Every housekeeper should provide herself with what is called by bakers a " Proof Box" for placing bread, biscuit, rolls, etc., (al- ready in the bread-pan) in during the process of rising. This is nothing more nor less than an air-tight wooden box that can be made by anyone at all familiar with the use of tools, and its size should of course depend upon the size of the family, which in turn regulates the quantity of dough to be raised. • Beside giving the dough this protection, the careful baker also folds a cloth or towel around it before putting on the close-fitting cover of the box. Kept thus excluded from the air the outside of the loaves or rolls is as fresh and tender when put in the oven as the inside. Set the box near the range where it will receive the necessary warmth, and be sure that it is kept perfectly sweet and clean, using it for no other purposes whatever. Air and dry the box thoroughly each time be* fore using. A loaf of bread should nearly double in size after it is put in the pan ; or if a deep gash be cut in the top of it the incision should disappear by the time the loaf has perfectly risen. Bread, when light enough for baking, feels serated all through ; and by lifting and weighing it in the hand, the condition of lightness can be recog. nized quite as accurately as by sight. The exercise of observation 16 BREAD-MAKING. and judgment soon enable the bread-maker to decide when dough has reached its best and most perfect state of lightness. But if doubt exists in regard to the matter it is safer to put it in the oven while rising toward perfection rather than after it has passed that point. The excellence of bread is greatly dependent upon the perfec- tion of the cells produced by the action of the carbonic acid gas. The sooner these are fixed by heat through the entire loaf, after it is put in the oven, the finer will be the quality of the bread. And as these cells can be fixed more readily in a small than a large loaf, or several small loaves packed together in a large pan, it is quite im- portant that bread pans should be of the proper dimensions. Bread will bake most perfectly in a pan about four inches in width, four inches in depth, and adapted to the capacity of the oven in length, or nine or ten inches long. POTATO BREAD. Potato added to flour is generally supposed to improve the quality of bread. That it does is unquestionably true, where the flour used is of an inferior grade. " Of all starches," says Dr. Gra- ham, ** the starch found in the potato is the best adapted to the growth of yeast, and in using potato in bread, bakers made practi- cal application of a fact long before chemists discovered it." Pota- toes when used iil bread should be well boiled and smoothly mashed, and equal portions of potato✪ Potato Bread and flour be used in making. The sponge and bread are then made in the same manner as when flour alone is used. Milk bread is made by using milk instead of water✪ Milk Bread for "wetting," and differs from that in which water is used by being more crisp and tender, and having a richer colored crust. But unless the milk is boiled, lactic acid is liable to be produced during fermenta- tion, which gives the bread an objectionable taste and odor.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Every housekeeper should provide herself with what is called by bakers a " Proof Box" for placing bread, biscuit, rolls, etc., (already in the bread-pan) in during the process of rising. This is nothing more nor less than an air-tight wooden box that can be made by anyone at all familiar with the use of tools, and its size should of course depend upon the size of the family, which in turn regulates the quantity of dough to be raised. • Beside giving the dough this protection, the careful baker also folds a cloth or towel around it before putting on the close-fitting cover of the box. Kept thus excluded from the air the outside of the loaves or rolls is as fresh and tender when put in the oven as the inside. Set the box near the range where it will receive the necessary warmth, and be sure that it is kept perfectly sweet and clean, using it for no other purposes whatever. Air and dry the box thoroughly each time before using. A loaf of bread should nearly double in size after it is put in the pan ; or if a deep gash be cut in the top of it the incision should disappear by the time the loaf has perfectly risen. Bread, when light enough for baking, feels aerated all through ; and by lifting and weighing it in the hand, the condition of lightness can be recognized quite as accurately as by sight. The exercise of observation and judgment soon enable the bread-maker to decide when dough has reached its best and most perfect state of lightness. But if doubt exists in regard to the matter it is safer to put it in the oven while rising toward perfection rather than after it has passed that point. The excellence of bread is greatly dependent upon the perfection of the cells produced by the action of the carbonic acid gas. The sooner these are fixed by heat through the entire loaf, after it is put in the oven, the finer will be the quality of the bread. And as these cells can be fixed more readily in a small than a large loaf, or several small loaves packed together in a large pan, it is quite important that bread pans should be of the proper dimensions. Bread will bake most perfectly in a pan about four inches in width, four inches in depth, and adapted to the capacity of the oven in length, or nine or ten inches long. POTATO BREAD. Potato added to flour is generally supposed to improve the quality of bread. That it does is unquestionably true, where the flour used is of an inferior grade. " Of all starches," says Dr. Graham, ** the starch found in the potato is the best adapted to the growth of yeast, and in using potato in bread, bakers made practical application of a fact long before chemists discovered it." Potatoes when used in bread should be well boiled and smoothly mashed, and equal portions of potato and flour be used in making. The sponge and bread are then made in the same manner as when flour alone is used. Milk bread is made by using milk instead of water for "wetting," and differs from that in which water is used by being more crisp and tender, and having a richer colored crust. But unless the milk is boiled, lactic acid is liable to be produced during fermentation, which gives the bread an objectionable taste and odor.

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