=BRAUNETINCTUR--QUINSY OR BROWN TINCTURE= (Netsch, Rauschau), an
embrocation for the larynx, is a mixture of 3 parts oil of cloves and 1
part creosote. (Hager.) According to Leimbach 1 part creosote with 3 parts
of a spirituous tincture of cochineal perfumed with oil of cloves.
=BRAWN.= A boar or its flesh. When young, the horny parts feel moderately
tender. If the rind is hard, it is old. (Mrs Rundell.) Also in cookery,
the flesh of the boar, or of swine, collared so as to squeeze out as much
of the fat as possible, boiled, and pickled.
=Brawn, Mock.= _Prep._ (Mrs Rundell.) Take the head and belly-piece of a
young porker, well saltpetred; split the head and boil it; take out the
bones and cut it to pieces; then take 4 ox-feet, boiled tender, and cut
them in thin pieces; lay them in the belly-piece with the head cut small;
roll it up tight with sheet tin, and boil it 4 or 5 hours. When it comes
out set it up on one end, put a trencher on it (within the tin), press it
down with a heavy weight, and let it stand all night. The next morning
take it out of the tin and bind it with a fillet, put it in cold
salt-and-water, and it will be fit for use; it will keep a long time, if
fresh salt-and-water are put into it about once every four days.
=BRAXY.= Inflammation of the bowels in sheep, chiefly affecting young
sheep. It is most frequent during winter, and occurs in exposed wet
localities. The symptoms are restlessness, thirst, tenderness along the
spine or belly, and constipation.
_Treatment._ Bleed early, and give 3 _oz._ castor oil; 8 grains of
calomel; 1/2 _oz._ of laudanum; 3 _oz._ treacle; beat up with two eggs,
and mixed with about 6 _oz._ of warm water; let this be repeated in half
doses every six hours.
This should be combined with clysters and hot fomentations to the belly.
If, after two days, no benefit should be derived, give thrice daily, 5
grains of calomel, 20 grains of carbonate of ammonia, and 1-1/2 dram of
laudanum, in gruel. The animal should be removed to a shed or sheltered
place.
=BRAZIL NUTS.= The particular tree yielding these nuts (the _Bartholetia
excelsa_) is a native of Brazil, whence the nuts are exported to the
yearly annual amount of about 60,000 bushels.
When the kernels of the nuts are submitted to pressure they yield an oil
in great repute for domestic purposes and for export, each pound of the
nuts yielding nine ounces of the oil, valued at two shillings the pound.
According to Martius, this oil consists of 74 per cent. of eldein, and 26
per cent. of stearin. The finely laminated inner bark of the trunks is
also a valuable article of commerce, especially adapted for the caulking
of ships and barges, and is worth about eighteen shillings the cwt.
The following analysis by Corenwinder gives the composition of the kernels
taken from the nuts when in a fresh condition:
Water 8·00
Oil 65·60
Nitrogenous matters 15·31
Non-nitrogenous organic matters 7·39
Phosphoric acid 1·35 }
Lime, potash, silica, &c. 2·35 } 3·70
------
100·00
=BRAZIL'-WOOD= (-z[=e]le'-). _Syn._ BRAZIL[double-dagger]; LIG'NUM
BRAZILIEN'SE, L.; BOIS DE BRÉSIL, Fr. A dye-stuff furnished by several
species of trees of the genus _cæsalpin'ia_, and much used in dyeing
various shades of red. The usual practice is to boil it for some hours in
hard spring-water, and to keep the resulting decoction for some time, or
until it undergoes a species of fermentation; as it is thus found to yield
more permanent and beautiful colours than when employed fresh. The
following are examples of its application:--
_a._ For COTTON:--
1. The goods are first boiled in a bath of sumach, next worked through a
weak mordant of solution of tin, and then run through the Brazil bath
lukewarm. This gives a bright red.
2. The goods are alumed, rinsed, next mordanted with solution of tin,
rinsed again, and then turned through the Brazil dye bath. This gives a
rose colour.
_b._ For LINEN:--This, for the most part, is similar to that adopted for
cotton.
_c._ For SILK:--The goods, after being alumed in the same way as wool, but
at a lower temperature, are rinsed, and passed through the Brazil-wood
bath lukewarm.
_d._ For WOOL:--The goods are first steeped or boiled in a weak mordant of
alum and tartar, for 1 hour, and then allowed to lie in the cold liquor
for 2 or 3 days, with frequent moving about; they are lastly boiled in the
Brazil-wood bath for about 1/2 an hour.
_Obs._ The shades of colour given with Brazil-wood may be modified by
varying the strength of the bath, the mordant, &c. The addition of a
little alum turns it on the purple. A little alkali added to the bath, or
passing the goods, after being dyed, through water holding a little alkali
in solution, produces what is called false crimson. A deep crimson is
obtained by adding a little logwood to the Brazil-wood bath. 1 lb. of
Brazil-wood, 1/2 oz. of alum, and 2 oz. of tartar, are sufficient to dye
from 20 to 28 lbs. of cotton, according to the depth of shade required.
See DYEING, RED DYES, &c.
