334 NORFOLK SOCIETY. 



There is an abundance of what may be termed "fancy" 

 bread, made in almost every family ; but there is but here and 

 there a housewife who can place upon her table a loaf of un- 

 exceptionable bread, of her own manufacture. Now there is 

 no good reason why this should be the case, as the ingredients 

 to make good bread are always at hand in this country, viz., 

 good flour, good yeast, good water, and good salt. These are 

 the only things that should ever enter into the composition of 

 bread ; milk, molasses, and alkalis, should never be used, — 

 these only deteriorate and take from its excellence ; neither 

 should any of these ingredients enter into the composition of 

 the yeast. 



The materials which go to form good bread, are liable to 

 three fermentations, viz. : first, vinous; second, acetous ; third, 

 putrefactive. The first, makes the bread light ; and at this 

 stage, the dough should be baked ; the second, makes it sour ; 

 the third, totally ruins the mass. All the ingredients, except 

 the four first named, tend to hasten and bring about the second 

 and third fermentations, and to spoil its healthful and nutritious 

 qualities. The good housewife will therefore make this sub- 

 ject a matter of watchful care ; experience will soon point out 

 to her the precise moment the bread should go into the oven. 



The committee may, perhaps, have already dilated upon this 

 subject, beyond what may appear necessary in a report ; but as 

 good bread appears to them to be of great importance, they 

 venture a few hints in connection with this case, viz. : on ovens. 

 For after all the good wife's care, if she has not an oven of the 

 right sort, she will never produce the best bread. An old-fash- 

 ioned oven, built of brick, is the best for baking bread, and will 

 give a " better bake" than any stove now in use. 



After the bread is taken from the oven, it should be placed 

 in some open, airy situation, that it may imbibe the oxygen, 

 instead of being covered up, as is often the case ; thus prevent- 

 ing the hydrogen being thrown off by a proper process of cool- 

 ing. But enough ; these few hints may prove useful to some 

 good lady who is aiming to take the first premium for good 

 bread, at the next exhibition of the society. 



Believing, as your committee do, that the best bread can be 



