Bread-baking is becoming more and more each year a manufacturing process. Gradually the baker is introducing improved machines and improving his process of making bread by the introduction of new methods. Bread-baking has reached the stage where the process can be operated throughout practically by machinery.

The bakers operating the smaller bakeries usually have a mixer and molding machine. A few years ago even bakeries of large capacity did not have even these machines. The baker has come to see that a larger knowledge of the proper conditions of baking and what takes place during the process of bread-baking gives him better bread.

In going through the bakeries of the United States, we find the uppermost question in mind of the master baker is “QUALITY.” His constant endeavor is to make a better lot of bread. The people of the United States are receiving a better loaf of bread each year, as the increase in the sale of baker’s bread testifies.

There is still room for improvement, however. The baker’s difficulties are not only encountered through the ingredients used in bread-making. In fact, these cause only a small part of his troubles. The baker not only has to be a baker and understand baking thoroughly, but he must also be a weather prophet. Weather conditions affect bread-making more than any other conditions which arise. There are very few bakeries having absolute control of their dough room. To have uniform bread each day it is necessary to have control of the dough room. There are very few who realize the importance of controlling these factors. I would like to leave this one message—“Watch Your Dough Room.”

Flour Storage.

To have flour in the best condition for the baker’s use is a problem which most of us do not give enough attention. Flour should be kept in a dry, light and well ventilated room. The temperature should be from 70 to 75 degrees F. and the flour should be so piled as to allow a free circulation of pure air to every sack.

Light is a strong factor on the proper aging of flour for baking purposes. Give the flour all the light you can. There are a great many bakers who store their flour in a dark basement. Some of these may be fairly well ventilated and dry, but the flour receives no light. Darkness and dampness go hand in hand. Flour requires light to give it the best conditions for it to age.

Putting flour in a cold, damp cellar is like putting meat in cold storage. The aging process is checked by the cold and the flour remains as it was when first put in storage. No aging process takes place. The flour has simply been preserved in the same state as when placed in the cellar.

Possibly you have placed a handful of flour in a thin layer in the bright sunlight for two or three hours, and then compared it with the original flour. It has been bleached by the sunlight, and if it were baked beside the same flour which was not placed in the sunlight, you could hardly believe they were the same flour.

Occasionally moving flour helps to age it; if it is turned over once a week, or preferably more often, the aging process is hastened.

Flour should always be sifted before using. In packing in packages, flour is compressed and sifting loosens the small particles and mixes air in the flour. There are machines on the market specially adapted for this work. Besides being sifters these machines have beaters, which throw the flour and drive air into it. This aerating not only assists in aging but has added value of giving it greater water absorbing power, thus having the flour in much better condition for bread-making process.

Under conditions of a well ventilated room, pure, dry air, well lighted, and at temperature of 70-75 degrees F., flour will probably be in the best condition to use in about ninety days.

Many bakers do not have storage facilities for carrying their flour ninety days. With this in mind, we stored flour at a temperature of 84-86 degrees F. for thirty days. The results received were very satisfactory. This manner of storing for thirty days could be readily carried out by many bakers who have not facilities for storing their flour for a longer time. This would give much better results than the general storage conditions which many bakers have now.

Where the flour storage is limited and no heated warehouse, the space on the floor above the ovens can be used for flour storage. The heat from the ovens keeps the flour warm and insures a warm place to store flour. It is also warmed quickly if it is necessary to use the flour immediately. If the flour can be held for some time stored in such a manner it ages quickly. It is necessary, however, to be sure no flue gases come in contact with the flour, as these gases quickly destroy the gluten. The above method has been very successfully used in places where flour storage was limited and no means of heating the flour was available.

During the aging of flour there is a slight loss of moisture, which is utilized in two ways:

When water is added to aged flour in mixing dough, the loss in moisture is more than made up by the larger percentage of water it will absorb. Flour which is aged will on the average absorb 5 per cent. more water than flour which is freshly milled. The baking value of the flour is greatly increased by proper aging. The gluten is much more elastic and tough and makes a much better handling dough. The flour is whiter in color, the fermentation period is more easily handled, and it makes a much better loaf of bread in general.

