I wish it were in my power, by much and earnest speaking and writing,
to induce every housekeeper to make brown bread—that is, bread made
of unbolted, usually called Graham flour—a staple article of diet in
her family. I only repeat the declaration of a majority of our best
chemists and physicians when I say that our American fondness for fine
white bread is a serious injury to our health. We bolt and rebolt
our flour until we extract from it three-quarters of its nutritive
qualities, leaving little strength in it except what lies in gluten or
starch, and consign that which makes bone and tissue, which regulates
the digestive organs, and leaves the blood pure, the brain clear, to
the lower animals. Growing children especially should eat brown bread
daily. It supplies the needed phosphate to the tender teeth and bones.
If properly made, it soon commends itself to their taste, and white
becomes insipid in comparison. Dyspeptics have long been familiar
with its dietetic virtues, and, were the use of it more general, we
should have fewer wretches to mourn over the destroyed coats of their
stomachs. It is wholesome, sweet, honest, and should be popular.
Prepare a sponge as for white bread, using potatoes or while flour. My
rule is to take out a certain quantity of the risen sponge on baking
day, and set aside for brown bread. Put into a tray two parts Graham
flour, one-third white, and to every quart of this allow a handful of
Indian meal, with a teaspoonful of salt. Wet this up with the sponge,
and when it is mixed, add, for a loaf of fair size, half a teacupful
of molasses. The dough should be _very_ soft. If there is not enough
of the sponge to reduce it to the desired consistency, add a little
blood-warm water. Knead it diligently and long. It will not rise so
rapidly as the white flour, having more “body” to carry. Let it take
its time; make into round, comfortable loaves, and set down again for
the second rising, when you have again kneaded it. Bake steadily,
taking care it does not burn, and do not cut while hot. The result will
well repay you for your trouble. It will take a longer time to bake
than white bread. Brown flour should not be sifted.