the former. The average blend of flour used to-day is much 

 stronger than that in use fifty years ago, and the improved 

 appearance of bread is in large measure due to that fact. But 

 by far the most important factor in the improvement of colour 

 in bread is the modern mill. 



Improved wheat cleaning, wheat conditioning whereby the 

 wheat is put into the best condition for the separation of husk 

 from kernel, diminution in the amount and intensity of friction 

 used in grinding, and improvements in the methods of separating 

 the products of grinding, have in the aggregate wrought a revo- 

 lution in the methods of milling, so that the flour of to-day is 

 an article very superior to old-fashioned flour, partly because 

 it is really free from dirt, partly because it contains a far smaller 

 proportion of powdered husk than the flours of olden times. 

 We have already seen that powdered husk diminishes the 

 dietetic value of flour. 



I have at various points in this article referred to the im- 

 portance of " strength." Before defining exactly what that 

 means in this connection, it may be desirable to state briefly 

 the most important principles of bread-making. The ingre- 

 dients of bread ordinarily used are flour, water, salt, and 

 yeast. A large proportion of the bread consumed in Great 

 Britain is made from them, and nothing else. The substitution 

 of milk for the whole or for a portion of the water is some- 

 times made, but that is not usual in England. 



It may at a later stage be necessary to attach more scientific 

 importance to the use of salt in bread-making, but for present 

 purposes that may be regarded as a condiment. Bakers not 

 infrequently use some form of yeast food, for the good and 

 sufficient reason that there is not readily available in many 

 flours enough food for the yeast. Sometimes scalded flour is 

 used for that purpose, sometimes potato flour, or boiled potatoes 

 themselves. The scalding or boiling gelatinises the starch, and 

 though the direct action of yeast on gelatinised starch is very 

 small, a mixture of flour, yeast, and gelatinised starch by the 

 complicated effects set up, does in effect provide the yeast with 

 a more effective food than flour itself. 



The use of potatoes has, however, greatly diminished, partly 

 because modern yeasts are so much stronger than old ones, and 



