connexion with the market for corn, became dependant solely on the
mealman for supplying him with flour, who, not considering himself
amenable to the then existing assize laws, made different kinds of
flour, some extremely fine and white, while others were very coarse and
unpalatable. These artificial whites, when made into bread, were so
pleasing to the eye and taste, that, in the course of a few years, they
got into such general use that the people refused any longer to purchase
the bread made of the whole of the grain.
“Our forefathers[8] never _refined_ so much: they never preyed so much
on each other; nor, I presume, made so many laws necessary for their
restraint, as we do.”
Footnote 8:
The great advantage of eating pure and genuine bread, comprehending
the heart of the wheat with all its flour. Shewing how this may be a
means of promoting health and plenty, preserving infants from the
grave, by destroying the temptation to the use of alum and other
ingredients in our present wheaten bread. By an advocate for the
trade. London, 1773. See also Important considerations upon the act of
the thirty-first of George II. relative to the assize of bread.
London: T. Becket, Strand, 1768.
“In looking back, for some hundred years, it appears that they adopted a
certain plan, supposing that nature had given nothing in vain, and that
every part of the wheat which may be called flour, was not only intended
to be eaten by _men_, but that it really made the best bread, as that
might be called the _best_, which is best adapted to general use, and in
itself so fine, as to contain no parts of the coat, or husks of grain.”
“The inference which I mean to draw from what is premised, is to remind
my fellow citizens of the unfortunate delusion of thinking that even the
_whole flour_ of the wheat is not good enough for _them_; that part of
it must be taken away, and given to _birds_ or _beasts_.”
“By this delusion, supposing a certain quantity of wheat appropriated to
their use, (and this is the view they should see it in,) they lose one
third part of the flour, and consequently have so much the less bread to
supply their wants.”
“Is it not then monstrous to hear them complain? Is it not absurd to
talk of poverty, and yet pay a _seventh_ or _eighth part_ more than they
need, to gratify a fantastic appetite? Had it not been from the custom
of eating whiter bread than the whole flour of the wheat will make,
should we have thus imposed on ourselves? Would the miller or baker
employ all his art to make the bread as _white_ as possible, and oblige
us to pay for this _artificial_ whiteness? They tell the consumer, the
_whiter it is_, the _finer_; and the finer, the more nutritive. Thus we
become _dupes_ so far as to overlook the essential good properties of
genuine bread, made of all the flour of the wheat, and likewise the
difference in the price.”
“We are taught to favour a gross delusion at the suggestion of
interested persons, against our own substantial welfare. It is the
interest of every one to be _honest_, and say nothing contrary to his
real sentiments, as it is the duty of those who have knowledge, to
inform such as are ignorant. Those who have never eaten bread of all the
flour in a pure state, with the native taste of wheat, and the moisture
which it preserves, can know nothing of the comparative excellence of it
with respect to the whitened city bread which they have been accustomed
to eat all their lives.”
“The dictates of the understanding will ever yield to the pleasures of
the imagination: and the provident will be attentive to take the
advantage of the extravagant. Thus it happens that the poor have been
bewildered, and deprived of the object they sought.”
“The event depends on the good sense of masters and mistresses of
families, and their right understanding of what they mean to eat, _that
is_, of what parts of the wheat the bread they consume is made. If they
are satisfied that the bread is more pure than what they used to eat,
and _sufficiently fine_, we may presume, if they are in their right
minds, they will prefer it for domestic use. Every family of fourteen or
fifteen persons, consuming at the rate of one pound each, in a day, pays
near 16_s._ a week: if they can save 2_s._ 6_d._ or 1_s._ 6_d._ it is an
object: to a poor man who spends 5_s._ in bread, if he can save eight or
ten pence, it may purchase two or three pounds of animal substance
towards making one feast in a week.”
“In regard to the patriotic miller, he does not pretend to consult our
good in preference to his own; on the contrary, he reasons very deeply,
as if it were best for us to live on the essence of a leg of mutton,
brought within the compass of a pint, than feed on such porterly food as
the mutton prepared in the ordinary way of roasting or boiling. He
maintains, that the finer the bread, though the quantity be smaller, the
more nutritive.”
