258 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



Not even the most experienced bread maker can always know 

 that her mixture of corn meal and milk which she prepares at the 

 beginning of her bread making process will ferment, and even if 

 fermented, that it will make good bread. We frequently hear of 

 the bread not rising when made into loaves. And the worst of it 

 is that no reason can be assigned for this lack of lightness. 



We have almost overcome these difficulties in yeast bread be- 

 cause we have a fairly definite yeast on the market which anyone 

 can purchase, and because we are fairly familiar with yeast and its 

 actions. We know that we must not scald the yeast when starting 

 the bread, that it must be kept warm but not hot while rising, and 

 that the use of a little sugar facilitates the bread making. 



But salt-rising bread making has never until recently been 

 studied scientifically with a view to making it a sure method. We 

 are inclined to think there is something weird about the process 

 used — something which "just works" in some cases and in some 

 cases doesn't. Perhaps that is the way people, hundreds of years 

 ago, thought of yeast bread, before the subject had been studied and 

 the definite little yeast plants and their characteristics had become 

 familiar subjects, and before the everywhere-familiar "Yeast 

 Foam" was put on the market. 



We know definitely now that certain specific organisms are 

 responsible for the lightness, flavor and odor of salt-rising bread. 

 These organisms are not yeasts as one might suppose, but are 

 bacteria. One type will produce the lightness, another the odor and 

 flavor. But as yet we have found no single organism which will give 

 both the lightness and flavor to the bread. So the task of preparing a 

 simple marketable product from the salt-rising bread organisms 

 is not a very easy one. The questions arise, have we found the best 

 thing to give the lightness or the odor and flavor to the bread? Can 

 these organisms be kept in a dried form, and for how long? What 

 direction for their use shall we give? How long shall we allow 

 the sponge to rise? How warm shall we keep the sponge and dough 

 while rising? These and other questions confront the student of 

 salt-rising bread. 



Some of these questions are partially answered. We know 

 that the salt-rising organisms can be kept for several months in a 

 dried form, and seem as vigorous after being kept in the dried 

 form nine months as when fresh. We know, too, that the sponge 

 and dough while rising should be kept warmer than that for yeast 

 bread — three degrees above body temperature, or about 40 degrees 

 Centigrade or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, being considered good. We 