=BRAZI'LIN.= _Syn._ BREZE''L[)I]NE, SAPAN'[)I]NE. The colouring matter of
Brazil-wood. It forms small orange-coloured needles, soluble in both water
and alcohol. Alkalies turn it violet; acids, yellow. Bolly has shown it to
be identical with the colouring matter of Sapan-wood.
=BRA''ZING.= The operation of uniting pieces of copper, brass, iron, &c.,
by means of hard solder.
_Proc._ The edges, after being filed or scraped quite clean, are covered
with a mixture of hard solder and powdered borax, made into a paste with
water. The whole is then allowed to dry, and is afterwards exposed, in a
clear fire, to a heat sufficient to melt the solder. See AUTOGENOUS,
SOLDERING, SOLDERS, &c.
=BREAD= (br[)e]d). _Syn._ PA'NIS, L.; PAIN, Fr.; BROD, Ger.; BROOD, Dut.;
BRÖD, Dan., Swed.; BREOD, Sax. Loaves or cakes made from ground corn, and
constituting the staple article of food of all civilised nations.
This important article of food is made of the flour of different cereal
grains, but only those that contain gluten admit of conversion into light
or spongy bread. In this respect wheat-flour is superior to all others.
When this flour is made into a paste or dough with water, and the dough,
previous to baking, is left for some time in a moderately warm place, a
state of fermentation comes on, owing to the sugar of the flour gradually
undergoing the process of conversion into alcohol, in every respect
similar to that which takes place during the fermentation of wine and
beer. In this process a large quantity of carbonic acid gas is liberated,
and the toughness of the dough preventing its escape, the whole mass
becomes puffed up and spongy, and a light porous paste is formed, the
porosity of which is still further increased by the heat of the oven. The
natural process of fermenting the dough just described is, however,
tedious and uncertain, whilst the dough has a tendency to run into the
acetous fermentation, and to acquire a sour and disagreeable taste, by
which it is rendered less nutritious and less easy of digestion. This has
led to the use of a ferment which produces a similar condition more
speedily, and with greater certainty. Leaven or dough was originally
employed for this purpose, and the bread so made was hence called LEAVENED
BREAD. At the present time barm or yeast is almost universally used for
this purpose. All that is essential to make a loaf of bread is to add a
proper quantity of yeast to the dough, and to allow it to remain for a
short time in a warm place, and as soon as it rises or becomes spongy, to
subject it to the process of baking.
In preparing his dough, the modern baker takes a part of the water needed
for the batch, and having rendered it tepid or lukewarm (80° to 90° Fahr.)
by the addition of boiling water, dissolves his salt in it, and adds the
yeast, together with a portion of the flour. With these he forms a thin
dough, which he sets aside in a moderately warm place provided for the
purpose, and technically called the 'kneading trough,' 'prover,' or
'tryer,' where it soon begins to ferment and swell up. This process is
called 'setting the sponge,' and according to the proportion the water in
it bears to the whole quantity that is to be used, it receives the name of
'whole,' 'half,' or 'quarter sponge.' Here the sponge heaves and swells,
and ultimately the surface bursts and subsides, and if not checked swells
again and again in a similar manner and would continue to do so until the
whole of the 'saccharine matter' was destroyed, and the dough had become
sour. The baker is careful, however, to stop it before it has communicated
a sourness to the mass. After the first, or, at the furthest, after the
second or third 'dropping of the sponge,' he adds the remaining quantity
of flour, water, and salt, necessary to form the 'batch,' and then kneads
the whole until it becomes sufficiently tough and elastic to bear the
pressure of the hand without adhering to it. The 'dough' is now left to
itself for a few hours, during which the fermentation still goes on. The
inflated mass is then again kneaded, cut into pieces, weighed, and shaped
into loaves. In an hour or two these unbaked loaves swell up to nearly
double their former size, and are then placed in the oven and baked.
During this operation they continue for a time to increase in size, in
consequence of the dilation of the pent-up gas by the heat. At length the
fermentation is checked, and the dough becomes too solid to admit of
further alteration.
Such are the principles and practice of the art of baking. The operations
are precisely the same on both the small and the large scale, and
therefore need not be separately described.
The kneading of the dough by hand is not only a very laborious process,
but it is unhealthy and additionally objectionable on account of its being
uncleanly. Added to this, the uniform quality of the dough is not to be
depended upon. Although it is impossible to perform by machinery any
labour which absolutely requires the touch of the human hand,
bread-kneading machines have been introduced wherever the making of only
one and the same kind of bread is required. Amongst the numerous kinds of
machines devised for bread-making, is Clayton's. (_See cut._)
The constituents of the dough are placed in the cylinder, _A_, mounted in
the framework, _b b_, and provided with hollow axles, _c_ and _d_,
turning in their bearings at _e_. The interior of the cylinder is fitted
with the framework, _f_, which may be made to revolve by the aid of the
axles, _g_ and _h_. The two halves of this framework are connected
together by the diagonal knives _i_, _i_, which, when the machinery
revolves, work up the dough; the trough or outer cylinder revolves in the
opposite direction to the revolution of the framework. The crank, _o_, is
connected with the axle of the trough or outer cylinder, the crank, _p_,
with that of the inner framework; as the two cranks are turned in opposite
directions, they impart opposite movements to trough and framework. The
revolving of the machinery may be performed by one man by the aid of one
crank, since the axle, _h_, of the crank, _o_, which is fitted to the
inner frame by means of the hollow axle-tree, and revolves along with it,
carries a conically shaped wheel, _m_, fitted to the wheel _k_, which,
being connected with _l_, causes the trough also to revolve; when
therefore the wheel _m_ turns towards the right, the wheel _t_ will
revolve towards the left. Another kneading machine is that of Mr Stevens.