The wheaten bread, of the London baker, is acknowledged to be whitened
by a mixture of alum, which serves to keep the loaf in better shape,
renders it the whiter, and causes it to imbibe the more water to
increase the quantity of the bread. Thus he consults his interest,
without regard to the consumer: the whiter it is, the more adulterated;
and, as constant experience proves, such bread, after it is two days
old, becomes dry and husky.”
“If bread, made in a private family, of the same flour as the baker
uses, will not be so white, we must suppose that there is an art of
whitening; and that this would be no secret, if it were not pernicious.”
“The bread recommended, made of all the flour of the wheat, retains all
the good properties of bread; it is eatable at the distance of eight or
ten days: is it not on this account the most eligible?”
“Take a loaf of the wheaten London bread, made by the baker in his usual
way; let the same baker make another with all the flour of the wheat,
without any attempt to whiten or otherwise adulterate it. Let him keep
both in the same temperature of air, and produce a specimen of each at
any reasonable distance of time, and it will be easily seen what the
difference is. This arises not only from _mixtures_, but the _peculiar
manner of raising the sponge_.”
“In regard to the difference of consuming new bread of the first day,
and that which has been made for three, four, or five days, it is
computed to be at least a fourth part. If our present wheaten bread
cannot be eaten with pleasure beyond the second day, it is not wonderful
to discover at last that we are lighting our candle at both ends.”
“That the vitiated bread agrees with some people, whether by the force
of habit, or the mixtures it contains, is not disputed; but in general
it is very hurtful.”
“Great numbers of our fellow-subjects eat their bread much coarser than
the Londoners: are they weaker? they are generally stronger. Some part
of the advantage must be carried to this account.”
“Let us have time to subdue our prejudices, and we shall find that bread
of all the flour of the wheat, for the general use, is better both in
quality and price than the present wheaten bread.”
“In regard to the _London baker_, ask him of what parts of the wheat his
bread is made, and he frankly acknowledges he cannot tell; and how
should he? He can buy only what is to be sold; and the quality is not
ascertained with any such precision as to enable him to answer the
question. He, _poor man_ does the best he can, not to give a sweet
wholesome aliment, but something which is _white_. He knows that bread
made of a proper proportion of the wheat, not only differs in colour,
but is moister at the end of eight days than _his_ the third day; he
likewise knows that it is sweeter, and has the native grateful flavour
of the wheat, as the God of Nature hath given it, and not as it hath
been adulterated.”
“If the parliament had required us to eat plum-cake, seed-cake, or
sugar-cake, we should have known that plums, seed, and sugar,
constituted the difference; but from the moment the law made
distinctions in the division of the flour for three different kinds of
bread for common use, we were exposed to the mercy of the miller to give
the baker what he pleased, and call it by what name he pleased; we could
only judge whether the bread pleased us or not. The miller and the baker
divide and subdivide; and instead of flour for bread, and the bran that
remained, according to ancient practice, whereby the beggar as well as
the prince was pleased, _bread_ became a mystery, and we no longer knew
what we were eating.”
“Our misfortune, in regard to bread, is, that we eat it too fine; we
decline the use of barley in bread, having hardly enough for beer. Oats
and pease are rejected: at length we reject even _wheaten flour_,—unless
we are supplied with the finest parts only!—What will befall us in the
end?”
“_Custom_ often makes a law more forcible than _Law-givers_, and we have
now to contend with _custom_.—The first consideration should be, that
the _flour_ which represents _three-fourths of the wheat_, shall be
really such, and brought to market in sacks, marked _Standard_: the
value of it may be more easily ascertained, than that of which is made
the wheaten bread we now eat.”