Flour Mixing.

Many bakers mix flour from different mills, thinking they receive a more uniform and better blend of flour, that when one flour is poor the other usually is good and helps it along. In reality the opposite is the case.

Every mill has its own separate system of bolting flour, so that they have the small particles of flour of the same uniform size. The sizes of flour particles from different mills will differ, consequently if these flours are blended, there will be flour particles of varying sizes. When mixed into dough, the smaller particles take up the water first and much faster than the larger particles, and fermentation begins immediately on the smaller particles. The larger particles require a longer time to take up the water, therefore the fermenting dough is not uniform—the dough from the larger particles being slower than that from the smaller particles. Thus, part of the dough will be “too old” and the remainder “too young.”

Some mills select their wheat and mill the flour by systematic chemical and baking analyses, so that the gluten is of uniform quality and gives the best results when it is handled alone. If another flour is mixed with it, the gluten being of a different character will make an inferior gluten of the first flour and it will not give as good results as when handled alone.

Color of Flour.

The progressive miller is a close student of the wheat berry. It is necessary that he understand thoroughly the constitution of wheat to obtain the best results in the flour he grinds.

Milling in its simple form is merely the separation of the bran coats and germ from the floury part of the kernel. To make these separations as thorough as possible requires a vast amount of machinery and a large number of operations.

The gluten of the wheat is not evenly distributed throughout the berry. The central portion contains the least, and it increases toward the outside. Starch, on the other hand, is found to be just the reverse—the largest percentage being found in the center and the percentage decreases toward the outside. Some flours are made from the very central portions. This gives a flour deficient in gluten and excessive in starch, and will not stand the treatment given it by the baker. It is starchy in color on account of the excessive amount of starch and the small quantity of gluten.

An excessively white color and strong gluten are never found together in the same flour. In studying the needs of the baker in flour, we find he does not want an intensely starchy, white color, as this flour will not give a corresponding white color in the bread.

What the baker does want is a flour containing the greatest strength and best color combined. It will be slightly creamy in color, but when baked will make as white a loaf as intensely white flour, and has the added advantage of having larger water absorbing powers, and the power to withstand the harsh treatment given it by the baker. The baker in his mixing and fermentation develops the color in a loaf of bread. An intensely white flour will give a very dark loaf of bread if not fermented properly. On the other hand, a flour with good strength and creamy in color will, when handled under proper conditions of fermentation, give as white, if not whiter bread than the whiter flour. It also has the added advantage of withstanding the vigorous treatment of the machines. It gives a better volume, texture and pile in the loaf, and if through accident there is any delay in taking the dough when it is ready, the strong flour will stand it, while the white flour will have to be taken at just the right time to give good bread.

Color in bread is not necessarily obtained by using a white flour. A better color can be obtained by using a strong and slightly creamy flour handled properly in the fermentation. The mixing of the dough at a high speed, and proper fermentation at the correct temperature, are the factors which make white bread.

Mixing the Dough.

To start a dough right is to mix it right. A properly mixed dough should be mixed twenty minutes, in a single arm machine, mixed with a speed of at least 36 revolutions per minute. Some mix their doughs the same length of time in mixers at a speed of 60 revolutions per minute. This gives toughness to the dough and makes it take up more water. There is one danger, and this is allowing the dough to warm up too much. The mixed dough should be 80 degrees Fahr. It is necessary to find the amount the mixer warms up the dough in twenty minutes’ mixing, and allow for this in the temperature of the water added. A dough properly mixed should be tough enough to be pulled out like a rope without breaking.

Too many bakers are running their doughs too hot. We have had an exceptionally early spring—the change from cold to warm weather was very sudden. The bakers have not considered this and made the necessary changes, and consequently the dough is mixed too warm.

Humidity plays a very strong part in the fermentation. With a high humidity the dough works much faster than with a low humidity. It is necessary to take this into consideration in preparing the dough.

Fermentation.

Probably the most important step in bread-making is the fermentation period. To start the fermentation correctly means to have the dough mixed correctly as to temperature and ingredients added, to obtain the best results in fermentation.

