Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 01

BAKING THE BREAD

56. PURPOSE OF BAKING.--The various processes in the making of bread that have been considered up to this point may be successfully carried out, but unless the baking, which is the last step, is properly done, the bread is likely to be unpalatable and indigestible. Much attention should therefore be given to this part of the work. So that the best results may be obtained, it should be borne in mind that bread is baked for the purpose of killing the ferment, rupturing the starch grains of the flour so that they become digestible, fixing the air cells, and forming a nicely flavored crust. During the process of baking, certain changes take place in the loaf. The gluten that the dough contains is hardened by the heat and remains in the shape of bubbles, which give the bread a porous appearance; also, the starch contained in the dough is cooked within the loaf, but the outside is first cooked and then toasted.

57. OVEN TEMPERATURE FOR BAKING.--In baking bread, it is necessary first to provide the oven with heat of the right temperature and of sufficient strength to last throughout the baking. As is indicated in Fig. 4, the usual oven temperature for successful bread baking is from 380 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, but in both the first and the last part of the baking the heat should be less than during the middle of it. An oven thermometer or an oven gauge is a very good means of determining the temperature of the oven. But if neither of these is available the heat may be tested by placing in the oven a white cracker, a piece of white paper, or a layer of flour spread on a shallow tin pan. If any one of these becomes a light brown in 5 minutes, the oven is right to commence baking. Every precaution should be taken to have the oven just right at first, for if the bread is placed in an oven that is too hot the yeast plant will be killed immediately and the rising consequently checked. Of course, the bread will rise to some extent even if the yeast plant is killed at once, for the carbon dioxide that the dough contains will expand as it becomes heated and will force the loaf up; but bread baked in this way is generally very unsatisfactory, because a hard crust forms on the top and it must either burst or retard the rising of the loaf. If the heat is not sufficient, the dough will continue to rise until the air cells run together and cause large holes to form in the loaf. In an oven that is just moderately hot, or has a temperature of about 400 degrees, the yeast plant will not be killed so quickly, the dough will continue to rise for some time, and the crust of the bread should begin to brown in about 15 minutes.

58. Fig. 14 illustrates a loaf of bread that has risen too much. The inside texture is coarse and the shape of the loaf is not good. Fig. 15 shows the result of uneven temperature. The high side is caused by exposure to more intense heat than the opposite side, and the crack is the result of a too rapid formation of the crust. Sometimes it is advisable to keep the crust from becoming hard too rapidly. In order to do this, and at the same time produce a more even color, the top of the loaf may be moistened by brushing it with milk before it is put into the oven.

Fig. 16 shows a well-formed loaf of bread that has had the right amount of rising, and Fig. 17 shows the inside texture of bread for which the mixing, rising, and baking have been correctly done.

59. TIME FOR BAKING AND CARE OF BREAD IN OVEN.--The time required for baking bread and the care it should receive in the oven are also important matters to know. How long the bread should bake depends on the size of the loaf. Under proper oven temperature, a small loaf, or one made with 1 cupful of liquid, ought to bake in from 50 minutes to 1 hour, while a large loaf requires from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. As has been explained, the loaf should begin to brown, or have its crust formed, in about 15 minutes after it is placed in the oven, and the baking should proceed rather slowly.