The Baking Guide in 1913.

[READ - very informative for understanding the processes occurring when baking bread.]

I invite you to familiarize yourself with the practice of baking in Russia in 1913. As you can see from this guide, the basic principle of baking remains the same as it was almost a century ago.

READ - very informative for understanding the processes occurring when baking bread.

V. VASILEVICH. BAKERY BUSINESS. 1913 G.


A practical guide to setting up bakeries and the best baking methods. - black and baked bread and sitnago.


BAKING BREAD

A prerequisite for good bread is good flour.

FLOUR
Flour must meet several requirements, namely: it must be completely dry, clean, that is, free of impurities, such as: cockle, ergot, etc. particles; it should not have any special smell other than that which is peculiar to it. Special attention should be paid to this circumstance, because musty flour is very often found on sale.
In addition, it is important that the flour does not have any aftertaste, as it sometimes happens or would not be bitter or sour. Then there is flour from a long lying down turned into hard lumps, it should also be avoided
When buying flour, you need to pay attention that it does not have any of the just mentioned drawbacks, which are quite easy to determine. For example, the degree of dryness of flour is recognized by the fact that it is firmly squeezed in a handful; if, after unclenching the fingers, it spills easily, then the flour is completely dry. If, however, it, squeezed in a handful, does not crumble after unclenching the hand, but remains in the form of a loose lump, then it is damp. When, from compression in the hand, it turns into a dense, non-spilling mass, then the flour is completely cheese and is not suitable for good bread
The freshness of the flour also has an effect on the quality of the bread, so you need to be able to distinguish between fresh and long flour. This is defined quite simply;
the flour taken for the sample is slightly moistened with water - if at the same time it almost does not darken or darkens very little, then it is fresh. If, from wetting, it takes on a dark or dirty color, then it is long-lived
It is also important for baking that the flour is not ground too coarsely, as the flour ferments unevenly, which reduces the heat.
Very finely ground flour should also be avoided and medium-ground flour is best, because this flour is most convenient for stirring.
In conclusion, it should be said that the worst flour is the one in which there are foreign impurities. They lower the quality of bread the most.
For example, if you take bread baked from flour with ergot, then in appearance the bread is darker than ordinary bread, with an unpleasant purple tint. As for its composition, it is positively harmful and unsuitable for human consumption.

WATER
In baking, water does not matter as much as flour, it is only important that it is clean and does not have a swampy or rotten taste, as for the fact that it will have some harmless mineral impurities (carbonic lime, gypsum), then it will not affect the quality of the bread. Of course, water, which has no impurities. you need to prefer the one in which they are.

LEAVEN
First of all, for the dough solution, it is necessary to have a leaven, from which fermentation or oxidation of the dough occurs. If it is not there, then the dough will not sour and will not rise.
Sourdough is the acidified dough left over from the previous baking of bread. If bread is baked only for the first time, then there is no leaven yet and it is necessary either to get it somewhere, or to prepare it ourselves
Cooking it is not difficult.About 15 pounds of flour is poured into a bowl or sauerkraut, and ½ bucket of warm water from 25 ° to 29 ° P is poured into it, in which 1/8 pound of dry yeast is loose, 1 ladle of leaven is poured into it: then all this solution is left sour during the day. After this time, the leaven is already usable.
Sometimes there is neither yeast nor thick under the hands, then the flour is simply mixed with water: and left to sour; but it must be confessed that such leaven may turn out to be unsatisfactory, and it is well known that bread made on it will look like unleavened bread
The leaven should not be stored for more than one day, if you leave it to lie for longer, it will acidify and re-acidify the dough dissolved on it.
To avoid deterioration of the starter culture, i.e., excessive oxidation, a small amount of flour, 1 pound flour per 10 pounds of starter culture, is mixed daily with it, and it is observed that it does not become too thick or too thin. The best thing is when it has the density of the type of dough from which bread loaves are formed. In addition, for the best preservation of it, it is necessary that it be collected in one lump, somewhere in the corners of the dough, and not spread all over the bottom.
For a sack (9 pounds by weight) of flour, 10-11 pounds is sufficient for a good leaven.