Yeast ferments best at a temperature of 86 degrees. But, if a dough is set at this temperature, and has a tendency to warm up during fermentation, it gives even a higher temperature when the dough is ready for the pans. Other ferments also start to develop at this temperature which cause the dough to become sour, to a more or less degree, and in this way either cause sour bread or at least a loss of the rich wheat flavor.

A dough works best at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr., having the room at 76 degrees Fahr. The danger points in the temperature of a dough under these conditions are 76 degrees and 86 degrees Fahr. If a dough is mixed at 80 degrees Fahr. and put into a dough room having a temperature of 76 degrees Fahr., it will probably go onto the bench at 82 degrees Fahr., which gives the best results in the bread. If a dough is mixed warmer than 80 degrees Fahr. it is necessary to watch it much closer and take it at exactly the right time. Even with the most careful observation of a dough at a warm temperature, a loss of flavor or a tinge of sourness develops. Our advice is to be wary of a warm dough.

The age of dough is the critical point in bread-making. How to tell the age of a dough is a question we have never seen satisfactorily answered. Most bakers tell intuitively, and this has required long experience. The color, texture, volume and flavor of the resulting bread are dependent almost entirely on the age of the dough.

The length of time of the first rising in a straight dough is a point many bakers do not consider. If the dough is too young, give more time on the first rising; if too old, shorten the time of the first rising. The age of a dough is governed to a considerable degree by the first rising.

A strong flour requires three risings by the ordinary methods of bread-making. There are processes used where the dough is punched at stated intervals. This, however, is used more successfully where very good control is had over the temperature and humidity.

Technically, a dough is ready when the yeast has reached the maximum of its energy. If the proper development of gluten and the maximum of energy of the yeast is not reached, a young dough is the result. A young dough will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color will be yellow in varying degrees, and a generally poor loaf is received.

If the fermentation is carried too far, the yeast will have lost its vitality, other ferments will have started to develop. The loaf will have a tendency to fall in the oven. It will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color dark and the wheat flavor lost, a sour odor will also be noticeable.

If the dough is fermented at too high a temperature, both young and old characteristics will be noticeable in the loaf.

Any improper handling of a dough, either by ingredients added, length of the period of fermentation, or wrong temperature, will give a dark, coarse and small loaf. The miller is usually blamed for these results, which in reality are not caused by the flour, but by the improper use of the ingredients and methods of handling.

Ingredients.

The ingredients in bread-making that have a vital influence upon the finished bread, are: Flour, water, yeast, salt. It is always necessary to have these. Other ingredients act in the capacity of hastening fermentation, yeast foods, flavor, etc., to give a character or special flavor to bread.

We contend there is no bread recipe. What we call a bread recipe is merely a combination of ingredients in proportions to suit the conditions under which the baker is working. We all have books full of bread recipes, each a little different from the other, and all striving to obtain the same bread, or give their bread a slightly different character.

One baker finds his conditions are suitable for one combination of ingredients; another finds he cannot use this recipe at all. He finds another combination which suits his conditions. All are working under different conditions of climate, temperature and manner of handling. Consequently, it is necessary to find the proportion of ingredients which best adapt themselves to the present conditions. The character of bread desired naturally influences the ingredients used, and as conditions change the ingredients must change to meet these conditions, if a special character and individuality in bread is desired.

Water.

Most bakers do not use as much water as is possible in bread-making. A hard, northwestern flour requires a slack dough if the flour has been made from wheats having the right characters and properly milled. The best results are obtained by setting the dough as soft as can be handled. When mixing the dough the water at first is not thoroughly absorbed by the flour particles, as the gluten is so hard it takes some time for these particles to thoroughly absorb all the water they will hold. This continuing to absorb is known to the baker as “tightening up.” This feature is characteristic of Northwestern flours, and is lacking in other flours. When mixing a dough from Northwestern flours always allow for “tightening up,” and mix the dough softer than it is intended to be when you “take the dough.” The opposite is the case in softer flours as they “slack off.”

Any flour will lose this characteristic of “tightening up” if a dough when mixed is too hot. Gluten is in reality a vegetable glue and softens when the dough is mixed warm, and consequently will not absorb the amount of water it should, and it will have a tendency to “slack off” instead of “tightening up.”