THE MANUFACTURE OF FOODS 371 



the flour its sticky character when wet. Without the gluten 

 in the flour, bread, as we know it, could not be made. The 

 gluten is insoluble in water and helps the flour to make a dough 

 when wet. The starch and fat in the flour may be washed 

 away from the gluten. 



Exercise 83. Preparation of Gluten from Flour 

 Weigh 30 grams of flour and wet it with just enough water to make 

 a stiff dough. Be careful to incorporate all of the flour into the 

 dough. Now place the dough in a bag of cheese cloth and allow a 

 stream of water to run upon the outside of the bag while the 

 dough is kneaded with the fingers. In this manner the starch 

 and fat are washed out of the dough leaving the gluten behind. Con- 

 tinue until no more starch appears in the stream of water (test for 

 starch, Art. 387, Ex. 77, (3)). Remove the gluten from the bag, 

 press it into a flat cake to remove as much water as possible and then 

 place it in a warm (not hot) oven to dry, or place the cake on a steam 

 radiator. When it has dried for a few hours weigh the cake and cal- 

 culate the percentage of gluten in the flour. 



419. Shredded Wheat. This is a whole wheat preparation, 

 cooked and ready to serve. It is one of the common wheat 

 breakfast foods. The wheat is thoroughly cleaned and is then . 

 steam cooked until soft. The excess of water is then dried 

 from the wheat and it is put into machines which crush the 

 grains and form them into shreds which are delivered to an 

 endless belt. The shreds are here cut into lengths to form the 

 biscuits. These biscuits are then placed on trays and baked 

 in electric ovens. Subsequently the crisp biscuits are packed 

 in cartons and sealed. The wheat food is made light entirely 

 by mechanical means, no yeast or other leaven being used in 

 the process. The finished product has nearly the same com- 

 position as the wheat from which it is made. 



420. Corn ; Its Use as Human Food. This cereal is more 

 largely produced in the United States than is wheat. Corn 

 contains the same food principles as wheat does. It con- 

 tains more fat, however, and somewhat less protein. The 

 proteins of corn do not include very much gluten. For this 

 reason, corn flour has not been used to a very great extent, even 

 in the United States, for bread. Moreover, the high percent- 



