The chemist’s test cannot decide the true baking value of a flour. A bakeshop test, made by a practical baker, is absolutely necessary to decide this matter.
The principal points to be considered when making straight dough are these: the temperature of the ingredients, the temperature of the shop, the quantity of yeast, and the quality of the flour used. If the temperature of the shop is very high, the liquid used should be cool, and the quantity of yeast should be reduced.
The most favorable temperature for fermentation is from 80 to 90 degrees Fahr., though I prefer to have the dough 85 degrees Fahr.
Before proceeding to make the dough, take the temperature of the flour and the shop, then heat the water to a temperature which will give your dough a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr. when ready. For example, if the temperature of your flour were 5 degrees Fahr., the temperature of the water would have to be 10 degrees Fahr. Now if the temperature of the shop were 70 degrees Fahr., the temperature of the water could be raised to 110 degrees Fahr. I would advise you not to get the temperature of the dough too high, but would rather that you raise the temperature of your shop. Dough chills very quickly when it is on the bench, and after a dough is chilled it will come up very slowly. When making dough in a dough-mixer, the temperature of the water should be at least 5 degrees higher than when making it by hand, because the mixers are more or less cold, while, when dough is made by hand you have the animal heat of the hands to keep up the temperature of the dough. When the weather is very warm, the temperature of the water must be changed to suit. For example, if the temperature of your shop is 90 degrees Fahr., your flour would naturally be very near the same temperature (providing it were kept in the shop), then the temperature of the water would have to be at the utmost 75 degrees Fahr., because the temperature of the dough would continue to rise while it was in the trough or mixer.
Process for Making Straight Dough.
Heat the liquid to the required temperature, then dissolve the yeast in a portion of the liquid, then, when the yeast is dissolved, add it to the rest of the liquid; then add the salt and dissolve it; then add the fats and sugar; then add the flour. (As above mentioned for uniform results it is best to weigh the flour, sugar, salt and fats.) After the flour has been added, work it into a smooth dough.
Weighing and Measuring Ingredients Used in Baking.
By Professor E. W. Habermaas.
All solids used in baking should be weighed, and all liquids should be measured accurately. Varied results and failures in baking are very often due to inaccurate weighing and measuring of ingredients. If your recipe calls for a pound of sugar, don’t use 1¼ pounds instead. Or if a recipe calls for 1 gallon of milk, don’t use ⅞ gallon instead. The author has often seen bakers use 1¼ pounds of some ingredient when 1 pound was what should have been used. Many bakers are exceptionally careless about measuring the liquids, such as milk and water. They will dip a quart or pint measure into a can of milk or into a bucket of water and draw it out on a slant, thus causing a portion of the liquid to run out. Often as much as one-fourth of a pint of milk will run out of the measure, still they will count that a full measure. This may seem a trifle, but when measuring a number of quarts or pints, it ceases to be a trifling matter but becomes a matter of vital importance. For example, you are about to make a dough of four quarts of milk or water, and you measure the milk or water as above shown. After having added the flour and you are making the dough, you will find that the dough is too stiff. This is based on the fact that you use a given quantity of flour to every quart of milk or water used, as should be the case, if you expect uniform results. You have the correct amount of flour, but not enough milk or water. Then again, the yield of such a dough would be less than it should be. Most bakers do not weigh the flour for their dough. Where this is the case, flour is usually added until the dough is of the proper consistency. So in that case the fact that the baker had not measured the liquid accurately would not necessitate getting too stiff a dough, because he has not a given quantity of flour to work in but adds it until the dough is of the proper consistency, but the yield will be less because there is less dough.
I do not approve of this method of making doughs, because the results are not uniform, and it requires more time to make the dough, because you are compelled to add more flour occasionally to get the proper consistency. Whereas, when you have the exact amount of flour and add it at once, you can proceed with dough without interruption. Then again, when you weigh the flour for your dough, you always have uniform results.
The flour, sugar, malt extract, salt and fats (if any) should be weighed, and the milk or water measured or weighed for every batch of dough, no matter how large or how small, if you would have uniform results.