“The baker may be a little the more reluctant to come into this salutary
proposal, as knowing that if he is to decline the use of alum, flour
that is in any degree musty, or made of wheat that has grown or
vegetated before gathered in, as sometimes happens, he cannot work it up
so advantageously in the bread now proposed to be made, as in the
wheaten bread.—Be this as it may, as soon as the baker finds this
_standard_ flour is vendable in bread, he will buy it; and knowing what
part of the wheat it ought to be, he will work it into bread with so
much the more satisfaction; and being sensible that we mean to eat
_genuine_ bread, he will cease to _whiten_ it by any hurtful art. We
shall all understand what we eat, and the trade will be familiar to us;
we shall be so much happier as we become so much the more honest, and
more healthy than we were before. Such is the serious light in which I
see the subject before me.”
“Every occupation hath its mystery; and the professors are gratified in
thinking themselves wiser than the rest of the world in their own way.
Every professed _cook_ of the first rate can melt down a large ham into
the contents of half a pint. The confectioner uses bitter almonds, which
are poisonous; the oilman colours his pickles with _copper_, to render
them green; and the baker uses alum to _whiten_ his bread, and make his
flour imbibe the more water, by which he makes the more bread out of the
same quantity of flour. This, and other _occasional_ mixtures of the
flour of different grains, renders his bread husky, dry, and
disagreeable the third day.—Are we the _better_ for any such mysteries?”
“Whether the wheat be all of one kind, or _married_, which is the phrase
for mixing of wheats of different kinds, it will be easy for people of
condition, by experiment, or by the comparison with genuine bread made
in their families, to know whether justice be done; though we may easily
discover that the baker for the _public_, is generally a better master
of his trade than most housewives are. The _mystery_ may be thus
developed; our health and pleasure promoted; and our bread be as much
cheaper than it is now, as the gain on the _flour_ will make it, by
using _all_ that the wheat produces.”
“Every one may try by grinding and bolting his own grain, and baking his
own bread, and the manufacturers of bread may find nearly as good
account in bread of all _the flour_, which can be so easily ascertained;
as they do in the wheaten, which is involved in difficulties.”
“The public have administered to their own delusion, their eyes are shut
to their own advantage. If the wealthy will adopt the use of the bread
in question, the labouring part of our fellow-subjects will certainly
follow the example; and as to _paupers_, they will gladly comply.”
“Common sense, in all ages, has achieved wonders.”
Laws prohibiting the Adulteration of Bread and Bread Flour.
The adulteration of bread and bread flour is forbidden by law, as is
obvious from the following acts of parliament:
“No person shall put into any corn,[9] meal, or flour, which shall be
ground, dressed, bolted, or manufactured for sale, any ingredient or
mixture whatsoever, whereby the same may be adulterated, or shall sell
any flour of one sort of grain as for the flour of another, but shall
only sell the real genuine meal or flour of the grain the same shall
import to be, under the penalty of five pounds for every such offence.”
Footnote 9:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 883.
“If any person have cause to suspect that any miller[10] who grinds,
dresses, or bolts any grain for toll or reward, or manufactures any
flour for sale, or that any baker mixes up with his flour any mixture or
ingredient, not the genuine produce of the grain, so that the purity of
the meal in any wise be adulterated, and reports the same on oath to a
magistrate, then, in that case, such magistrate, or a peace-officer duly
authorized by him, shall enter the premises of such suspected person,
and search or examine whether such mixture or ingredient, not the
genuine produce of the grain, is in the possession of such miller,
mealman, or baker; and such meal and flour as shall be deemed to have
been adulterated may be seized, together with the base mixtures; and if
seized by a peace-officer, it is to be carried before a magistrate, but
if seized by the magistrate, he may immediately dispose of it as he
shall think fit. And the person on whose premises such mixture or
ingredient shall be found, and adjudged to be intended to be used in
adulterating the flour, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding ten pounds,
and have his name, offence, and place of abode published in some
newspaper that is printed or circulated near his place of abode, unless
he shall make it appear, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that the
same was not lodged there with the intention of adulterating the flour,
but for some other lawful purpose.”
Footnote 10:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 888.
“That if any person shall wilfully obstruct[11] or hinder any search
being made for such mixtures as are designed to adulterate the meal or
flour, or shall oppose their being carried away, such person shall
forfeit a sum not exceeding five pounds, nor less than forty shillings.”
Footnote 11:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 889.
