HOT ALL IT MIGHT BE
DIFFICULT PROBLEM
;WHEEE LIES THE
BLAME?
_ Many housewives at the present time are saying hard things about their bakers and about the quality of the bread that they receive. Undoubtedly there is cause for complaint, but is i' fair to blame the baker? The baker answers emphatically in the negative, maintaining that he is only too anxious to supply good bread. But this he cannot do if he can get only inferior flour, and that, he says, is all that lie can get at the present time.
A gentleman with a lifelong experience in the milling and baking trades told a "Post" representative that the quality of the flour at tho present time was worse than it had ever been before. As a consequence complaints were rifo about the quality of the bread, the consumption of which had materially decreased of late. All the science in the world could not help the bakers to bake good loaves when the flour was of inferior quality, and, although the price of flour had recently gone up 10s; a ton, there had been no uorresponding increase in quality—rather the reverse. The bakers, however, had no intention of raising the price of their bread to meet the increased cost oi flour—there ■would have to be a much higher increase before that was done. The bakers, he said, were not exploiters of the public, but what they did want was the opportunity of being able to supply the public with good broad. The case was instanced of one local baker who is spending £400 a year on milk to add to the flour in order to improve the quality of his bread. Others ut malt for the same purpose as giving more taste, whilst a few go to the big expense of buying Canadian flour to improve the quality of what is procured locally. And still the public grumble and want to know where, the "nutty flavour" of the bread cf olden days has gone.
"To make a good lonf out of New Zealand flour alone is impossible," declared one baker. "We have to blend the local product with Australian flour, and even then the result is none too good.' We never know what we are getting when we buy Australian flourit may be third grade stuff that they send over. What we should do is to buy Australian wheat by sample and then we would know what we are getting. It is to our advantage' to make as.good a loaf as possible; we do not have to advertise to encourage people to eat more bread—they will do so if good bread is obtainable." He added that another reason for cutting out the importation of flour in tavour of the wheat itself was that we were giving employment to Australians which might be had by New Zealanders, and that we were losing the offal.
As in all such matters, tnere are at least two sides to the question. It may be maintained by some that milling methods are at fault, by others that the bakers are to blame. Yet another possibility accounting for the inferior quality of New Zealand flour is that the wrong kind of wheat is grown. It is not the quantity of gluten in the grain, but the quality that gives good flour. This is one of the problems that is interesting' the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and very important experiments are being carried out at .Lincoln College with a view to evolving the right type of wheat for New Zealand soils, for undoubtedly the country can grow wheat which will yield flour of the highest quality. Some blame the millers for encouraging the farmers to grow wheat giving the biggest yield regardless of quality of the resulting flour. Other experts say that threshing from the stook should be practised in preference to threshing from the stack; but climatic conditions seem to prevent this being done; others that too big a percentage of the grain is milled into flour, the increased percentage only adding impurities.
Whatever the causo of the inferior flour it seems that co-operation between farmers, millers, and bakers, coupled ■with scientifically conducted experiments having referenco to the whole question of wheat-growing, from the light type to sow to all subsequent stages in tho preparation of flour, is highly necessaiy in the interests of the public's taste, possibly the public health.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 20, 23 July 1927, Page 10
Word Count
738HOT ALL IT MIGHT BE Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 20, 23 July 1927, Page 10
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