Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1562

1396 "Graham" Bread is also made of brown meal and water, without any ferment other than the small amount of cerealine contained in the wheat grain itself. It has not come into very general use in this country, but in America a considerable quantity is consumed.

Aërated Bread.—As a matter of fact all bread is aërated, but at the present day there is a special bread that is known to the public as "Aërated Bread." It is made by a company in London, and has been on sale for a considerable time. The bread is rather close, but very sweet and white in colour, and is made by a process patented by Dr. Dauglish, of Malvern. The flour is first put in a spherical vessel with the salt, and the vessel is closed up, the atmospheric air is exhausted, and then water and carbonic gas are forced into the globe, and a series of beaters or arms revolved by steam power convert the raw material into dough. This, when thoroughly mixed, and of course aërated, is discharged into tins, or long loaves, which are immediately put into the oven, where they are allowed to bake in the same way as other bread. It will be noted where the chief points of difference come in. It is made entirely by machinery, and is untouched by hand during the whole process, and this is one of the inducements held out to the public to purchase it.

Machine-made Bread.—At the present time the process of bread-making is worked upon more scientific principles than hitherto, and with the attraction of a capital to the baking-trade, the endeavour seems to be made to keep well up to date as regards machinery, so that to-day there is scarcely a town of any importance without a bakery supplied with the most modern machinery and appliances. Machine-made bread is probably not any better than the hand-made variety; but, although there may be many who prefer the hand-made, there can be no doubt that in the near future all bakeries will be equipped with machinery.

From a hygienic point of view, machine-made bread is to be preferred to hand-made, and as the public appreciate the fact that the heavy labour of dough-making is more effectively done by machine than by hand, there is no doubt they will eventually insist upon having it.

At the present day, bakehouses in all parts of the country are periodically visited by an inspector. There is therefore very little likelihood of bread being manufactured under insanitary conditions; in fact, the tendency is all the other way—to gradually raise the sanitary standard, and thus blot out many of the old-fashioned bakehouses that were sanitary enough in the old days, according to their theories, but are altogether old-fashioned and behind the times now. If there is any dark spot in the baking-trade it is truly the fault of the local authorities and their inspectors, who have power of entry under a variety of Acts of Parliament to inspect, insist upon alterations, or close any bakery that is, in their opinion, in an insanitary condition, and if they fail in their duty, it is for the public to interfere for their own protection, and insist upon the law being properly carried out.