St. Louis Process. — There are several methods of con-
verting wheat into flour. One is by grinding between two
horizontal stones, the upper one revolving, and the lower
one stationary. The surface of the stones presents an
infinite number of minute cutting edges. The upper stone
IS convex, the lower one concave ; but instead of fitting
perfectly, they approach closer together from the centre
outward, so that, as the grain is poured into an opening in
the uj)per stone, it is at first rather coarsely crushed, and
then cut finer and finer, as it is carried to the circumfer-
ence by the centrifugal force. As the grain leaves the
stones, the outer husk has been least affected ; the tough,
coherent gluten is divided minutely, while the brittle starch,
which forms two thirds of the grain, is completely crushed.
The miller then divides these products, by sifting or bolt-
ing, into Jlne Jlour^ coarse fiour^ and hran.
The hran should be discarded as utterly useless for
human food ; but it is often mixed with an inferior quality
of fine flour, and sold as Graham flour. It was at one
time considered valuable as a food for those suffering
from constipation, chiefly on account of its coarseness ; but
40
The Boston Cook Book.
science has shown us recently that minute points of glass
(and bran is nothing else) are not Nature's best agents in
removing effete matters from the system. All of the so-
called Graham flour made by this process should be sifted
before using.
The coarse flour will var}" in quality, according as it has
more or less of the outer bran mixed with it. In the soft
wheats the husk peels off readily under the stones, and is
easily separated b}- bolting ; and as these soft varieties
contain the smallest proportion of gluten, the}^ jdeld a coarse
flour, containing only an average amount of gluten, and
the whitest flneflour. But in the hard, fl^'^^ty wheats, this
outer husk clings so closely that much of it is ground up
finely with the flour, giving it a dark color. This flour, as
it contains a large proportion of gluten, would be more
nutritious were it not that much of the gluten adheres to
the hulls, and is lost by sifting them out, and much of the
fine, flinty bran is retained in the flour, which makes it
irritating and indigestible.
The quality of the flne flour depends upon the qualit}^ of
the wheat, in the first place ; also upon the number of sift-
ings, being richer in gluten the less it is sifted ; and upon
the way in which it is stored. The process of grinding
with the stones heats the flour ; and as it is often thrust
upon the market without being properlj^ cooled and dried,
it spoils very rapidly. Flour made by this process of
grinding is called the St, Louis, or old-process flour. When
made of the very best quality of grain and carefully pre-
pared, it makes a sweet, nutritious bread, and is excellent
in cake and pastry. It is often designated pastry flour,
Haxall Process. — Another method of making flour is
by the new, or Haxall process, so called from the name of
the inventor. B}^ this process the outer husk is first re-
moved, or decorticated ; then the cleaned grain is cut by a
S3\stem of knives, which reduces it to a fine powder with-
out the injurious effects of heating. This flour has a
shghtly granular consistenc}^, owing to the presence of
minute particles of hard, flinty gluten. It is usually made
Page 28
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
St. Louis Process. — There are several methods of converting wheat into flour. One is by grinding between two horizontal stones, the upper one revolving, and the lower one stationary. The surface of the stones presents an infinite number of minute cutting edges. The upper stone IS convex, the lower one concave ; but instead of fitting perfectly, they approach closer together from the centre outward, so that, as the grain is poured into an opening in the upper stone, it is at first rather coarsely crushed, and then cut finer and finer, as it is carried to the circumference by the centrifugal force. As the grain leaves the stones, the outer husk has been least affected ; the tough, coherent gluten is divided minutely, while the brittle starch, which forms two thirds of the grain, is completely crushed. The miller then divides these products, by sifting or bolting, into Jlne Jlour^ coarse fiour^ and hran.
The hran should be discarded as utterly useless for human food ; but it is often mixed with an inferior quality of fine flour, and sold as Graham flour. It was at one time considered valuable as a food for those suffering from constipation, chiefly on account of its coarseness ; but
The Boston Cook Book.
science has shown us recently that minute points of glass (and bran is nothing else) are not Nature's best agents in removing effete matters from the system. All of the socalled Graham flour made by this process should be sifted before using.
The coarse flour will var}" in quality, according as it has more or less of the outer bran mixed with it. In the soft wheats the husk peels off readily under the stones, and is easily separated b}- bolting ; and as these soft varieties contain the smallest proportion of gluten, the}^ yield a coarse flour, containing only an average amount of gluten, and the whitest fine flour. But in the hard, flyty wheats, this outer husk clings so closely that much of it is ground up finely with the flour, giving it a dark color. This flour, as it contains a large proportion of gluten, would be more nutritious were it not that much of the gluten adheres to the hulls, and is lost by sifting them out, and much of the fine, flinty bran is retained in the flour, which makes it irritating and indigestible.
The quality of the flne flour depends upon the qualit}^ of the wheat, in the first place ; also upon the number of siftings, being richer in gluten the less it is sifted ; and upon the way in which it is stored. The process of grinding with the stones heats the flour ; and as it is often thrust upon the market without being properlj^ cooled and dried, it spoils very rapidly. Flour made by this process of grinding is called the St, Louis, or old-process flour. When made of the very best quality of grain and carefully prepared, it makes a sweet, nutritious bread, and is excellent in cake and pastry. It is often designated pastry flour,
Haxall Process. — Another method of making flour is by the new, or Haxall process, so called from the name of the inventor. B}^ this process the outer husk is first removed, or decorticated ; then the cleaned grain is cut by a S3\stem of knives, which reduces it to a fine powder without the injurious effects of heating. This flour has a shghtly granular consistenc}^, owing to the presence of minute particles of hard, flinty gluten. It is usually made