DOUGH
As we already said, bowls, doughs are used to dissolve the dough, and sometimes, when a small amount of dough needs to be dissolved, troughs are used
Bowls (Fig. 1) are called oblong boxes, about 24 inches high and 14 inches wide at the bottom. and at the top 18 inches. They are made about 5 yards long. For the manufacture of their walls, smoothly planed boards are taken, 1-1 / 2 dm long. thick and short by 2 dm. In the front wall of the bowl, the top board is usually removed so that it would be convenient for the master to bend over and get the dough from the bottom
From above, the bowl is closed with a lid, which is hinged to a board stuffed on top of the bowl, at its back wall. With the help of this board, a movable transverse wall can be jammed, by means of which it is possible to reduce the downtime inside the bowl, depending on the amount of dough. At the rear and side edges on the upper side of the bowl, wooden sides are installed, so that the dough cannot slide to the floor, since the dough has to be processed on the lid of this box.
Kvashni (fig. 9) are round, mostly wooden, sometimes iron. Their size can be different, for example, for cooking from kul (9 pounds) of flour, sourdough should have 1 arsh. 5 vers. height and about 2 yards. across. From above, the dough is tightly closed with a wooden circle so that no dirt gets into it. The saucer is not placed directly on the floor, but on wooden cross-shaped stands, in order to avoid the cold that may come from the floor
Troughs (fig. 10) are mostly used in bakery production for rolls and rickets, but rye bread can also be dissolved in them when a small amount is required.
The troughs are of various sizes, depending on the dough being kneaded. So, for example, for 200 pounds of dough, it is enough for the trough to have about 21/2 yards. length and about 1 arshin wide. The tree from which the trough is made must be dense, without cracks and not rotten, otherwise dirt will collect in the cracks and from there fall into the dough.
To prepare the dough, the existing leaven is thoroughly diluted in fairly warm water so that no lumps remain. Then water is poured into the sauerkraut with a temperature of about 27 ° R. It can be warmer if it is cold in the bakery. But warmer than 29 ° R. water is no longer suitable, because flour poured into such water will turn into a paste and can no longer ferment. Also, too cold water is not suitable for dissolving dough on it, because from the cold fermentation will not develop in it for a long time and it will not rise.
The amount of water for dough formation is taken depending on the amount and quality of flour.The fresher and drier the flour, the more it can absorb water and vice versa, but one must remember that there is a limit to this and no matter how high the quality of the flour is, if you pour water into it, then the bread will come out raw and unbaked. For the coolest flour, 8 buckets of water are enough. For medium-dry flour, 7 buckets of water will suffice and for raw flour, 7 ½ buckets.
Both with an excess of water and with its shortcomings, the bread cannot be good.
If in the first case it will be raw and heavy, then in the second it will also have no less important drawbacks, namely: it will be very steep and mealy. Although there are such skilful bakers who manage to use only 7 ½ buckets of water for a sack of dry flour, thus getting bread of excellent quality and saving the time needed for baking it. But the savings they receive are so small that they do not justify the skill of the baker spent on it.
When the leaven is loose and water is poured into it, half of the flour intended for the dough is sifted into the sourdough through a wire sieve. The flour is thoroughly mixed with water with wooden oars until it is all dissolved in water. After that, the surface of the solution is sprinkled with flour and closed with a lid.
The solution prepared in this way is left to stand for 5 to 8 hours, depending on the season and the degree of warmth of the bakery.
At this time, the solution will sour and fermentation will begin in it. From fermentation, the solution will begin to grow in volume and rise almost to the top of the dough. Bubbles of gas, a sour smell will appear on its surface, and the dough will begin to slowly settle.
As soon as the settling begins, it becomes clear that fermentation is over and that having previously sown the remaining flour, you should knead the dough.
During fermentation, the raschina should carefully observe it so as not to let it stand still. If you do not add flour to it in time and do not knead it, then the rasschin will go down and the bread baked on it will be acidic and tempered, that is, with a layer of unbaked dough on the bottom crust
The salt solution is poured into the raschin before the remaining flour is squeezed into the sauerkraut, onto 4 lb. flours diluted with ¼ bucket of water. In addition, if desired, you can add ½ pound of caraway seeds per flour to the salt solution, but you can also do without it, the bread will not come out worse.
When all the flour is sown, the dough should be kneaded thoroughly so that no lumps or dry flour remain in it.
You can knead with your hands, as well as with wooden oars, but in our opinion, the oars will be more suitable and more comfortable for this purpose.
The kneading is usually done by two or three bakers, because one person cannot knead a large amount of dough. They usually begin to knead, standing near the saucer from different sides. First, the paddles are launched along the side of the dough to the bottom, then they turn inside out along with the dough to the top. With each stroke, the oars move one step forward. When the sides are mixed, they are taken for the middle. It kneads in a special way: one of the bakers upright sticks his oar into the middle of the dough to the bottom, and the other two, if they are kneading in three, put their oars crosswise to his oar, and then they begin to walk around the dough, holding the oars in their hands obliquely, i.e. That is, so that one end of the paddle is in the hands, while the other is in the dough and makes circles in it. At first, the stirrers walking around the doughs hold their oars almost vertically, then they gradually lower the ends of the oars that they hold in their hands, below from this the opposite ends rise upward until they come out on the surface of the dough, which is a sign of the end of the stirring. After that, the oars are cleared of the dough adhering to them with a knife, a little flour left for this is sown into the dough, and the waving begins again, with the only difference that now they go in the opposite direction.
The first time, as a rule, they move in the direction of the movement of the sun, the second - vice versa. After the end of mixing, the surface of the dough is powdered with flour and it is left to rise
A well-mixed dough should be completely homogeneous in its composition, and it should not contain hard lumps and dry flour, which will remain unchanged in the bread. If the dough is mixed thoroughly, then after two hours it should rise so much that you can start forming the loaves.
About the complete raising of the dough, that is, the degree of its readiness for molding is determined by the following criterion: from the paddle stuck in during mixing, a hole remains in the dough to the bottom of the dough, as the dough rises, the hole begins to tighten and when it is completely tightened, this means that the dough has risen completely and will no longer rise.
Sometimes it happens that during the secondary fermentation, the dough does not rise at all; the reason for this is obvious, or the leaven is not good, or the flour on which the dough is mixed is of poor quality, but in both the first and second cases, the bread will come out soggy, heavy and seasoned.

