3S0 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



[Chap. IV, 



"TIic best superfine flour, witli a due proportion of pure water, passes 

 from tlie bin, through a hiri,'o iron pipe, into a huge, hollow globe of east- 

 ii-on, lined with tin, in which revolves an iron shaft with polished steel arms, 

 which mix and knead the dough. 



"During this operation pure carbonic acid gas is conveyed from the gas- 

 ometer into the globe by a powerful force-pump, and is incorporated uni- 

 formly into the whole mass. Every ingredient is in definite jjroportion, and 

 the most perfect accuracy is thus insured. By the pressure of the gas the 

 dough is then forced through a valve into baking-tins, and in an hour and 

 a half, from flour in the bin, it is beautifully baked bread. Xo hand of man 

 touches it in the whole process. All is done by the iron hands of machinery 

 and the power of steam. Ko chemical change whatever occurs in the flour. 

 All its elements — the starch, the gluten, and sugar — are retained in their 

 original proportions and jiurity, and the result is the best and sweetest bread 

 in existence. By the old process a little of the starch is always converted into 

 dextrine — a specie's of glue — giving the bread a dark color, and sometimes 

 sodden texture. To remedy this, alum is generally used, and the bread there- 

 by further vitiated. Perfect cleanliness in the manufacture of bread has 

 not been possible heretofore. It is by this process. 



" Bread made at home has been the purest that could be had, for the ves- 

 sels were carefully looked after, and the air was generally free from dust 

 and decomposing particles, but none could tell what impurities contaminated 

 -he }-east, which, whether it came from baker or brewer, was necessarily 

 more or less mixed with foreign substances. Home-made bread was the 

 cleanest we could have, but was not perfectly ])ure ; while with the mo.--t 

 watchful supervision and most careful cleanliness, bakers' bread, made in 

 the ordinary way, can not possibly be entirely clean." 



Another advantage imfermented bread has over all other bakers' bread, is 

 its remarkable kee^iing quality. It has been eaten with great satisfaction 

 when twelve days old. 



William Lounsberry, commissary of the 20th Regiment, New York State, 

 which had been served M-ith this bread while in the city and on the march 

 to Washington, speaks of it in the following terms : 



" The bread has been on our table every day since we left, and is con- 

 sidered by all a great delicacy. It loses none of its flavor by its age, but, 

 for me, it really seems to improve. 



" It is sweet, light, and very palatable. I consider it, in many respects, 

 the best bread I ever tasted, in addition to its power of retaining its excel- 

 lence so long, the virtue which gives it its inestimable value. I wish I could 

 be the means of informing a nmch larger number than I am able of its in- 

 estimable merits." 



We have spoken of this method of making bread, not because it will help 

 families to make better bread, but to show what improvements have been 

 devised to make bread upon a large scale. The process would be a good 

 one for the army and navy, and in all large towns. It is proper to saj', 



