THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



373 



ECONOMY IN BREAD. 



Sir, — Thu price of provitions of all kinds lias induced 

 vurious schemes of economj', none more important or of 

 wider application tliaii in hrcad : and our French neigh- 

 bours, being large bread eaters, have taken the lead in the 

 more recent, and in some respects the best. 



Some of ihem are for increasing tlie produce of bread from 

 a given weiglit of flour, by the additiou of a small portion 

 of rice or maize (a mixture of tlie two would probably im- 

 prove botli) : others without addition, by skilful and scienti- 

 iic mauagcmcnt. And the latest, just made public, gets 

 not only more bread from the flour, but more flour from the 

 corn ; and yet makes the bread all white, without alum or 

 any other objectionable ingredient. FronxlOOlbs. of corn 

 he gets 86 lbs. of flour, Avhieh makes 110 lbs. of line white 

 bread. He has discovered that the biown colour does not 

 come directly from the bran, but is generated from it, during 

 the fermentation and baking, liy the presence of a substance 

 which he calls " Cerealine," and which he has found means 

 to neutralize. He therefore first sifts out the line flour ; 

 then the coarse bran : and the intermediate portion (■2nds 

 and Srds mixed), consisting chiefly of Hour, but with bran 

 enough to make very brown bread by the usual process, he 

 works with a little yeast and much water, till the cerealine is 

 neutralized. He then washes the flour with the water 

 through a fine sieve, leaving the fine bran behind : and thus 

 getting out all tlie flour in the purest state, and the bread 

 more palatable as well as white and thoroughly wholesome 

 and nutritious, thus closely approaching to perfection ; so 

 that the sooner itgets beyond the scientific journals the better. 

 1 hopfe in a few weeks, when it may have undergone further 

 discussion, to send your readers practical instructions ; and 

 may conclude this with the Old English method of increasing 

 the produce of bread with bran water, before " cerealine" 

 was known, so that the bread was neither so white nor 

 tempting as that of M. Mege Mouries just described. But 

 the increase (132 lbs. instead of 125 lbs. from 100 lbs. of 

 flour) renders it well worth attention in the present dearness 

 of corn. 



Meanwhile those who wish to understand the theory and 

 details of Mouries' process may find it in the Chemist 

 IMonthly Journal, b}' \Vatt, London, for May and June, 1857, 



Bran Watkh in Bread. 

 In the Weekly Entertainer of March 10th, 1800, is a letter 

 of the Rev. Francis Haggitt, prebendary to the Bishop of 

 Durham, in which he states that flour kneaded with bran 

 water will produce a more substantial and a greater quanti- 

 ty of it than bread made in the common waj'. In the Rev. 

 baker's experiment, he took 51i)s. of bran, boiled it, and 

 with the liquor strained from it kneaded 5Clbs. of flour; 

 adding the usual quantity of yeast and salt. When the 

 dough was sufficiently raised, it was weighed and divided 

 into loaves ; the weight liefore being put into the oven 

 being J)31bs. 13 oz., or Olbs. 10 oz. more than the same 

 quantity of flour kneaded iu the common way ; it was then 

 baked two hours, and some time after weighed 83 lbs. 8oz.; 

 showing a loss in baking of 10 lbs. 5 oz. ; the same quantity 

 of flour kneaded with common water losing 15 lbs. lloz. ; 

 and producing only 69 lbs. oz. of bread, The gain by the 

 bran water is thus 14 lbs. out of 70 lljs., or a clear increase 

 of one-fiflh ; while the bran, after being used in this way, is 

 equally fit for many domi'stic purposes, and better for pigs 

 and poultry than if given raw. This increase of 14 lbs. 

 when only 3 lbs. of bran were boiled appears at first as- 

 tonishing, but he accounts for it thus: — 1. The water 

 weighs half a pound a gallon more tlian common water. 