Continued see further (part 2)

[FORMING CARAVAI]

Continuation (part 2)

FORMING CARAVAI
When it is determined that the dough has risen enough, they begin to form the bread. Forming is carried out on a clean table or on a smooth-cut lid of a chest in which flour is stored. It should be noted that the lid of such a chest should be tightly knocked out of the boards, without gaps into which the pieces of dough could fall into the flour.
A dough with dough is moved close to such a chest or table and they begin to take pieces from it by eye about 20 - 30 pounds, if they mean to make bread by weight. If piece bread is made, then the dough is pre-hung. A lump of dough taken from a dough is sprinkled with flour on top, knead it with your hands and the elbow of your right hand; then, having rolled a ball out of it, they put it in a wooden cup and lightly crush it on top with a hand.
It is necessary that the cups are slightly larger than the breads in size, since the dough is still rising in the cups.
The bread molded into cups is taken somewhere closer to the stove, into the warmth, and by no means is left on the windows or on the floor, where it can cool or chill, as the baker says. Cups of bread are placed in rows and covered with towels made from above; from ripped flour sacks. In this position, he remains for about an hour, until they have time to mold all the bread, and then he is already planted in the oven. It should be noted that raising the dough should also take place in the oven - therefore, do not hesitate when planting bread in the oven, otherwise the dough will have time to stand and the bread will come out of the oven with a cracked crust. The most normal raising of the dough in a bowl for large loaves is one and a half inches.

