Characteristics of a Good loaf of Bread

This is again from the American Woman cookbook published in 1940

           CHARACTERISTICS of a GOOD LOAF of A BREAD

  Size and shape--- A medium -sized loaf made of dough weighing from one pound to one and 1/4  pounds costs less to bake is more likely to be thoroughly baked than a very large loaf. A moderate-sized loaf is about 4-5 inches deep, 8 -9 inches long and 4-5 inches wide.
    The careful shaping of the dough is the first step necessary in making a well-shaped loaf of bread.

     COLOR---Bread should have a good bloom and be golden brown in color with a depth of crust on top, bottom and sides. The crumb should be cream-white in color with no dark streaks through it. A grayish color indicates poor flour or poor handling of the dough.

    TEXTURE---Nothing is more difficult to descrive than texture, nothing more indicative of quality. Perfect texture of the crumb depends on kneading the dough until it is smooth and out sticking. It depends on having the dough rise to double or treble its size once or twice before it it made into the loaf and once in the tins . It depends on careful baking. To determine the texture of the crumb, cut the loaf in two. The holes should be small and uniform with not streak near the bottom of the loaf and no lump through the loaf. Press center of the loaf with the knuckles; if the elasticity and moisture are right, the loaf should spring back to shape.
   The crust should be smooth without large holes on the bottom and without a split on one side of the loaf. If the top crust is rough it may be due to insufficient kneading or to putting the dough into the tins before it perfectly smooth.
    FLAVOR AND ODOR---A well-made, well baked loaf will taste slightly sweet, neither too fresh nor too salty, and will have no suggestion of acidity, rawness or mustiness.

               COMMON CAUSES  of  INFERIOR BREAD

     POOR FLOUR---c A cheap flour is an expensive flour because it makes a loaf inferior in texture , color flavor and volume.
OLD YEAST----Dead yeast plants can not leaven beard. Old compressed-yeast cakes or dry which has been stored away until many of the yeast plants are dead will act very slowly if at all and will not give best results.
TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE KNEADING---Over-kneaded dough becomes sticky and will not rise well in the oven. Under-kneaded dough makes streaked bread, poor in texture, which sometimes contains lumps that might have been worked out in the kneading.
TOO MUCH FLOUR---- Too stiff a dough rises very slowly and therefore often is not allowed to rise sufficiently. This is a green dough and produces a loaf with poor flavor.
OVER-RISING----Too long rising fives a very porous loaf with little flavor, a pale crust and a porous crumb with broken, irregular cells. This bread crumbles badly. If rising continues too long, the bread is sour.
UNDR-RISING---This gives a bread a dark crust which blisters just under the crust. The loaf is small and flat. It browns easily in the oven. Such dough is said to be green.
TOO COOL an OVEN---Bread will continue to rise too long in oven temp is too low. The result is bread that is very porous in the center and upper part of the loaf.
TOO HOT an OVEN----the dough crusts over immediately and can not continue to rise the first 10-15 minutes it is in the oven, or the crust may break as it is forced up---usually on one side more than the other. The crust becomes very brown while center is underdone.
ROPE IN BREAD-- This appears during hot, damp weather. It is due to the presence of bacillus and the ropy, is stringy quality does not develop immediately after the bread is baked. Rope gives bread a very disagreeable odor and makes it unfit for use.
If rope develops all utensils used in making bread and containers in which bread is stored should be sterilized with boiling water. Vinegar equal to two per cent.of the amount of flour used should be added to all bread made until the supply of flour is exhausted. This is approximately one-half ounce ( one Tablespoon)_ of vinegar to one and half pounds of flour.
MOLD--Bread wrapped while hot molds quickly. Containers used for storing bread should be washed and aired frequently, and immediately if mold is fold.

                       CARE OF BREAD AFTER BAKING

    Bread should be removed from the tins as soon as it is taken from oven, and placed on racks or crosswise of the tins so that air can circulate on all sides of it. Quick cooling prevents loss of moisture.

               VARYING from RECIPES in MAKING BREAD

  Water maybe substituted for milk in all bread recipes. This is not always desirables, however, as one purpose of milk is to increase the nutritive value of bread.
   In recipes using compressed yeast, one cup of potato yeast ,maybe substituted for one cake compressed or dry yeast. When potato yeast is used it is necessary to use a little more flour.


* Remember that this was in a 1940 published book....something are the same, some are not...