It is employed at the Holborn Union, where more than 5000 _lbs._ of bread
are made every week by one man and two boys.
[Illustration]
_Adult._ The adulteration of both flour and bread is carried to a fearful
extent, more especially in London. The baker's flour is very often made of
the worst kinds of damaged foreign wheat; and other cereal grains, and
particularly beans, are mixed with them in grinding them into flour. In
this capital no fewer than six distinct kinds of wheaten flour are brought
into the market--fine flour, seconds, middlings, fine middlings, coarse
middlings, and twenty-penny flour.
Among the principal substances which have been proved to have been used to
adulterate wheat-flour and bread are the following:--
**Alum.
*Ammonia (Sesquicarbonate).
**Beans.
*Bone dust.
*Chalk.
Clay.
Copper (Sulphate).
Lime (Sulphate from the soda water makers).
*Magnesia (Carbonate).
*Plaster of Paris.
*Potash (Carbonate and bicarbonate).
**Potatoes.
**Rice.
**Soda (Carbonate and sesquicarbonate).
*Starch (Potato).
**Water (in excess).
Zinc (Sulphate).
Of these substances, those marked thus (*) are very frequently used; and
those marked thus (**) almost universally so.
In the absence of chemical analysis the unalumed loaf may be roughly
distinguished from the alumed one by the following characteristics: it is
neither so white, so bulky, nor so symmetrical; it bites shorter, and it
is free from the sour taste which accompanies the presence of alum. Again,
unalumed bread a day or two old will be found to crumble with great
readiness; alumed bread, however old, crumbles, on the contrary, with
difficulty.
According to Mr Accum, the smallest quantity of alum that can be employed
with effect to produce white, light, and porous bread, from the inferior
kinds of flour commonly used by the bakers, is from 3 to 4 oz. to a sack
of flour weighing 280 lbs. But Dr P. Markham states that the ordinary
bread of the London baker is made of one sack or 5 bushels of flour; 8 oz.
of alum; 4 lbs. of salt; 1/2 gall. of yeast; and about 3 galls. of water.
Our own analyses, extending to many hundred samples of London bread, as
well as those of other chemists, show that even this large quantity of
alum is often very much exceeded by the bakers.
Alkaline substances, as the carbonates of ammonia, soda, and potash, are
often employed to realise the important consideration of producing light
and porous bread from spoiled, or, as it is technically called, sour
flour. The first salt becomes temporarily converted into a gaseous state
during the operation of baking, causing the dough to swell up in minute
bubbles, which thus render it light and porous; the salt itself being at
the same time, for the most part, volatilised. Alum is added, not only
with a like intention, but also to enable the dough to carry more water.
There are several instances of convictions on record of millers and bakers
having used gypsum, chalk, and pipeclay in the manufacture of their goods.
A gentleman lately writing from the North of England says that he found
in one sample of flour which he recently examined upwards of 16% of
gypsum; and in another, 12% of the same earth.
A few years since it was discovered that some of the bakers in France and
Belgium added blue vitriol to their dough to make it take more water, in
the same way as the English baker uses alum. 1 oz. of this sulphate was
dissolved in a quart of water, and a wine-glassful of this solution added
to the water necessary to make about 50 4-lb. loaves. This enormous crime
was soon detected, and deservedly caused the ruin of its heartless
perpetrators.
_Exam._ The following are the methods employed for the discovery of the
principal sophisticants of bread, and as the chief of these, and the one
most difficult of identification is alum, we have given prominence to the
processes now generally adopted for the detection of this article:--
1. ALUM:--_a._ (Robine and Parisot.) About 1/4 lb. of the suspected bread
(somewhat stale or dry) is reduced to crumbs, macerated for 2 or 3 hours
in cold water, and then squeezed through a clean piece of white linen. The
liquid is next evaporated to dryness at a steam-heat, the residuum
redissolved in a little hot water, and the solution filtered. Liquor of
ammonia or a solution of sal-ammoniac, and a solution of chloride of
barium added to the filtered liquid, give a white precipitate when ALUM is
present.
When nearly the whole of the alum has suffered decomposition in the loaf,
as is frequently the case, the following process is required:--
_b._ (M. Kuhlman.) 4 or 5 oz. of bread are reduced to ash, which is
powdered and treated with nitric acid, the mixture evaporated to dryness,
and about 1 oz. of hot water added. A little caustic potassa is added to
the last solution (unfiltered), the whole boiled a few minutes, and passed
through a filter. The filtrate is next tested with a solution of
sal-ammoniac, and the whole again boiled for 2 or 3 minutes. If a
precipitate forms it is alumina; every 50 gr. of which are equivalent to
332 gr. of crystallised alum.
