482 BREAD 



give it the necessary tenacity. After this is accomplished the pressure is released, the 

 gas escapes from the water, and in doing so raises the dough in the most beautiful and 

 expeditious manner. It will bo quite unnecessary for me to point out how perfect 

 must be the mechanical structure that results from this method of raising dough. In 

 the first place, the mixing and kneading of the flour and water together, before any 

 vesicular property is imparted to the mass, render the most complete incorporation 

 of the flour and water a matter of very easy accomplishment ; and this being secured, 

 it is evident that the gas which forms the vesicle, or sponge, when it is released, must 

 be dispersed through the mass in a manner which no other method fermentation not 

 excepted could accomplish. But besides the advantages of kneading the dough 

 before the vesicle is formed, in the manner above mentioned, there is another, arid 

 perhaps a more important one, from what it is likely to effect by giving scope to the 

 introduction of new materials into bread making, and that is, I find that powerful 

 machine-kneading, continued for several minutes, has the effect of imparting to the 

 dough tenacity or toughness. In Messrs. Carr and Co.'s machine, at Carlisle, we 

 have kneaded some wheaten dough for half an hour, and the result has been that the 

 dough has been so tough, that it resembled birdlime, and it was with difficulty pulled 

 to pieces with the hand. Other materials, such as rye, barley, &c. are affected in the 

 same manner. So that by thus kneading, I am able to impart to dough made from 

 materials which otherwise would not make light bread, from their wanting that 

 quality in their gluten which is capable of holding or retaining, the same degree of 

 lightness which no other method is capable of effecting. And I am sanguine of being 

 able to make from rye, barley, oatmeal, and other wholesome and nutritious sub- 

 stances, bread as light and sweet as the finest wheaten bread. One reason why my 

 process makes a bread so different from all other processes where fermentation is not 

 followed is, that I am enabled to knead the bread to any extent without spoiling its 

 vesicular property ; whilst all other unfermented breads are merely mixed, not 

 kneaded. The property thus imparted to my bread by kneading, renders it less 

 dependent on being placed immediately in the oven. It certainly cannot gain by being 

 allowed to stand after the dough is formed, but it bears well the necessary standing 

 and waiting required for preparing the loaves for baking. 



' There is one point which requires care in my process, and that is, the baking : as 

 the dough is excessively cold ; first, because cold water is used in the process ; and next, 

 because of its sudden expansion on rising. It is thus placed in the oven some 40 

 Fahr. in temperature lower than the ordinary fermented bread. This, together with 

 its slow springing until it reaches the boiling point, renders it essential that the top 

 crust shall not be formed until the very last moment. Thus, I have been obliged to 

 have ovens constructed which are heated through the bottom, and are furnished with 

 the means of regulating the heat of the top, so that the bread is cooked through the 

 bottom; and, just at the last, the top heat is put on and the top crust formed. 



' With regard to the gain effected by saving the loss by fermentation, I may state 

 what must be evident, that the weight of the dough is always exactly the sum of 

 the weight of flour, water, and salt put into the mixing vessel : and that, in all our 

 experiments at Carlisle, we invariably made 118 loaves from the same weight of flour 

 which by fermentation made only 105 and 106. Our advantage in gain over fer- 

 mentation can only be equal to the loss by fermentation. As there has been consider- 

 able difference of opinion among men of science with respect to the amount of this 

 loss some stating it to be as high as 17i per cent., and others so low as 1 per cent. 

 I will here say a few words on the subject. Those who have stated the loss to be as 

 high as 17$ per cent, have, in support of their position, pointed to the extra yield from 

 the same flour of bread when made by non-fermentation, compared with that made 

 by fermentation. Whilst those who have opposed this assertion, and stated the loss to 

 bo but 1 per cent, or little more, have declared the gain in weight to be simply a 

 gain of extra water, and have based their calculations of loss on the destruction of 

 material caused by the generation of the necessary quantity of carbonic acid to render 

 the bread light. Starting then with the assumption that light bread contains in bulk 

 half solid matter and half aeriform, they have calculated that this quantity of aeriform 

 matter is obtained by a destruction of but one per cent, of solid material. In this 

 calculation the loss of carbonic acid, by its escape through the mass of dough during 

 the process of fermentation and manufacture, does not appear to have been taken into 

 account. All who have been in any way practically connected with bakeries well 

 know how large this loss is, and how important it is that it should be taken into 

 account, that our calculations may be correct. 



' One of the strongest proofs that the escape of gas through ordinary soft bread 

 dough is very largo arises from the fact, that when biscuit dough, in which there is a 

 mixture of fatty matter, is prepared by my process, about half the quantity of gas 

 only is needed to obtain an equal amount of lightness with dough that is made of flour 



