(1) To use various leavens in quick breads. To compare results secured by using sweet milk or water with baking powder, and sour milk with baking soda, or sour milk with baking soda and baking powder.
(2) To use different liquids in Gingerbread, viz., sour milk, water, sweet milk. To compare results obtained by the use of each.
DIVISION ELEVEN
QUICK BREADS: DROP BATTERS
LESSON CXX
FINE AND COARSE FLOURS—MUFFINS
DIFFERENCES IN WHEAT FLOURS.—Examine white flour, whole wheat flour, and graham flour. Notice the difference in color, grittiness, and quantity of bran (cellulose).
As has been mentioned before, all cereals or grains have an outer hard covering of cellulose (see Cellulose). Cereals also contain a germ from which the young plant springs. In the preparation of fine flours, the germ and most of the cellulose covering are removed. Whole wheat (erroneously named) has part of the outer covering removed. Graham [Footnote 91: Graham flour is so called because Dr. Sylvester Graham advocated the use of the entire grain and devised a method of preparing it.] flour, properly made, contains all the materials of the wheat grain. The germ is rich in fat, protein, and ash. The outer part, called bran, contains more ash, fat, and protein than does the center of the grain. Hence with the removal of the germ and bran, much of the protein and ash is lost (see Figure 85). However, much graham flour is a mixture of inferior flour and bran.
THE MILLING OF FLOUR.—In the milling of fine flour, the wheat kernels are passed through a series of rollers and sifters that crush the wheat and separate the bran from the other materials. The greater the number of times the flour is subjected to the rolling and sifting process, the more thoroughly are the parts of the grain separated and the more finely are they crushed. When the separation is complete, the resulting fine flour consists almost entirely of the center of the crushed grains (called middlings). Flour made with fewer rollings and siftings contains more of the outer coats. In general, the term patent is applied to flour made from the middlings. The flour containing more of the outer coats is called baker's or family flour. Patent flour contains more starch than does baker's flour while baker's flour contains more protein than does patent flour. The terms patent and baker's vary in meaning, however, in different localities.
[Illustration: From Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 103. FIGURE 85.—LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF WHEAT GRAIN SHOWING BRAN (outer coatings), FLOURY PART (interior of grain), AND GERM (base of grain).]