£100 PRIZE FOR A LOAF.

Mataura Ensign, 2 November 1911, Page 7

£IOO PRIZE FOR A LOAF.

YORKSHIREMAN'S SUCCESS. A Yorkshire baker, Mr H. R. Meeke, of Scarborough, won at the Confectioners' and Bakers' Exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, on September 8, the 'Daily Mail' £IOO champion prize and the 60-guinea silver trophy, also presented by the 'Daily Mail,' for the best specimen of standard bread. The champion loaf, a pan Coberg, with a noble crown of golden-brown crust, crumb of pale cream line and perfect texture, and flavor which the judges described as delicious, was one of 4000 sent for the competition by bakers in all parts of the kingdom. The entry for the first Standard Bread Competition left all previous records far behind, the nearest approach to the figures having been the 2202 loaves entered in a championship class of white bread in 1905. In addition to the champion prize and trophy 18 prizes were awarded, and the quality of the bread was so high that about one, point divided all the winning loaves. How the Bread was Made. By a carefully thought-out method of baking both the first and second prizewinners established their success. The excellence of the method they employed is striking. They are close friends and both followed identical plans. It was the second prize-winner, Mr J. R. Irons of Watford and Dunstable, who invented the recipe and taught it to the baker of the champion loaf, Mr Meeke, when the latter was spending a week with him in the early part of July. The recipe is as follows: Mix 141b of flour, 3oz of yeast, 3Joz of salt, and three pints of water. Scale the dough—that is, .weigh it out into quantities suitable for loaves—after it has risen, for hours. Put into tins, then let it "prove"—that is, rise—in i the tins, for 35 minutes. Then bake for a little longer than is usual with ordinary white bread. "The distinctive feature of standard bread baking is that the dough is ready for the oven sooner, since it ferments more readily," said Mr Meeke. The champion standard bread baker obtained his flour from Messrs Thirsk, of Nafferton, Yorkshire. They prepared a special flour for Mr Meeke containing 80 per cent, of the whole wheat and of as light a color as possible. The wheat used was Manitoban, with some admixture of English grain. Canadian wbeat gives strength, English wheat color.