1868. 



NEW ENGLAND F.illlMER. 



443 



inch thick, and cut it in squares of one and one- 

 half inch. Spread these on a table in the sunshine 

 ■where there is plenty of air, turn them every 

 morning till they are perfectly dry, then pack them 

 in boxes, away from heat and dampness. Some 

 persons break these cakes and keep them thus, in 

 the form of meal or yeast flour, but they retain 

 their virtue better packed whole. 



Six hours before you wish to make bread take 

 one of these squares and dissolve it in a pint of 

 lukewarm water; afterward stir in flour enough to 

 make a batter, and set the mixture in a warm 

 place. At the same time sift your flour for the 

 bi'cad ; and keep it in a broad pan, in the sunshine, 

 or by the fire, till the yeast is foaming highly. 

 Then take for six loaves — a foot long, four inches 

 wide, and five inches thick when baked — two 

 quarts of flour, to which has been added an even 

 teaspoonful of salt, twice that quantity of lard 

 and two even tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pour upon 

 this slowly, stirring it constantly — so that it shall 

 be,smooth — two quarts of boiling water. Let it 

 set till cool ; if the flour swells so that it is stiff, 

 add warm water till it is of the consistency of bat- 

 ter. Pour in your yeast, and thicken with flour till 

 it is as stiff" as you can mould it with your hands. 

 Cover it with a deep pan, throw a cloth over it, and 

 set it in a warm place. If made in the evening it 

 will be ready to bake in the morning. 



Brick, or house ovens, vary so much in size and 

 capacity for retaining heat that it is impossible to 

 give any definite rule for heating them ; but to 

 bake bread well, hard wood should be used, — and 

 the same for meat, beans, and thick loaf-cake — 

 soft wood answers very well for everything else. 

 The ovens of stoves and ranges should be hot 

 enough to hiss loudly at a sprinkling of water if 

 bread is to be baked, and the heat kept up till it is 

 done ; for loaves of the size mentioned above, this 

 will be one hour. If the bread scorches, set a pan 

 of cold water with it, or lay clean paper over the 

 loaves. 



Two hours before you intend to bake your 

 bread you must begin to knead it. If it has stood 

 long enough to get "changed" — has lost its sweet- 

 ness — mix a teaspoonful of saleratus in a cup of 

 warm water, and work it into the dough, — generally 

 it will need but half that quantity. Then take a 

 chopping knife, or a sharp case knife, and give 

 the dough a great many cuts with your right 

 hand, while you roll and pull and press it with 

 your left. Continue this for half an hour, occa- 

 sionally changing hands, — for it is tiresome work 

 to keep up one movement with the right hand so 

 long ; then shake a little flour upon your mould- 

 ing board, and there cut and chop each loaf as 

 you mould it for its pan— at least five minutes. 

 Have your pans well greased with lard or nice 

 beef fat. Let the loaves rise till they are very 

 light, setting them near the fire for this purpose ; 

 then prick them in three or four places, rub them 

 over lightly with lard, and sprinkle cold water 

 upon them and place them in the oven. At the 



end of an hour— or just before, — prick them 

 deeply with a broom-straw; — if no dough ad- 

 heres to the straw the bread is done. Stand 

 the loaves on end, and throw a dry cloth over 

 them, — if they have had a very hard bake dam- 

 pen the cloth. After two hours set them in an 

 airy place till they are thoroughly cold, (hav- 

 ing removed the cloth,) and, finally, shut them 

 from the air in stone or tin vessels. Never 

 keep bread wrapped in cloth, damp, or dry. 

 When bread becomes stale dip the loaf in cold 

 water for half a minute, and place it in the oven, 

 between two pans, that it may be entirely covered 

 — for half an hour ; — it will then be as moist as 

 new bread ; buns, gingerbread, and sponge cake 

 may be renewed in the same way. (A few words 

 ought to have been said about choosing flour: 

 Good flour when held tightly in the hand is easily 

 compressed into shape, dough made of it works 

 clean in kneading, and is elastic and buoyant.) 



To make brown bread : for one large deep loaf 

 take two quarts of Indian meal and one of rye, 

 two tablespoonfuls of molasses, a large pinch of 

 salt, a small teaspoonful of saleratus or soda, and 

 water as hot as your hand will bear. Mix it with 

 a spoon till it is all alike, and add a tablespoonful 

 of yeast, or a piece of white bread dough as large 

 as a teacup ; make it as stiff as you can stir it, pour 

 it into a well-greased cast-iron pan, smooth the 

 top with a knife, and cut two gashes across it ; set 

 it in a warm place for four hours, then sprinkle the 

 top plentifully with water, and bake it eight 

 hours,— it is very nice steamed in a tin pudding- 

 pan in the dinner boiler for the same time. A 

 quart of boiled squash or pumpkin if mixed with 

 the dough improves it, or the water in which these 

 vegetables and green corn are boiled. Thirded 

 bread, using flour, rye, and Indian,— and making 

 in the same way, is very nice. 



Wheat bread should be in every family. It is 

 best when new, though it is quite palatable when 

 wet and re-baked, as mentioned above. For this, 

 take one quart of wheat meal — unbolted — a pinch 

 of salt, quarter of a yeast cake dissolved in warm 

 water, and if you please a tablespoonful of su- 

 gar — it is good enough without it, though ; mix 

 it as stiff as you can stir it, with warm water ; let 

 it rise over night ; mould it with water into flat 

 pans, and bake it fifteen minutes in a brisk oven. 

 Small loaves or cakes are best. Tear them open 

 when eaten — cutting makes them heavy. In mak- 

 ing any of these varieties of bread, milk may be 

 substituted for water, but it requires longer time 

 for rising, though the bread is more tender for its 

 use. 



Butter-milk, or sour-milk, makes nice bread or 

 biscuits if used when new, — it is very unhealthy 

 after standing a few days. No one who has ex- 

 amined it with a microscope at the end of that 

 time would ever wish to touch it. Take a quart 

 of flour, sift into it a teaspoonful of salt and the 

 same quantity of cream-tartar, then rub in a table- 

 spoonful of lard or butter; mix this with a pint of 