COOKING THE OVEN AND THE DEGREE OF HEAT IN IT
By the time the bread is planted in the oven, it needs to be heated, so the firebox starts early. Usually a simple Russian stove, they are flooded while mixing bread, but not all stoves are the same, therefore it is impossible to accurately determine when to start the furnace. Some ovens heat up more quickly, others take longer, and in this case bakers need to apply to the conditions they are dealing with.
For heating stoves, you should take well-dried firewood, not coarsely chopped, and lay them out in the form of flat fires on under the stove. First, the fire is laid out in the back of the stove, just in the middle of the back wall, then, when the wood burns out and only the smut remains, they are raked to the side walls, add wood and continue to heat it further. The front of the stove is heated in the same way. When the put firewood has time to burn out and only burning coals remain of them, they are scooped out on a pole to the damper, and the stove is carefully swept out with a broom;
In an oven heated in this way, they recognize the degree of heat by throwing it on under a handful of flour, if: the thrown flour flares up in the form of sparks, then the heat is too strong and should be reduced. Immediately, a pomelo is taken, with which the oven is usually swept out, moistened with cold water and the oven begins to take revenge, which makes the heated bricks cool slightly.After such an operation, a handful of flour is again thrown, and if it no longer flares up, but takes on a brown color, that is, it is only toasted, then the oven is suitable for planting bread.
It is difficult to determine the exact amount of firewood needed for baking bread, without knowing the design of the oven and its dimensions, however, we can roughly say that about 26 pounds of firewood is used for 1 pood of baked bread.
Then the fact is of great importance: bread is baked continuously, or at long intervals, during which the oven has time to cool down.If it is continuous, then about 9 poods will be spent on the first heating of the oven, half as much for the second planting of bread, for the third already only a quarter the total amount that was consumed the first time.

PLANTING BREAD INTO THE OVEN AND BAKING IT
Bread is planted in the oven with a shovel, about 5 arsh long. the shaft, and that part of the shovel with which bread is planted and taken out is about 1 arshin in length and about ½ arsh. width.
A cup of shaped bread is taken and quickly turned over onto a floured shovel; then with a knife they circle the bread lying on the shovel around, about an inch from the bottom of it. From above the bread is smeared with a solution of rye flour in cold water and then the bread is sent to the oven.
When planting bread in the oven, you should pay attention to the fact that the planted loaves do not fall close to one another, but at some intervals, otherwise, having increased in volume from the heat, they will merge into a solid mass.
When the stove is filled with bread, it is not immediately closed with a damper, but after piling up the burning coals scooped out of the stove, they add to them rather thick splinters. This is done so that the front row of bread planted near the flap is slightly hot and they are fried, as the baker says.
After that, the furnace is closed with a damper and the pipe is laid with a view; the heat remaining on the pole is raked to the damper so that the front row of loaves does not come out damp.
After a while, the shutter is slightly pushed back to escape from the oven steam, which was formed from the moisture evaporated from the breads, and then the shutter is pushed back into place. As you continue to bake the bread, the flap moves back several times. Thanks to this opening of the oven, the air in it will be constantly sufficiently dry and the bread can be baked well in it.
The time for baking bread is different, depending on its size, so that the larger the size of the bread, the longer it sits in the oven. Small five-pound crispbreads are baked in 1 ½ hours, ten-pound crisps at 2 and 2 ½ hours, and 18 - 20 lb. more than 3 hours. Of course, the device and serviceability of the oven is of great importance for the speed of baking bread, so it should be noted that the above terms cannot be considered unchanged: for all ovens.
When the bread has been in the oven long enough, according to the baker, time, then make sure it is baked well and then begin to unload the oven.
It is easy to learn how to bake bread by weighing bread on your hand, this does not require much experience, it is so obvious
The bread unloaded from the oven is smeared on top with a liquid paste made from half a pound of potato flour in a bucket of hot water. The bread greased with paste dries instantly and its crust takes on a beautiful shiny VIEW.
Hot bread is slowly cooled in a warm bakery and after cooling it can be taken out to a colder room; where it can be stored.
With good rye flour, the baking should be from 3 to 3 ½ poods, and the bread will be completely baked and light
Signs of a well-made rye bread are as follows: not very thick, crispy, but not burnt crust, chestnut color; finely porous. crumb, uniform light brown color, completely plastic; pressing a finger into the crumb should smooth out by itself after a minute, otherwise the bread will be damp; there should also be no temper or unmixed lumps of flour in the bread. It is possible to achieve that bread is distinguished by the above-mentioned qualities, it is possible only with a careful and accurate attitude to business.

PIECE BREAD
Until now, we have only spoken about the preparation of bread by weight, and we have not yet said anything about piece rye bread, so let us turn to it.
Making it is not much different from making it by weight. The dough for it is the same as for the weight dough, with the only difference that before molding it is pre-hung in certain pieces, and the loss in weight of the dough during baking is taken into account, for example, for a 5 pound loaf of dough, 5 ½ pounds is taken.
Typically, three bakers are required to form a piece of bread: two mold and the third hangs the dough. Hanging does not slow down the forming, it goes on continuously; at the time when two bakers have time to roll on the bread, the hanger will hang two or more pieces of dough. Having hung the dough, he pours it from the scale and immediately leans into the dough for a new piece, adding or subtracting from which, he quickly dumps it from the scales onto the table. Thus, the work goes on continuously.
In the further production of piece bread, there is no difference with making bread by weight, except that it takes less time to bake piece bread, because it is smaller. In addition, if bread is made in one oven of two varieties at a time: piece and weight, then piece is planted in front, because it is baked before weight.