_c._ The suspected sample is wetted with a weak solution of logwood, or,
preferably, of cochineal. Pure bread is only slightly stained by this
solution; bread containing alum strikes a lavender, lilac, or purple
colour, according to the quantity of the adulterant present. If it
acquires a pearl-grey or bluish tint, some alkali (potash, soda, or
ammonia) is present.
_d._ (J. A. Wanklyn.) 100 grams of bread are incinerated in a platinum
dish, capable of holding the whole quantity at once. The incineration is
managed at a comparatively low temperature, and takes some four or five
hours; the platinum dish being heated by means of a large Bunsen burner,
abundantly supplied with air. It is well to continue the ignition until
the bread-ash is nearly completely burnt, and it is advisable to weigh the
dish containing the ash. The weight of the ash should not sensibly exceed
2 grams. The ash having been obtained is then moistened with 3 c. c. of
pure strong hydrochloric acid, and then some 20 to 30 c. c. of distilled
water is added, and the whole is boiled, filtered, and the precipitate
washed several times with boiling water. In this manner a precipitate
consisting of a silica, together with some unburnt carbon, is left on the
filter, whilst the filtrate contains the phosphates. The precipitate,
which, after being burnt, consists of silica, is weighed. The filtrate is
mixed with 5 c. c. of ammonia (sp. gr. 0·880), whereby it is rendered
powerfully alkaline and opaque, owing to the precipitation of the
phosphates. It is finally mixed gradually with some 20 c. c. of strong
acetic acid, and as the acid is being poured in, it is to be observed that
the liquid is alkaline and opaque, until some 5 c. c. of the acid have
been added; that when about 10 c. c. have been added the liquid is acid
and much clearer, and that at least 10 c. c. of strong acetic acid are
added after the establishment of a distinctly acid reaction. The liquid is
then boiled and filtered, and the precipitates, consisting of phosphates
of alumina and iron, well-washed with boiling water, ignited and weighed.
The last step is the determination of the iron in the weighed precipitate,
and this is accomplished either by reduction and titration with standard
solution of permanganate in the well known manner, or else by a colour
process, viz., by trituration with ferrocyanide of potassium. Having
ascertained the amount of iron in the precipitate of mixed phosphates, it
is only necessary to calculate it into phosphate of iron, and to subtract
the weight of phosphate of iron from the total weight of the mixed
phosphates, and the difference is the phosphate of alum yielded by 100
grams of the bread. The following results have been obtained by applying
the above-described process to samples of bread presumed to be free from
alum:--
_From 100 grams of Bread._
Precipitate
Bread-ash. Silica. insoluble in
acetic acid.
Grams. Grams. Grams.
A 1·408 ... 0·010
B 1·378 ... 0·006
C 1·730 0·018 0·010
D 1·620 0·032 0·014
E ... ... 0·012
(1)F 1·383 0·030 0·012
(2)F 1·324 0·025 0·014
The precipitate insoluble in acetic acid contained in every instance a
large proportion of iron, but in some cases at least did not wholly
consist of phosphate of iron. On deducting the quantity of phosphate of
iron from the total phosphates insoluble in acetic acid, there remains a
residue of some five or six milligrams. It would therefore appear that
unalumed bread is liable to contain a minute trace of alumina, which,
expressed as phosphate of alumina (Al_{2}O_{3}PO_{5}), equals five or six
milligrams per 100 grains of bread, or 0·005 per cent. If the alum
corresponding to this phosphate be calculated, it will be seen that 100
grams of unalumed bread may appear to contain 0·022 grams of alum; or
expressed on the 4-lb. loaf, there may appear to be 6 grams of alum in it.
This agrees very fairly with Dr Dupré's observation.
_e._ (J. C. Thresh.) The author states that this process requires only a
few hours, and quotes experiments, showing the accuracy of the results:--
Take 1250 gr. of bread (from middle of loaf) or flour, and char thoroughly
in a platinum dish or on foil over a gas lamp. Powder the char and mix it
with sufficient pure strong hydrochloric acid to make a thin cream. Boil
gently for a few minutes, then add 100 c. c. of water, and continue the
ebullition a few minutes longer. Dilute to 150 c. c., stir well, and
filter off 120 c. c., which will contain the alumina from 1000 gr. of the
bread or flour. To this filtrate add a slight excess of solution of
ammonia, boil for a few seconds. Then let the precipitate subside, and
decant the supernatant fluid. Add boiling water to the sediment, and again
set aside to settle, and decant the clear fluid. Pass the fluids through a
small filter to collect any particles of the precipitate which may have
been suspended therein, and throw the filtrate away. Now add to the
partially washed precipitate about a gram of pure caustic potash (or
soda), warm, and pass the solution through the same filter employed for
the previously decanted fluids. Wash the filter with hot water, to which a
little KHO may be added, and proceed to precipitate the alumina in the
filtrate by adding a few drops of dilute phosphoric acid and excess of
pure acetic acid. Heat the solution and precipitate to the boiling point,
and then wash the latter by decantation and filtration. Finally dry,
ignite, and weigh. The weight of the resulting Al_{2}PO_{4} in grams,
multiplied by 400, will give the amounts of ammonia alum in grains present
in one pound of the bread or flour.
