Essentials of Good Bread-Making.
Two of the most essential things in bread-baking, in order to produce a full-flavoured, showy, and sweet loaf, are good yeast and good flour. A good oven is also necessary. An oven which is either too hot or too cold will spoil what would otherwise be a good batch of bread: so great care should be used in order to have the oven of the proper heat. Pan bread, or bread baked in tins, need a greater heat than batch bread, as pan-bread dough is of a lighter nature than batch-bread dough, and consequently requires more heat to keep it up. I do not intend, however, going into the merits of different ovens, as I am not competent to do so. There are so many different kinds, and each baker, as a rule, seems to fancy what he has been most used to. For heating purposes, cinders have taken the place of coals and wood, and (I think) to the advantage of both master and journeyman. Cinders are cheaper for the master and cleaner for the workman.