Graham flour is the entire wheat kernel; with the exception of the outermost scale of the bran. It contains the starch, gluten, phosphorous compounds, iron and lime. It is the most desirable of the flours because, containing the bran, it assists in digestion and elimination, and the phosphorous, iron and lime are valuable for body building.
Nutri meal is much the same as Graham flour, the chief difference being that the bran is ground finer. The wheat is ground between hot rollers, the heat bringing out the nutty flavor of the bran. It contains all of the nutrition of the wheat.
Bread. As must be implied from the above, the “whole wheat,” nutri meal, or graham flours are necessary if bread is to be a complete food.
There is perhaps no form of prepared food which has been longer in vogue. It has been known since history began. It probably maintains and supports life and strength better than any single food. The ease with which it is digested depends very largely upon its porous condition. When full of pores, it is more readily mixed with the digestive juices.
The pores in bread are produced by the effort of the gas, released by the yeast, to escape. When mixed with water, the flour forms a tenacious body which, when warm, expands under the pressure of the gas from the yeast, until the dough is full of gas-filled holes. The walls of the gluten do not allow the gas to escape, and thus the dough is made light and porous. The more gluten the flour holds, the more water it will take up in the dough, and the greater will be the yield of bread; hence, the more gluten, the more valuable the flour. If the bread is not porous, the fermentation is not complete, and the bread is heavy.
Yeast is a plant fungus. In its feeding, the plant consumes sugar, changing it into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. If the bread contains no sugar the yeast plant will change the starch in the flour into sugar for its feeding. Many housewives, realizing that the bread begins to “rise” quicker if it contains sugar, put a little into the sponge. Unless a large quantity of sugar is put in, the yeast will consume it and the bread will not have an unduly sweet taste.
As the yeast causes fermentation, alcohol forms in the dough. This is driven off in the baking. If the bread is not thoroughly done, the alcohol continues to ferment and the bread turns sour. Bread is not thoroughly baked until fermentation ceases. It is claimed that fermentation does not entirely cease with once baking; this is the basis of the theory, held by some, that bread should be twice baked. The average housekeeper bakes an ordinary loaf one hour.
Time must be given for the products of fermentation to evaporate, in the cooling of the bread, before it is eaten and it is not ready to eat for eight to ten hours after baking. Hot or insufficiently cooked bread is difficult of digestion, because it becomes more or less soggy upon entering the mouth and the stomach, and the saliva and gastric juices cannot so readily mix with it.
The best flour for bread is that made from the spring wheat, grown in cooler climates, because it is richer in gluten than the winter wheat. The winter wheat flour is used more for cakes and pastries.
Bread made from milk, is, of course, richer and more nutritious than that made from water and bread made from potato water contains more starch; both of these retain their moisture longer than bread made with water.