_f._ (Mr Crookes.) The bread of which at least 500 grains should be taken
is first to be incinerated on a platinum or porcelain dish, until all
volatile organic matter has been expelled, and a black carbonaceous ash
remains. The temperature must not be raised much beyond the point
necessary to effect this. Powder the coal thus obtained and add about
thirty drops of oil of vitriol, and heat until vapours begin to rise; when
sufficiently cool, add water, and boil for ten minutes. Filter and
evaporate the filtrate until the fumes of sulphuric acid begin to be
evolved, when 10 gr. of metallic tin and an excess of nitric acid must be
added, together with water, drop by drop, until action between the acid
and metal commences. When all the tin is oxidised, add water, and filter.
Evaporate the filtrate until fumes of sulphuric acid are again visible,
when more water must be added, and the liquid again filtered if necessary.
To the clear solution now add tartaric acid, then ammonia in excess, and
sulphide of ammonium. Evaporate the liquid containing the precipitate
suspended to it, in a dish, until all the smell of sulphide of ammonium
has disappeared. Filter, evaporate to dryness, and ignite to get rid of
the organic matter. Powder the black ash, boil it in moderately strong
hydrochloric acid, filter, add a crystal of chlorate of potash, and boil
for a minute. Now add chloride of ammonium and ammonia, and boil for five
minutes. If at the end of that time any precipitate is observed, it will
be alumina. From the filtered solution, if oxalate of ammonia be added,
the lime will be precipitated; and if to the filtrate from this, ammonia
and phosphate of soda be added, the magnesia will come down.
Dr Dupré is of opinion that no baker should be fined in whose bread the
amount of alumina found corresponds with less than 10 grains of potash
alum in the 2-lb. loaf, unless there is direct evidence of adulteration by
alum independent of the result of analysis.
Mr Crookes says, "By treatment with a trace of alum, flour with a doubtful
soundness is endowed with soundness. For this purpose a proportion of alum
is required which does not exceed 20 grains to a 4-lb. loaf.
2. COPPER:--_a._ Moisten the suspected bread with a few drops of a
solution of ferrocyanide of potassium. It will assume a pinkish-brown
colour if copper be present.
_b._ A little of the bread may be steeped in hot water, or, better still,
in water soured with a little nitric acid, and the clear liquor squeezed
or poured off, and tested with ferrocyanide of potassium, as before.
3. MAGNESIA:--Bread adulterated with magnesia, on digestion in hot water
acidulated with sulphuric acid, furnishes a liquid which gives a white
precipitate when tested with a solution of either carbonate of potassa or
of carbonate of soda, especially on boiling.
4. SODA; POTASSA:--Hot water after digestion on the ashes or charcoal
turns turmeric paper brown. The liquid may be evaporated to dryness,
redissolved in distilled water, slightly acidulated with hydrochloric
acid, and tested with bichloride of platinum. If a yellow crystalline
precipitate forms, either at once or after some hours, it is potash;
otherwise the alkali present is soda.
5. CHALK, WHITING, BURNT BONES, PLASTER OF PARIS, and similar substances
are easily detected by calcining a little of the flour or bread in a clean
open vessel, when the amount of ash left will indicate the quantity of
adulteration. The quantity of the ash left by genuine bread or flour is
very trifling indeed, about 2%.
=Microscopic Characters of Bread.= When bread is placed under the
microscope, starch cells, broken up into angular masses, or greatly
enlarged, and stringy masses of gluten are usually visible; besides these,
when a microscope of high power is employed, bacteria of the rod-shaped
variety may frequently be detected, the source of these being, probably,
the yeast. Great caution and diligent observation are necessary to guard
against the falling into the serious error of mistaking the many curious
forms the broken-up wheat starch presents for adulterants. By practice and
the constant examination of the characters of unadulterated bread,
combined with a practical knowledge of the appearance different starch
grains present, after being more or less changed in shape by cooking, the
microscopist may identify rice-flour, bean-flour, and Indian millet.
Barley flour and potatoes, however, are very difficult of detection. There
is very little difference in the shape of the barley-starch granule and
that of the wheat, and in the process of bread-making the potato granules
are so changed as to confuse all their distinctive characters. Bone-dust
and a few other mineral adulterations may be detected by the microscope.
_Concluding Remarks._ A number of processes are used by cooks and
confectioners to make the different varieties of fancy bread, cakes,
puddings, &c., which vary according to the peculiar characteristic it is
desired to communicate to them; but none of these articles properly belong
to the trade of the common baker. Thus, some kinds of cakes and pastes are
made to eat 'short,' as it is called, or are rendered less tenacious, and
a species of brittleness imparted to them by the addition of starch,
rice-flour, or sugar. In pastry a similar effect and peculiar lightness is
produced by butter or lard, whilst in some articles white of egg, gum
water, isinglass, and other adhesive substances, are added to produce an
exceedingly light and porous mass.