“And that the good design of these regulations may be more effectually
accomplished, it shall be lawful for the several wardmote[12] inquests
of the city of London, or any magistrate[13] or peace-officer authorized
by a warrant from such magistrate, without the jurisdiction of the city
of London, to enter into any bake-house or shop, at all seasonable
times, to search for and weigh all the bread therein; and if any of the
loaves are found wanting in the goodness of the stuff of which they
should be made, or deficient in the due baking or working thereof, or
shall be wanting in the weight, or shall not be truly marked, such
persons may seize such bread; and, if a magistrate is not present, it
shall be taken before one, who may dispose of it as he shall think fit.”
Footnote 12:
37 Geo. 3. c. 98. sec. 22.
Footnote 13:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 890.
“That if any person shall wilfully[14] obstruct or hinder any such
search, or prevent the carrying the same away, he shall, on conviction
before a magistrate, be fined a sum not exceeding five pounds, nor less
than twenty shillings.”
Footnote 14:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 890.
“That it shall be lawful for any magistrate[15], or peace-officer,
authorised by a warrant, and accompanied by one or more master bakers,
to enter, at seasonable times, any shop or bake-house within the city of
London, or within ten miles of the Royal Exchange, to search and examine
whether any alum, or other ingredients, shall have been mixed up with,
or put into, any meal, flour, dough, or bread, in the possession of any
such baker, and also to search for alum, or any other ingredients, which
may be intended to be used for the purpose of adulterating the bread;
and if, on enquiry, they find any alum, or other unlawful ingredients,
or that any flour, meal, dough, or bread, contains any preparation of
alum, such shall be immediately seized, and carried before some
magistrate within whose jurisdiction the baker lives, and who shall
dispose of it as he shall think fit. And if the magistrate is satisfied
that such pernicious ingredients were put into the bread with the
consent or privity of the baker, or if he acknowledges it himself, or
one or two credible witnesses certify, on oath, that they know he uses
alum, such baker shall forfeit any sum of money not exceeding twenty
pounds, or be committed to, and kept at hard labour in, the house of
correction, or some other prison, for six calendar months, unless he can
prove, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that the alum, or other
ingredients, were designed for some lawful purpose. And further, the
magistrate is expressly required to cause the offender’s name, place of
abode, and offence, to be published in some newspaper which shall be
printed or published in or near the city of London, or the liberties
thereof.”
Footnote 15:
38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 14 and 15.
“That if any person or persons shall wilfully obstruct[16] or hinder
such search or seizure, as above described, he or they shall, for every
offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding ten pounds, nor less than
five, at the discretion of the magistrate before whom the offender or
the offenders shall be convicted.”
Footnote 16:
38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 16.
“That where any baker[17] shall make a complaint before a magistrate,
and make it appear that any offence he was charged with, and paid the
penalty of, was occasioned by the wilful neglect or default of his
journeyman, or other servant, the magistrate shall issue his warrant for
apprehending the party, and if, on examining into the matter, it appears
that such was the case, such journeyman, or other servant, shall be
directed immediately to pay to his master a reasonable recompence in
money, and, on non-payment thereof, he shall be committed to the house
of correction, or some other prison, and kept to hard labour, for any
time not exceeding one calendar month, unless payment be sooner made.”
Footnote 17:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 891. and 38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 17.
“And, for the better and more easy recovery of the several penalties[18]
incurred by disobedience to the several acts, all offences may be heard
and determined in a summary way, by the Lord Mayor, or any other
magistrate or magistrates, within their several jurisdictions, who shall
summon the offenders before them, and if they do not appear, or offer a
reasonable excuse, they may cause them to be apprehended; and when the
matter is enquired into, and the party convicted, if he does not pay the
penalty within twenty-four hours, such magistrate shall issue a warrant
of distress and sale on the goods of the offender; and, should the goods
of the party be removed into another jurisdiction, the magistrate
thereof is to back the warrant, and the distress, if not redeemed within
five days, is to be appraised and sold, and all expences thereby
incurred are to be deducted thereout. And if the offender is possessed
of no goods or chattels that can be seized, then he shall be committed
to the house of correction, or some other prison, for one calendar
month, unless payment be sooner made.”