 2. Owing to its glutinous consistence it is less subject to 

 evaporation by heat. 3. A greater quantity of it is neces- 

 sary to make the dough, viz. :— 3J gallons instead of 3 gal- 

 lons. The 5 lbs. of bran weighed, after the liquor was 

 strained ofl^', and while wet, 17 lbs. To persons who are 

 making their own bread these facts must prove interesting; 

 and looking at the experiment in a chemical point of view 



there is no doubt the decoction of bran would have a very 

 considerable effect on the flour. 



Increase by aid of Rice, &c. 



Towards tUe end of 1853, a discovery was auuouuced in 

 Paris, by which upwards of 520 lbs. of go.'d bread could be 

 made from a sack of flour (280 lbs.) ; and for which a large 

 reward was demaudej. In April, 1854, the inveutors were 

 iuvited to Maryleboue Workhouse, London, to put their dis- 

 covery to the test. The foUowiug is a brief report of the 

 experiments : — 



A very remarkable exhibition took place on Thursday last 

 at the Maryleboue Workhouse, by Messrs. Morlau, Martin, 

 and -Journet, a French firm, who undertook to demonstrate 

 before a committee of the Board of Guardians that, by a pecu- 

 liar modification in the fermenting process, the amount of 

 bread from a given weight of flour could be increased to at 

 least 50 per cent. This aiogular method was invented by a 

 French gentleman, a pupil of Orfila. Two sacks of flour were 

 made use of, both under seal, and issued by the authorities of 

 the workhouse. One of these was manipulated iu the ordinary 

 way, the other by the asaociated French manufacturers. The 

 results were in the highest degree satisfactory. The first sack 

 converted into bread by the usual method produced 90 lo&ves, 

 weighing 360 lbs. The second bag of fl jur, placed iu the hands 

 of the French bakers, produced 134 loaves, weighing 520 lbs., 

 giving an increase of nearly 50 per cent , under circumstancea 

 very disadvantageous to the owners of the secret. The place, 

 the oven, and apparatus were all new and strange to their 

 workmen, who had many difficulties to contend with. It was 

 admitted by the spectators that, in consequence of such draw- 

 backs, there was a consiucrable waste of bread in the oven. 

 There was a large attendance of scientific men, as well as of 

 bakers from the country and city, who witnessed the process 

 with the keenest interest. All frankly and readily admitted 

 th-.t everything was above hoard and fairly conducted, and that 

 the result had exceeded their expectations. This marvellous 

 increase iu production does not arise from any weighty sub- 

 stance mixed with the dough, as no extraneous ingredient can 

 be discovered in the loaf by the most rigid chemical 

 analysis. 



To this last assertion Professor Pepper, of the Polytechnic, 

 demurred; and put a quantity of their bread to comparative 

 analysis, of which his report is subjoined :— 



Laboratory, Royal Polytechnic Institution, 

 April 15th, 1854. 



Having continued my experiments and microscopic examina- 

 tions this week with tlie bread made by the new Frencii process, 

 as compared with the workhouse bread, both of which, it must 

 be remembered, were made with the same flour, 1 am the more 

 convinced that rice is the material which confers the water- 

 keeping property upon the bread made by the new process. 



1,000 grains of each bread have been examined for gluten. 

 The French contained 87? grains ; the workhouse 96-|- grains. 

 Now, the increased v.dght of gluten in the former, found by 

 woiking the 1,000 respectively into 529 and 360, must have 

 come from " something added," as of course the flour has not 

 the power of increasing the gluten during its conversion into 

 bread ; and the followidg analysis, deduced from the quantity 

 of water and gluten obtained, will approach the truth as near 

 as the analyst can go : — 



529 lbs. of French bread 



contain — 



Gluten 34 



Gluten (possibly from 



semolina added ... 12 

 Starch from rice added . 29 

 Starch, sugar, gum . .174 

 Water 280 



529 

 I^The above analyses receive a further verification from the 



3u0 lbs. of Workhouse 

 bread contain — 



Gluten 34 



Starch, sugar, gum . . 174 

 Water ^ 152 



S60 