The chief varieties of bread at present in use in this country are known
according to their shapes, as--BRICKS, COBURG, COTTAGE, BATCH, FRENCH
ROLLS, and RYE BREAD. These vary in their quality, chiefly according to
the flour of which they are formed, and their various flavours depend upon
the heat of the oven in baking. The best WHITE BREAD is made from the
purest wheat-flour; ordinary WHEATEN BREAD, of flour containing a little
of the finest bran; SECONDS, from flour containing a still larger
proportion of bran; and common HOUSEHOLD BREAD, from flour produced by
grinding the whole substance of the grain, without any separation of the
bran. The last variety is undoubtedly the most wholesome and nutritious,
although that least frequently used. SYMNEL-BREAD, MANCHET or ROLL-BREAD,
and FRENCH BREAD are varieties made of the purest flour, from the finest
wheat, a little milk being usually added for rolls, and butter and eggs
for choicer purposes. Several other minor kinds of bread are also made,
varied by the addition of sundry trifles, as sugar, currants, and other
palatable ingredients. The SCOTCH SHORTBREAD is made from a very thick
dough, to which butter, sugar, orange-peel, and spices are added,
according to the taste of the maker.
In the manufacture of white bread from damaged or inferior flour a large
quantity of alum is employed by the fraudulent baker, as already noticed;
but with the 'best flour' no alum is required. The utmost beauty,
sponginess, and sweetness may be given to bread without the addition of
one particle of alum, provided the best materials alone enter into its
composition. As such materials are seldom employed by the bakers, the
usual practice is to introduce 4 or 5 oz. of alum to every sack of flour,
or about 1 oz. to each bushel; and very frequently fully double this
quantity of alum is employed. But even this enormous quantity is often not
the whole of the alum present in common bread; for the miller, in order to
cheat the baker, puts in the 'doctor,' in the shape of 4 to 6 oz. of alum
to the sack, whilst the baker, unconscious of this victimisation,
subsequently uses a double dose of alum in order to cheat his
customers.[229] The method of detecting this pernicious adulteration has
been already explained. The proper quantity of salt is 4 lbs., and never
more than 5 lbs., to the sack, or 1 lb. per bushel. One sack of the best
flour, with 4 or 5 lbs. of salt, yields about 360 lbs. of good bread; and
a sack of seconds, 345 to 350 lbs. of bread; each being moderately baked.
If the loaves are well-baked or over-baked, the product will be from 345
to 350 lbs. only; but if they are slack-baked or under-baked, from 370
lbs. to 385 lbs. of crumbling bread may be obtained from 1 sack of good
white flour.
[Footnote 229: The common excuse of the bakers for using alum is, that
without it the bread is not sufficiently white to please their customers,
and that the batches are not easily parted into loaves after baking; but
Liebig has shown that clear lime-water, which is perfectly harmless, will
effect the same object if substituted for the simple water used to make
the dough.]
The attention of chemists has, at various times, been directed in search
of some method to rectify or lessen the effects of bad harvesting and
improper storage on grain, so that a damaged or inferior article might be
rendered serviceable, and available for human food. Prof. E. Davy
recommends the addition of 1/4 oz. of carbonate of magnesia to about every
3 lbs. of sour, melted, heated, and similarly damaged flour. This
substance materially improves the quality of the bread, "even when made
from the worst new seconds flour;" whilst it is said to be perfectly
harmless; and the bread so prepared, for temporary use, is certainly
unobjectionable. What effects would arise from the daily consumption of
such bread for several months has not been determined; but it is doubtful
whether it would prove salutary. Indeed there are sufficient reasons for
condemning the adoption of such bread in the general diet of a people for
any very lengthened period.[230] Our own experiments in bread-making,
extending over a long period of years, lead us to prefer carbonate or
bicarbonate of soda for the purpose. Theoretically, the corresponding
salts of potassa would be preferable. A mixture of equal parts of the
bicarbonates of potassa and of soda will, perhaps, ultimately be found to
be more useful than either substance used separately.
[Footnote 230: See GOITURE, MAGNESIA, &c.]
In times of scarcity and famine various substances, besides the flour of
the cereals, have been made into bread, or have been mixed with it, in
order to lessen the quantity of the former required by the people. For
this purpose, almost every amylaceous vegetable at once plentiful and
cheap has, in its turn, been eagerly appropriated. Acorns, beech-mast, the
leguminous seeds, numerous starchy bulbous roots, and similar substances,
have been employed, either in the form of meal, or made into an emulsion
or jelly, which has been used instead of water to form the flour of
bread-corn into a dough. At such times bran, the most nutritious and
valuable portion of the grain, although usually rejected as worthless, has
been retained in the flour, and has even been added to it in excess.
Birkenmayer, a brewer of Constance, during a period of scarcity, succeeded
in manufacturing bread from the farinaceous residue of beer (brewer's
grains). 10 _lbs._ of this substance, rubbed to a paste, with 1/2 _lb._ of
yeast, 5 _lbs._ of ordinary meal, and a handful of salt, produces 14
_lbs._ of BLACK BREAD, which is said to be "both savoury and nourishing."
