FOOD PREPARATIONS. 275 



temperature of 75 degrees the loaves will require an hour to double in 

 size. When the loaves have doubled in size, put in an oven hot enough so 

 as to get the faintest brown in ten minutes. Have the heat increasing 

 slightly. In fifteen minutes the brown is quite distinct. At about twen- 

 ty minutes let the heat decrease slowly. A loaf in pans, mentioned below, 

 will be well baked in forty-five minutes, and should be nearly browned 

 all over, top, bottom, sides and ends. Remove from pans as soon as done, 

 and brush the entire surface with sweet milk. 



Never cover warm bread. Do not lay the loaves flat on the table, but 

 place across the top of the bread pan or lean against a pan, exposing as 

 nearly all the surface as possible. When the bread is cold it should be 

 put away in a receptacle which is slightly ventilated. 



The best bread pans are made of sheet iron, are three and one-half inch- 

 es wide, three and one-half inches high and as long as the oven will ad- 

 mit. Use a pan for each loaf. 



HOME-MADE YEAST. 



Steep an eighth of an ounce of hops in a quart of boiling water for eight 

 minutes. Stir one-half pint of flour to a smooth batter with one-half 

 pint of cold water. Strain the boiling hop water into the batter, pouring 

 slowly and stirring rapidly. Place on the stove and cook three or four 

 minutes. Add two level tablespoonsful of sugar and one of salt. When 

 cooled to 75 degrees add one ounce of compressed yeast or one-half pint of 

 home-made yeast. Keep as nearly 75 degrees as possible for twenty-four 

 hours, stirring it down once in four or five hours. This yeast keeps well ; 

 better than when potatoes are used. A glass fruit jar is the best recepta- 

 cle for the yeast. The jar should be thoroughly washed, scalded and 

 aired before a new supply of yeast is put in. 



How to Use Home-made Yeast. — Home-made yeast is not so strong — 

 does not contain so great a per cent, of yeast germs— as the compressed 

 yeast. To make bread with home-made yeast, begin at bedtime. Pour 

 one pint of boiling water slowly on three tablespoons of flour, stirred to a 

 smooth batter with a little cold water. When cooled to 75°. add one-half 

 pint of home-made yeast and cover well with a woolen blanket till morn- 

 ing. If too cold in the morning, warm by placing the bowl in a pan of 

 warm water, stirring until the right temperature is reached,- add one pint 

 of milk at 75° and mix the bread same as when compressed yeast is used. 

 The small amount of flour used in setting the ferment is sufficient for the 

 growth of the yeast, and as the only object in making the ferment is to 

 have an abundance of yeast germs to introduce into the dough, that it 

 may rise rapidly, it is better, for several reasons, to use only a small quan- 

 tity of flour. 



It is advisable to leave the milk out of the ferment and add it at mixing 

 time, as there is then no danger of sour bread, caused by lactic acid. If 

 potatoes are used, they should be put in at mixing time also. Potato 

 bread has a different texture, but not so fine a flavor as bread made with- 

 out potato. Neither is the bread as well balanced a food as when the 

 potato is left out, as the potato increases the proportion of starch to 

 muscle-formers. Potatoes should be used in bread when flour is deficient 

 in starch, or has starch of poor quality, as in case of flour made from 

 frosted or blighted wheat. For the same reason, sugar should not be used 

 in bread. 



