53. After the dough is properly kneaded in the manner just explained, it is placed in the mixing bowl and allowed to rise again. When it has risen sufficiently for the last time, depending on the process employed, it should be kneaded again, if it must be reduced in size, and then shaped into loaves and put in the pans. Here, again, much care should be exercised, for the way in which bread is prepared for the pans has much to do with the shape of the loaf after it is baked.
54. In order to shape the dough into loaves, first loosen it from the sides of the mixing bowl, using a knife or a spatula for this purpose, and then turn it out on a flat surface on which flour has been sprinkled, as in preparing for kneading. Knead the dough a little, and then cut it into pieces that will be the correct size for the pans in which the loaves are to be baked, as shown at the right in Fig. 11. Dust each piece with a small quantity of flour and knead it until the large bubbles of gas it contains are worked out and it is smooth and round. In working it, stretch the under side, which is to be the top of the loaf, and form it into a roll that is as long and half as high as the pan and as thick at each end as in the center. A good idea of the size and shape can be formed from the loaf held in the hands in Fig. 11.
55. As each loaf is formed, place it in the pan in the manner shown in Fig. 12 and allow it to rise until the dough comes to the top of the pan, or has doubled in bulk. So that the loaf will be symmetrical after it has risen--that is, as high at each end as in the middle--the shaped dough must fit well into the corners and ends of the pan. At a, Fig. 13, is shown how dough placed in the pan for rising should appear, and at b is illustrated how the dough should look after it has risen sufficiently to permit it to be placed in the oven for baking. To produce the result illustrated at b, the dough must be kept in a warm temperature, and to exclude the air and prevent the formation of a hard crust on the dough, it must be covered well with both a cloth and a metal cover. Another way in which to prevent the formation of a hard crust consists in greasing the surface of the dough when it is placed in the pan, as at a, for rising.
BAKING THE BREAD
56. PURPOSE OF BAKING.--The various processes in the making of bread that have been considered up to this point may be successfully carried out, but unless the baking, which is the last step, is properly done, the bread is likely to be unpalatable and indigestible. Much attention should therefore be given to this part of the work. So that the best results may be obtained, it should be borne in mind that bread is baked for the purpose of killing the ferment, rupturing the starch grains of the flour so that they become digestible, fixing the air cells, and forming a nicely flavored crust. During the process of baking, certain changes take place in the loaf. The gluten that the dough contains is hardened by the heat and remains in the shape of bubbles, which give the bread a porous appearance; also, the starch contained in the dough is cooked within the loaf, but the outside is first cooked and then toasted.
57. OVEN TEMPERATURE FOR BAKING.--In baking bread, it is necessary first to provide the oven with heat of the right temperature and of sufficient strength to last throughout the baking. As is indicated in Fig. 4, the usual oven temperature for successful bread baking is from 380 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, but in both the first and the last part of the baking the heat should be less than during the middle of it. An oven thermometer or an oven gauge is a very good means of determining the temperature of the oven. But if neither of these is available the heat may be tested by placing in the oven a white cracker, a piece of white paper, or a layer of flour spread on a shallow tin pan. If any one of these becomes a light brown in 5 minutes, the oven is right to commence baking. Every precaution should be taken to have the oven just right at first, for if the bread is placed in an oven that is too hot the yeast plant will be killed immediately and the rising consequently checked. Of course, the bread will rise to some extent even if the yeast plant is killed at once, for the carbon dioxide that the dough contains will expand as it becomes heated and will force the loaf up; but bread baked in this way is generally very unsatisfactory, because a hard crust forms on the top and it must either burst or retard the rising of the loaf. If the heat is not sufficient, the dough will continue to rise until the air cells run together and cause large holes to form in the loaf. In an oven that is just moderately hot, or has a temperature of about 400 degrees, the yeast plant will not be killed so quickly, the dough will continue to rise for some time, and the crust of the bread should begin to brown in about 15 minutes.