The nutritious quality of brewer's grains is shown by their extensive
employment at the present day as food for pigs and cattle, and
particularly for milch cows. In like manner Iceland, Carragheen, and other
mosses, have been made into bread, either alone, or mixed with flour or
meal. They are used, in the first case, in the state of meal, in the same
way as flour; in the second case, 7 _lbs._ of moss are directed to be
boiled in 10 or 12 _galls._ of water, and the resulting glutinous liquid
or jelly to be employed to make 70 _lbs._ of flour into dough, which is
then fermented and baked in the usual way. It is said that flour thus
produces fully double its weight of good household bread. A simpler plan
is to mix 1 _lb._ of lichen meal with 3 or 4 _lbs._ of flour; the
bitterness of the lichen having been first extracted by soaking it in cold
water. Bread so prepared has of late been highly recommended for the
delicate and dyspeptic. The modern baker is in the habit of mixing large
quantities of potatoes with his bread, whenever he can purchase them at
paying prices. Mealy potatoes are selected, and are carefully mashed or
pulped, and the dry flour is worked into this pulp or dough, which is then
mixed with the sponge in the usual manner. For inferior bread, equal
weights of potato pulp and dry flour are often used. Bread so prepared
eats 'short,' and is deficient in sponginess, and in that fine
yellowish-white tint which forms one of the characteristics of pure
wheaten bread, More recently, rice boiled with water to a jelly has got
into very extensive use among the bakers. A 'sponge' is made with a
portion of the jelly thickened with some flour, and the whole process is
conducted in the ordinary manner, except that the fermentation is
generally more slowly conducted and allowed to proceed for a longer
period. Flour so treated yields fully 50% more bread than when merely
mixed up with yeast and water. This constitutes the process of Messrs
Morian, Martin, and Journet, of Paris, which was tested, a few years
since, at Marylebone Workhouse. The experiment succeeded, but the only
result to the public has been, that the common bakers have adopted the
plan, and now very generally surcharge their bread with such an excess of
water that, in many cases, it only possesses two thirds the amount of
nourishment which it did before the publication of the system just
referred to. Unfortunately, the cupidity of dishonest tradesmen appears to
be continually impelling them to avail themselves of the exertions of
philanthropists and the discoveries of science, in order to increase their
profits, regardless alike of the quality of their commodities and the
health of their customers. Bread containing an excess of water rapidly
becomes sour and mouldy, and is apt to disorder the digestive functions of
those who eat it.
From the experiments of Dr Colquhoun, it appears that the starch of flour
is partially converted into sugar during the process of fermenting and
baking the dough, and thus contributes to the sweetness of the bread. He
proposes to add to the flour, arrow-root, the farina of potatoes, and
similar amylaceous substances, made into a jelly with hot water, for this
purpose. Dr Percival has recommended the addition of salep with the same
intention. 1 _oz._ of salep, dissolved in 1 quart of water; 2 _lbs._ of
flour; 80 grs. of salt; and 2 _oz._ of yeast, gave 3 _lbs._ 2 _oz._ of
good bread. The same weight of materials, without the salep, gave only
2-3/4 _lbs._ If too much salep is added, it gives its peculiar flavour to
the bread.
In reference to the above substitutions, and to the relative quantity of
bread produced from any given weight of flour, the reader should remember
that the mere increase of the weight or bulk of the product does not carry
with it a corresponding increase of the nutritive elements contained in
the flour. These remain the same in all cases; and just in proportion as
the product, in bread, is greater, will be the decrease in the value of
such bread as food. So also with potatoes, rice, and other farinaceous and
pulpy substances used as substitutes for wheat-flour. Their poverty in
nitrogenous matter, or flesh-formers, is so great, that the greatly
increased quantity required as food to support the body, apart from mere
inconvenience, more than compensates for their apparent low price. Thus,
good wheaten bread, at 2_d._ per _lb._, is more than twice as cheap as
potatoes at 1_d._; for, assuming 2 _lbs._ of the first as a day's food, 10
_lbs._ of the last will be required for the same purpose; and even this
large quantity will scarcely effect the desired object. Liebig has
demonstrated that, regard being had to the nutritive power of wheat, it
is, under all ordinary circumstances, the cheapest article of food
provided by nature for man.
We have not entered into particulars respecting oven management, because,
on the large scale, it is thoroughly understood by every practical baker.
For the instruction of the busy housewife, however, we may state that the
oven should always be sufficiently heated before the bread is put into it,
in order that the gas contained in the cells of the 'sponge' may be
expanded as rapidly as possible by the heat, and the resulting light mass
quickly rendered sufficiently solid to prevent its subsequent collapse.
The heat should also be maintained at nearly the same temperature during
the whole of the time the bread is submitted to its action. In general,
with ordinary kitchen ovens properly heated, 30 minutes' baking is
sufficient for one-pound loaves and cakes; and 15 minutes in addition for
every pound after the first for larger ones. Thus, a 1 _lb._ loaf requires
1/2 hour; a 2 _lb._ loaf 3/4 hour; and a 4 _lb._ loaf, 1-1/4 hour.
