124 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



If you are making bread, is the In-ead better if the room is thoroughly clean and 

 well ventilated? 



Miss Rushmore: I should say it would be, with some kinds of food especially. 

 You know, bread is what you niioht call finicky, and it won't rise if it doesn't have 

 the right temperature, etc. Milk and butter, in particular, will absorb odors. I 

 should say that the cleanliness of the kitchen would have as much effect upon the 

 physical condition of the person working in it as on anything else. 



Mrs. Hatch: What is the best temperature for raising bread? 



Miss Rushmore: This is a disputed point, but I think between 90 and 100 de- 

 grees is best. You are safe In having it at 90 degrees. Do not have it over 100 

 degrees. 



Q. Is there any advantage in keeping potatoes boiling hard when they are cook- 

 ing, or would you let them simmer? 



Miss Rushmore: A disadvantage in having them boil too hard is that they will 

 break up. If you have the water at the boiling temperature food will cook just as 

 well, and will not break up. The water should be kept boiling all the time. 



Mrs. H. H. Hinds: Does the temperature have anything to do with the boiling? 



Miss Rushmore: I think that question would best be answered by stating Avhat 

 temperature means. We have a certain quantity of heat just the same as we caa 

 have quarts of potatoes, or anything of that kind. All vegetables should be put 

 into water that is actually boiling, because in this vraj they cook better; cook more 

 rapidly; do not absorb so much water when cooked in this waj'. The temperature 

 of the water should be 212 degrees. 



]\Irs. Geo. Pangman: How long is it necessary to mix dough to make the best 

 bread, and how is the best way to tell wlien it is just right? Would you mix once^ 

 twice, or three times? 



Miss Rushmore: I think that is a question which has not been experimented 

 upon enough yet to make definite statements. I believe that bread made as quickly 

 as possible is the best. The more yeast which is used, the less time it will take 

 to make the bread. I think it is best to use more yeast and luake the bread more 

 quickly. It is only a question of whether we shall use more yeast or not. Nothing- 

 is saved, in my judgment, by using a small quantity of yeast, because we run the 

 risk of letting the bread turn sour by standing so long. 



Mrs. Irma T. Jones: Do you not think that the amount of mixing is controlled 

 by the preference of the bread maker? 



Miss Rushmore: Yes. Some people like bread kneaded more tlian do others. 

 When I make bread I take a lai"^ge quantity of yeast. We plan to make bread in 

 three hours. We take two and a half cakes of compressed yeast to one pint of 

 wetting. This will make one large or two small loaves. This, of course, is extrav- 

 agant, but this is made for clas.s-room work, and has to be made quickly. I should 

 say that one-fourth of a yeast cake to a pint of wetting, or one yeast cake to five 

 loaves of bread, is a good proportion. 



Mrs. Elliott: What is your formula for making yeast? 



Miss Rushmore: I do not make it. I buj' it. If I did not do this, I should buy 

 dried yeast cakes and simply dissolve them and make them into bread. 



Mrs. Irma T. .Jones: May I give the experience of one bread maker? This was- 

 one yeast cake to half a pint of Avater; as soon as moist, add a little flour to make a 

 thin batter, and this made good bread. 



Mrs. Elliott: You can't make good broad with dry yeast without using pota- 

 toes. I have tried it and failed. 



Mrs. P. G. Towar: Not long since we had no yeast on the farm, so I took one 

 ■dry yeast cake and softened it in milk, mixed this in hard loaf, and when light 

 roiled it in the pans and baked it. without any potatoes being used, and it was 

 very nice. I know from that experience that we can make bread without potatoes. 



Mrs. Gulley.; Have the potatoes anything to do with making the bread moist? 



Miss Rushmore: Yes, they do. because the potatoes are cooked before putting 

 into the bread, and starch always takes up a great deal of water when it is cooked. 



Q. How many times is it necessary to mix bread? Do the bacteria in an untidy 

 kitchen enter the bread while raising? 



Miss Riishmore: Yes. For even if the bread is covered any slight wind will 

 allow the bacteria to get in. Bacteria will get into anything that you have unless 

 it is thoroughly sterilized, because they have a way of floating through the air. 

 Everything exposed to the air is covered with more or less numbers of bacteria. 

 Mix the bread up quite warm. Scald the milk, if used, or put the salt and what- 

 ever sugar I use, and butter, if I use butter, and let it dissolve the butter. Then 