AbAldet! I learned so much for myself ... I would not lose it overnight, tomorrow I will try to describe the most valuable points - what will be useful for us.

[Celestine]

Celestinehow it looks like today!

Admin, that's great! Thank you for your aesthetic pleasure! It is a pity, it was impossible to keep "yati" and solid signs at the end of words.

And what is the language and style of presentation: "... but we have not said anything about piece rye bread, so let's turn to it."

... And most importantly, such a "pre-industrial" description is the best fit for home bakers, who are not armed to the teeth with laboratory equipment of modern flour mills and bakeries!

I highlighted the basic rules that work with modern bread makers (in my opinion) and with my comments in brackets.

For example, the degree of dryness of flour is recognized by the fact that it is firmly squeezed in a handful; if, after unclenching the fingers, it spills easily, then the flour is completely dry. If, however, it, squeezed in a handful, does not spill out after unclenching the hand, but remains in the form of a loose lump, then it is damp. When, from compression in the hand, it turns into a dense, non-spilling mass, then the flour is completely cheese and is not suitable for good bread(From here and the amount of added liquid: either add a second spoon, or do not top up )
The amount of water for dough formation is taken depending on the amount and quality of flour. The fresher and drier the flour, the more it can absorb water and vice versa, but one must remember that there is a limit to this and no matter how high the quality of the flour is, if you pour water into it, then the bread will come out raw and unbaked. (There is this information in the "Basics of Baking" I repeat, because this is important.)
On the complete raising of the dough, that is, on the degree of its readiness for molding, it is determined by the following sign: from the paddle stuck in during mixing, a hole remains in the dough to the bottom of the dough, as the dough rises, the hole begins to tighten and when it is completely tightened, this means that the dough has risen completely and will no longer rise. ( Brilliant !!! Just to make a neat dent and check, then the question will definitely not torment: Will it not override or not worth it?)

Sometimes it happens that during the secondary fermentation, the dough does not rise at all; the reason for this is obvious, or the leaven is not good, or the flour on which the dough is mixed is of poor quality, but in both the first and second cases, the bread will come out soggy, heavy and seasoned.

It should be noted that the raising of the dough should also take place in the oven - therefore, when planting the bread in the oven, you must not hesitate, otherwise the dough will have time to stand and the bread will come out of the oven with a cracked crust. (Here, this is one of the reasons for the cracked crust that tormented me for so long )
From above the bread is smeared with a solution of rye flour in cold water and then the bread is sent to the oven. ( Interestingly, I have not smeared with such a solution yet)

As you continue to bake the bread, the flap moves back several times. Thanks to this opening of the oven, the air in it will be constantly sufficiently dry and the bread can be baked well in it. ( That's the answer, the stoves should not therefore be hermetically closed!)
The bread unloaded from the oven is smeared on top with a liquid paste made from half a pound of potato flour in a bucket of hot water. The bread greased with paste dries instantly and its crust takes on a beautiful shiny appearance. (That is why the rye loaf is so shiny, everything is ingenious, simple)

[Celestine]

Celestine , thanks for the detailed reading and study of the text!
"And what is the language and style of presentation:" ... but we haven’t said anything about piece rye bread, so we’ll turn to it. "

Owl, I agree, I also paid attention to this

[Admin]

Admin, thanks for the pleasure you have received from reading))!
Celestine, your comments are very relevant !!
Girls, thanks!

[Determination of the readiness of the sourdough (dough) for baking.]

My comments on the Guide.

Determination of the readiness of the sourdough (dough) for baking.