It is the common ambition of the English baker to give that peculiar tint
to the crust of his bread in the process of baking which is so highly
esteemed by connoisseurs, and so successfully produced by the Viennese and
Parisians. It has been long known at Vienna that if the hearth of an oven
be cleaned with a moistened wisp of straw, the crust of bread baked in it
immediately afterwards presents a beautiful yellow tint. It was thence
inferred that this peculiarity depends on the vapour, which being
condensed on the roof of the oven, falls back on the bread. At Paris, in
order to secure with certainty so desirable an appearance, the hearth of
the oven is generally laid so as to form an inclined plane, with a rise of
about 11 inches in 3 feet; and the arched roof is built lower at the end
nearest the door, as compared with the further extremity. When the oven is
charged the entrance is closed with a wet bundle of straw. By this
arrangement the steam is driven down on the bread, and a golden-yellow
crust is given to it, as if it had been previously covered with the yolk
of an egg.
Pure wheaten bread is one of the most wholesome articles of food, and has
been justly termed the 'staff of life,' and a certain proportion of it
should be taken at every meal.
_New and Stale Bread._--As has been just stated, bread which has been kept
for 24 hours after baking is more digestible, and therefore preferable to
that which has been newly baked. This latter exhibits a well-known elastic
appearance, and possesses a certain degree of moisture which renders its
taste more agreeable to most persons than bread which has been kept for a
day or two, and has become firmer and drier in appearance, and which is
commonly termed _stale_. It is very generally supposed that this change in
properties in bread which has been kept for a few days, is owing to the
loss of water.
This, however, is not the case. The crum of newly baked bread when cold
contains about 45 per cent. of water, and that of stale bread contains
almost exactly the same proportion.
The difference in properties between the two is due simply to difference
in molecular arrangement. Boussingault found that a loaf which had been
kept for six days, though it had become very stale, had not lost more than
1 per cent. of its weight when new. The same loaf was then placed in the
oven for an hour, and at the end of that time it had acquired all the
properties and appearance of new bread, although during the second baking
it lost 3-1/2 per cent. of water. In another experiment a portion of bread
was allowed to become stale when enclosed in a tight case, to prevent loss
of water by evaporation; it was then heated, and was thus restored to the
condition of new bread; these effects were produced alternately, many
times in succession, upon the same piece of bread; a heat of about 131° F.
was found to be sufficient to convert stale into new bread. Every person
who has seen a thick slice of stale bread toasted may have satisfied
himself that the crum has during this operation been converted into the
same condition as that of new bread.
_Fungi._ When bread has been kept a few days and has become stale, certain
species of fungi show themselves in it: these are the _penicillium
glaucum_, which is the green mould of cheese; the _fermentum cerivisiæ_ or
yeast fungus; the _oidium auriantiacum_ or orange-red mould; the _puccinia
graminis_ and others. Excess of salt added to the bread prevents the
development of these fungi.
_Diseases arising from the employment of unsound Flour and Bread._--The
flour may be ergotised or grown, and fermenting from the presence of
fungi. All the poisonous symptoms of ergot are induced from continuously
partaking of bread made with ergotised flour. Dry gangrene is one of the
most virulent forms of poisoning caused by partaking of ergotised bread.
Severe intestinal derangement is an accompaniment of the milder forms of
poisoning. Ergot is more frequently present in rye flour than in wheat.
Fermenting bread is a fertile source of dyspepsia, whilst acid bread
causes diarrh[oe]a. This latter malady is also caused by the presence in
bread of the _oidium aurantiacum_. Professors Varnell and Tuson state
that mouldy oats, the mould being caused by a fungus (the _aspergillus_),
have given rise to paralytic symptoms in horses, so that the presence of
these fungi in oats used for making bread should always be regarded with
considerable caution.
It has not been demonstrated that the acarus so common in flour has had
any injurious effect when eaten. When well fermented and baked bread is
very easy of digestion. It should never be eaten until it has stood at
least 24 hours after being taken out of the oven. When newer, bread is apt
to disagree with the stomach, frequently producing indigestion,
biliousness, diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia, and other like ailments. Bread
prepared from meal containing the whole of the bran is the most nutritious
and digestible, and should alone be given to children and growing persons,
and eaten by the dyspeptic and delicate. Young infants should never be fed
upon bread. See ALEUROMETER, ALUM, FLOUR, WHEAT, &c.
=Bread, Aërated.= The best description of unfermented bread is that
manufactured by the process of Dr DAUGLISH. The method of manufacture has
this advantage:--During the whole of the operation neither the flour nor
the dough comes into contact with the flesh of the workman. For a full
description of the method of preparing this article, _see_ Watts' 'Dic. of
Chemistry.' See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.
=Bread, Amer'ican.= From American barreled flour. "14 _lbs._ of American
flour will make 21-1/2 _lbs._ of bread; whereas the best sort of English
flour produces only 18-1/2 _lbs._ of bread." (Mrs Rundell.) This arises
from the superior quality of the wheat used in its production; and also
from its being kiln-dried before grinding, by which much water is driven
off.
=Bread, Bee.= The matter collected by bees to form the bottom of the hive.
It resembles a mixture of resin and wax. Its fumes were formerly thought
to be anti-asthmatic.
=Bread, Bran.= 1. From the whole meal, without sifting out any of the
bran.