Wheaten Bread.—The nature of wheaten bread when raised with yeast has been explained already at the commencement of this article ; but the importance of the subject demands a more exact account of the established processes em ployed in the manufacture. Mr. Edlin wishing to obtain every information on this subject, procured access to a bakehouse, and has given us the following account. " At three o'clock, they prepared to set the sponge, for which pur pose two sacks of household flour were carefully sifted through a brass wire sieve. The following mixture was then prepared ; two ounces of alum was first put into a tin vessel with a little water, and dissolved over the fire ; this was poured into the seasoning tub, and nine pounds of salt were thrown in, over which they poured two pails full of hot liquor ; when cooled to 840 of Fahren heit, six pints of yeast were added; this composition was then stirred well together, strained through the seasoning sieve, and emptied in a hole made in the flour, with which it was mixed to the consistency of thick batter. Some flour was sprinkled over the top, when it was covered up to keep in the heat. This operation is called setting quarter sponge. In three hours two pails full more of warm liquor were stirred in, and the mass covered up as before ; this is termed setting half sponge. Five hours afterwards five more pails of warm liquor were added ; and when the whole was intimately blended, it was kneaded for upwards of an hour. The dough was then cut into pieces, and thrown over the sluice board and penned to one side of the trough ; some dry flour being sprinkled over, it was left to prove, till about three o'clock in the morning, when it was again kneaded for the space of half an hour. The dough was taken out of the trough, put on the lid, and cut into pieces. It was then weighed, and 4 lbs. 15 oz. was allowed for each quartem loaf, the baker obser ving that a loaf of that size loses from 101 to 11 ounces while in the oven. It was then worked up, and the separate masses were laid in a row till the whole were weighed, and in counting them afterwards, he found they were equal to 163k quartern loaves ; but this circumstance is variable, as some flours kneaded better than others. It should have been mentioned, that the fire was kindled at two o'clock, and continued burning till near four, when the oven was cleansed from dirt and ashes. The bread being put in, the oven was close stopped till seven o'clock, when it was opened, and the bread withdrawn." Rolls.—Mr. Edlin has likewise furnished the following mode of making rolls, as witnessed by him in a London bakehouse. flour was sifted and mixed in the same manner as was done for the bread ; at half-past six o'clock, they were moulded up, and a slit was cut along the top of each with a knife ; they were then set in rows on a tin, and placed in a proving oven to rise till a quarter of an hour before eight, when they were drawn and set in the oven which was closed as before ; at eight o'clock they were taken out, and were slightly brushed over with a buttered brush, which gave the top crust a shining appear ance ; they were then covered up with a flannel till wanted for sale." Brown Bread, called also home-made, is usually fabricated of inferior or coarse flour, including more or less of the bran ground over again into pollard; and the brown tint of the latter is usually heightened by the public bakers, by the addition of the raspings of the burnt crust from other loaves. It has been a fashion of late years to give the preference to this bread, wider the notion of its superior purity and wholesomeness, overlooking the obvious circumstance, that its dingy colour affords a protection to the discovery of all sorts of adventitious mixtures, besides that of dirty rasping& In making brown bread at home, the case is of course different; but here, owing to the deficient kneading it usually receives, it acquires an anomalous taste, which some call sweet, others sour. Being unsatisfactory to the appetite, the good lady in the country flatters her self. love in observing the increased appetite of her metropolitan visitors, and ascribes it to the excellence of her home-made bread, when, in fact, it arises from its imperfections. Brown bread retains more water after baking; hence it keeps moist longer, but the middle usually crumbles away.
French Rolls, ke.—That extremely delicate and vesicular small bread called French is made in the following manner. To a peck of flour sifted through a fine wire sieve, three quarters of a pound of butter are added, and rubbed together in a kneading trough ; when these are intimately blended, two quarts of warm milk, a quarter of a pound of salt and a pint ot yeast are well mixed with it, and a sufficient quantity of warm water to knead it into a dough ; it must then stand two hours to prove, when it may be moulded into rolls or bricks, which are to be placed in tins, and set for an hour in the prover. They are afterwards put into a brick oven for twenty minutes, and when drawn rasped.
Household Bread undergoes the same preparation as wheaten bread, with this difference, that instead of being made with fine flour, it is made of an inferior sort, called seconds flour.
Sulatindee Wheaten Bread.—Numerous attempts have been made to find a substitute for wheaten bread, that should wholly or partially supply its place in times of scarcity. With this view, the annexed table has been prepared, by which will be seen the proportion of farina and of bran the following vege table substances contain.
We shall now proceed to shew how these several vegetable substances may be employed as substitutes for wheaten flour.
Barley Bread.—Next to wheat, barley is the mostprofitable of the farinaceous grains, and when mixed with a small proportion of that flour, makes a much cheaper, and as good bread as that grain, as respects its nutritious properties ; which is attested by the numerous robust peasantry who make it their chief sustenance. Barley is, however, made into bread without the admixture of any other grain, and forms the principal diet of the miners of Cornwall, and of the rural population of many districts in this country. It is thus made: forty-four pounds of barley meal are kneaded up into dough, with water, yeast, and salt, and divided into eight loaves ; when thoroughly baked, drawn out of the oven, and left to cool, they weigh about 60 pounds. Such food must, however, be heavy ; and to remedy this defect, it is always best to set the sponge with wheat flour altogether, as barley flour does not readily ferment with yeast; and add the barley flour when the yeast is going to be made. Barley bread is also made by a mixture of one peck of rice to two pecks of the barley flour : also, by the addition of 14 pounds of the drained pulp of potatoes, to the same weight of barley flour ; knead into dough with warm water and a sufficient quantity of yeast and salt, and give the mass time to prove before baking.
Buck-wheat Bread.—Buck-wheat is so little used as an aliment in this coun try, that there is little opportunity of studying its effects ; but from all appear ance, it has the common quality of other grain. In Norfolk it is grown for fattening poultry. In France, it is made into bread for human sustenance. This grain is covered with a hard, black, triangular husk, of which it is deprived by an operation, previous to grinding the farina. It is effected by high drying the grain either by the sun's rays, or by the heat of a kiln, and after wards by being what is technically called run through the mill stones ; the husks are then blown away by a winnowing machine, and the residual grain treated asin the preparation of wheat corn. The manner of making bread from it alone is as follows : boil a gallon of water, add thereto by degrees a peck of buck-wheat flour, constantly stirring it, to prevent lumps forming, till a thick batter is formed like that of Scotch or Yorkshire pottage. Add some salt, and boil the mass for an hour and a half. Then pour into an iron kettle, hanging over the fire, the due proportion for a cake, and bake it, turning it frequently to prevent burning. An excellent mixed bread is made by the addition of a peck of wheat flour to the before-mentioned quantity of buck-wheat. After the latter has been made into batter, and cooled down to blood-heat, it may be poured into the trough containing the wheat flour and yeast ; being there well kneaded, it should stand two hoursto prove, divided into loaves, and baked rather longer in the oven than for wheat bread alone.