Footnote 18:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 892. and 38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 19.
“That if information[19], on oath, is offered to any magistrate, that
any one within his jurisdiction is likely to offer or give material
evidence in behalf of the prosecutor of any offender, and refuses
voluntarily to come forward, such magistrate shall issue a summons to
cause him to appear, and if he still refuses, to grant a warrant to
compel his attendance, and then if he refuses to be examined, he may be
committed to some public prison for fourteen days.”
Footnote 19:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 894.
That no certiorari[20], letters of advocation, or of suspension, shall
be granted, to remove any conviction or other proceedings had therein;
but if any person is punished, and he thinks himself aggrieved by the
judgment of a magistrate, he may appeal to the next quarter sessions,
and, in such case, the execution of the judgment shall be suspended,
upon his entering into a recognisance, with two sufficient sureties, in
double the sum such person shall be adjudged to forfeit, to prosecute
the appeal, and abide the determination of the justices at the said
quarter sessions; and if he makes good his appeal, he shall be
discharged the conviction, and reasonable costs awarded him, which shall
be paid by the person who lodged the information.”
Footnote 20:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 895.
“That no person shall be convicted[21] of any offence under these acts,
unless the prosecution shall be commenced against him within fourteen
days after the offence is committed, except in cases of perjury[22]; and
no person who shall be prosecuted to conviction for any offence done or
committed against these acts, shall be liable to be prosecuted for the
same offence under any other law.”
Footnote 21:
37 Geo. 3. c. 98. sec. 28.
Footnote 22:
38 Geo 3. c. 55. sec. 20.
“That all penalties, when recovered in pursuance of these regulations,
shall be disposed of in the manner following: that is to say, one[23]
moiety thereof to be paid to the informer, and the other moiety to the
poor of the parish where such offence shall be committed; and, in case
there is no informer, then the whole sum shall be given to the poor of
the parish, or applied in such a way as the magistrate, in his
discretion, shall think fit.”
Footnote 23:
31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 897.
Economical Application of Yeast.
It frequently happens, in the summer season, that the brewers, in order
to render their beer less liable to spoil, use more hops than usual; the
consequence of which is, that the yeast becomes very bitter, and gives a
disagreeable flavour to the bread. To obviate this inconvenience, Mr.
Stone has recommended the following method of raising a bushel of flour
with only a tea-spoonful of yeast.
Suppose a bushel of flour be put it into the kneading trough, then take
about three quarters of a pint of warm water, and one tea-spoonful of
yeast. Stir it in till it is thoroughly mixed with the water; and make a
hole in the middle of the flour, large enough to contain two gallons of
water. Pour in the yeast and add some of the flour until it is a thick
liquid paste; strew some of the dry flour over it, and let it stand an
hour. Then take a quart more of warm water, and pour it in: in about an
hour it will be seen that the small quantity of yeast has raised the
mixture so, that it will break through the dry flour placed over it; and
when the warm water has been added, take a stick and stir in more flour
until it is as thick as before; then shake again some dry flour over it,
and leave it for two hours more, the mass will rise and break through
the dry flour again; you may then add three quarts or a gallon of water,
and stir in the flour, and make it into a soft paste, taking care to
cover it with dry flour again, and in about three or four hours more the
dough may be mixed up, and covered up warm; and in four or five hours
more it may be made up into loaves, and put in the oven; and in this
manner may be produced as light a bread as though a pint of yeast had
been used. It does not take above a quarter of an hour more than the
usual way of baking, for there is no time lost but that of adding the
water at three or four times. The author of this method assures us that
he constantly bakes in this way. In the morning, about six or seven
o’clock, he puts the flour in the trough, and mixes up the spoonful of
yeast with the warm water; in an hour’s time he adds more flour, in two
hours, again more, and about noon makes up the dough, and about six in
the evening it is put into the oven: he has always good bread.
Economical Preparation of Yeast.
The following economical method of making yeast is recommended by Dr.
Lettsom.