At this time, the solution will sour and fermentation will begin in it. From fermentation, the solution will begin to grow in volume and rise almost to the top of the dough. Bubbles of gas, a sour smell will appear on its surface, and the dough will begin to slowly settle.
As soon as the settling begins, it becomes clear that fermentation is over and that having previously sown the remaining flour, you should knead the dough.
During fermentation, the rasp should be closely monitored to prevent it from standing. If you do not add flour to it in time and do not knead it, then the rasschin will drop and the bread baked on it will be acidic and with temper, i.e. with a layer of unbaked dough on the bottom crust

Good quality of flour for baking bread

The degree of dryness of flour is recognized by the fact that it is firmly squeezed in handfuls; if, after unclenching your fingers, it spills easily, then the flour is completely dry... If, however, it, squeezed in a handful, does not crumble after unclenching the hand, but remains in the form of a loose lump, then it is damp. When it turns from squeezing in the hand into a dense, non-spilling mass, then the flour is completely cheese and is not suitable for good bread.
The freshness of the flour also affects the quality of the bread, so you need to be able to distinguish between flourfresh from long-lived. This is defined quite simply; the flour taken for the sample is slightly moistened with water - if at the same time it hardly darkens or darkens very little, then it is fresh. If, from wetting, it takes on a dark or dirty color, then it is long-lived
It is also important for bakery, so that the flour is not too coarsely ground, as the flour ferments unevenly, which reduces the heat.
Very finely ground flour should also be avoided and it is best to use medium grinding, becauseThis flour is most convenient for stirring.
In conclusion, it should be said that the worst flour is the one in which there are foreign impurities. They degrade the quality of the bread the most.

Comment: Apparently, you should constantly have more than one bag of flour, while one is being used, the second is drying on the shelf - we started using it - we buy another one and put it to dry.
Someone complained on the forum that white flour turned out to be gray (like rye) bread in color - it turns out that perhaps the flour was "long-lived".

With flour - there are 2 nuances. It is advisable not to store it in the kitchen - it is always humid there. And do not store in an unheated room - the humidity is always higher there too.

I read:
"Then water is poured into the sauerkraut with a temperature of about 27 ° R. It can be warmer if it is cold in the bakery. But warmer than 29 ° R. water is no longer suitable, because flour poured into such water will turn into a paste and can no longer ferment." ,
and did not understand how many degrees Celsius it is.
I even looked in the reference book.

Thanks to Admin. I read it, really enjoyed it, and copied it. How beautiful our speech sounded before.You should be publishing your own work already and it would be a wonderful beginner's guide.

The requirements of the beginning of the last century, and they are still relevant today!

Of course, if the flour is of poor quality, and if it is with fungi, the bread will not be so good. Now I check the flour on a dark-field microscope and homemade milk. It's safer when you know what to eat. But in general, the sourdough on wheat and barley suits us quite well, it is not difficult to make it 🔗, and the bread does not turn stale for a week afterwards and does not bloom.

Very interesting. But this was especially interesting: The bread unloaded from the oven is smeared on top with a liquid paste made from half a pound of potato flour in a bucket of hot water.

Who tried the thread? Share your impressions and proportions adapted to our weights and quantities of bread.

What are the proportions? Make a weak starch jelly, a small portion of only 1/4 cup is enough and will remain.

Bread will have a shiny surface

1 bucket ~ 12.3 liters, half a pound ~ 225 grams of starch,
then 123 milliliters (~ half a glass) need ~ 2.25 grams of starch (~ 0.75 teaspoon) ...

1 degree Reaumur is equal to 5/4 degrees Celsius, i.e. 1P = 1.25C
This scale has practically fallen out of use.

Well. Now everything is clear.

And, to be honest, I had never heard of Reaumur's degree before.

Our ancestors knew how to cook. Here you read about I want to try. I'll find some time and try to implement it.

1 bucket ~ 12.3 liters, half a pound ~ 225 grams of starch,
it means that for 123 milliliters (~ half a glass), ~ 2.25 grams of starch (~ 0.75 teaspoon) is needed ...

1 degree Reaumur is equal to 5/4 degrees Celsius, i.e. 1P = 1.25C
This scale has practically fallen out of use.

You can't hide history!
Thanks for saving!

For a sack (9 pounds by weight) of flour, 10-11 pounds of good sourdough is sufficient.

At last! I found how much leaven is needed for a certain amount of flour! Another would be to determine the amount of liquid. Thank you!

Yes, in those days they especially loved bread ... there was almost a main course. And, therefore, they paid a lot of attention to its baking.

I, too, have not heard about the degree of reaumur before.