BREAD MAKING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 192, 15 August 1931, Page 15 (Supplement)

BREAD MAKING

POINTS TO REMEMBER. Many defects in home-made bread can be traced to bad stoking. A clear, hot fire, preferably of coke; clean flues, dry flour, a very hot oven, perfectly clean and heat-tight—these are the things which help to turn out perfect homemade bread. Sometimes an ill-fitting oven door is directly responsible for poor bread. If the door is not a perfect fit, try shutting it on brown paper, the better to keep in the hot air. And, once tho bread is iu the oven, try to manage without opening the door until tho batch is ready to come out. If it is essential to look at it, give a quick peep towards the end. This will prevent the dough from “dropping.” Many home cooks ask how that delicious golden brown on the loaves is obtained. The trick is quite simple. Place three lumps of sugar in the oven a minute or so before putting in the dough, and the crust of the bread will take on a good golden brown tint. Another way is to brush the tops of the loaves with milk before putting them in the oven. But, the sugar method is preferable, as there is then no likelihood of the. tops of the loaves becoming ‘ ‘ soggy. ’ ’ If regular baking is undertaken, a sack or half a sack of flour at a time is not only cheaper, but more easily handled, since you get accustomed to working with it instead of experimenting with different kinds. Expert bakers realise this advantage. Sometimes, of course, a batch of homemade bread is spoilt in the mixing. The water used in making bread must be tepid. If it is too hot, the loaves will be full of great holes, difficult to cut and more difficult to spread with butter.

Finally, take care of the bread tins. They should not be washed in soda water, otherwise the dough is almost sure to stick the next time they are used. A clean cloth rubbed round and round while they arc still warm will take off the crumbs and leave the merest. suspicion of grease that will prevent them from rusting.