Breaking the Dough.
When the dough is ready remove it from the trough or bowl and put it on the bench or table; then cut it into pieces weighing about 10 pounds; then pat it down with both hands, then take up one end of the dough and lap it over the other, then pat it down again until you have the piece of dough very flat; then fold it over and over. Continue to pat down and fold over the dough until it is very compact, then take up the next piece, and so on, until you have the entire batch of dough firm and compact. In some large shops this work is done by machines called “dough breaks.”
“Breaking” is done to free the dough from excessive gas and to keep the dough young and also to produce a firm loaf of bread. If the dough is “made up” before it has been freed from excessive gas, it will produce a spongy loaf of bread, with large, irregular holes in it. Such a loaf of bread will dry out very quickly. After the dough has been freed from excessive gas it becomes firm and compact, and the loaves of bread made from this dough will likewise be firm and compact. (At this period of the dough all gas contained in the dough can be classed as “excessive,” because it is of no real value, but rather a hindrance, because it makes additional work to get the dough into proper shape for making it up into loaves.) Now, when the yeast again becomes active and gas begins to form, the loaf will raise evenly, because what gas remains in the loaf is evenly distributed throughout the loaf, thus producing a nicely shaped loaf.
The fifth process in the art of bread making is weighing.
Weighing the Loaves.
Cut the dough into pieces of as near a uniform size as possible, then weigh them as required. The exact weight I cannot fix; that must be determined by the price of material used, the locality in which you are located, the cost of labor, etc.
In making up a selling price, every detail, such as cost of material, labor, rent, light, fuel, heat, wrapping paper, twine, advertising display, wear and tear on horse and wagon (if you have any), feed, etc., salary for yourself, interest on money invested, etc., must be figured in, or “you will come out of the small end of the horn,” as they say.
After the dough is made, proceed as follows to work it smooth: Cut off (with a scraper) a portion of the dough and place it on the bench, then spread it out (using both hands) as wide and long as possible, then fold it double, then spread it out again, as before directed, then fold it over. Continue this process until you have a nice, smooth, dry dough, then take up another piece of dough and proceed as directed. Continue taking up pieces of dough and working them as directed until you have worked the entire batch of dough, then put it in the trough and allow it to “raise.” When making straight dough with a dough mixer, proceed as follows: Put the water into the mixer (but keep back a small portion in which to dissolve the yeast), then dissolve the yeast, then put it into the mixer, then add the sugar, fats, salt, etc., then start the mixer, then add the flour and allow the machine to run until you have a smooth, dry dough. Some bakers allow their mixers to run ten minutes and others allow them to run twenty minutes. This is simply a matter of opinion. My advice is to run the mixer until you have a smooth, dry dough.