Rye flour

“ Where rye bread is not made every day, or where sour dough is kept over from Saturday to Monday, we used to work plenty of rye flour with some salt in the piece of dough kept over, and make a very stiff dough, and rolled this in a well-dusted flour bag and kept in a cold place till required. (In southern Germany the sour dough is kept in a liquid state, it is thinned with cold water and kept in a cold place.) ”

“ Well, here is a picture of rye as it grows in the field. It is one of the best of grain-bearing grasses. It will grow where the weather is very cold. The straw is often worth almost as much as the grain.
RYE.
"Rye grows on poor, light soils, which are altogether unfit for the wheat out of which we make our white bread. Sometimes we mix rye-flour with wheaten-flour, or with corn-meal, and so get a very good kind of bread."
"Can I plant some flax-seed, and barley, and rye?" asked Arthur. ”

“ He says of the griddle cakes that they would keep good for twenty or more years, by which time they would be reasonably stale.
Scarcely two centuries have passed since rye flour, by itself, or mixed with wheat, furnished nearly all the bread consumed by the labouring classes of England. With the exception of wheat, rye contains a greater proportion of gluten than any other cereal, to which fact it owes its capability of being converted into a spongy bread ”

“ To a pint of sour-milk, or butter-milk, put two or three eggs, not quite a teaspoonful of saleratus, a little salt, and sifted rye meal (this is much better than rye flour) , enough to make a batter that will spread a little, but not run. Drop them in muffin-rings with a spoon. They will require about twice as much time to bake as common griddle cakes. They will bake very nicely in a stove in fifteen minutes. Graham flour may be substituted for rye if preferred. ”

“ Flavor with onion, if desired, and if it does not become thick enough, dissolve a little rice flour with cold water, and add it to the barley ten minutes before removing from the fire. Serve with cream or with lettuce for breakfast or dinner.
Rye is richer in minerals and contains less starch than wheat. It is not superior to wheat, but it is one of the oldest and most perfect foods, and is the staff of life to some of the healthiest and strongest races of the old world. It is laxative, and because of this it is more suitable for certain individuals than for others. ”

“ Rye Wafers.—One cup rye flour, one cup pastry flour, two and one half tablespoonfuls vegetable fat, two tablespoonfuls brown sugar, one half teaspoonful salt, one half cup water, or barely enough to mix to a stiff dough. Mix all the dry ingredients, add the oil, and rub the flour between the hands to distribute the oil evenly. Add the water very slowly, stirring meantime to avoid getting any part of the flour wet and sticky. Work on the board until mixed, then roll out to one fourth inch thickness, cut with a biscuit cutter, prick with a fork, and bake in a hot oven to a light brown. ”

“ Pinhead oat meal, pearled barley, and corn grits, well cooked and made into bread by adding whole wheat flour, can be baked in muffin pans, or rolled thin and baked in crisp rolls.
Rye Bread.—The method of making rye bread is almost identical with that for making wheat bread—from three to three and a half measures of flour to one measure of “wetting” being required. More time is necessary for it to ferment or rise, and it will not become so light, spongy and elastic as wheat. ”

“ If the oven is too hot and the crust is hard, wrap the loaf in a wet cloth and over that a dry one.
For the wheatless days use rye flour to knead instead of the whole wheat.
Raised Cinnamon Roll
When making the corn and rye bread, take half the dough, enough to make one loaf, roll it out half an inch thick, spread half a cup or more raisins over it, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Roll up and put in a bread pan to rise. Bake in a moderate oven. ”

“ Now, rye is seldom more than two-thirds the price of wheat, and barley is seldom more than half the price of wheat. Half rye and half wheat, taking out a little more of the offal, make very good bread. Half wheat, a quarter rye and a quarter barley, nay, one-third of each, make bread that I could be very well content to live upon all my lifetime; and, even barley alone, if the barley be good, and none but the finest flour taken out of it, has in it, measure for measure, ten times the nutrition of potatoes. ”

“ For this purpose the flour ought to be well prepared, and kept in a dry place. Some persons like brown bread, but it is not, in general, so wholesome as that which is all white. Six pounds of rye flour, to a peck of wheaten flour, makes very good bread. ”

“ Of the three grains herein briefly treated we have seen that wheat stands at the head as a food for man in our country. In any form it is prepared it can be a complete and palatable food. The albuminoids (gluten, etc.) are in such abundance and form that the flour may produce snowy, spongy and most healthful bread—truly a staff of life on which all rejoice to lean. Rye is a declining grain, it being replaced by wheat. It will grow on poorer soil than wheat, but with the many kinds of commercial fertilizers at our service no one should grow rye because of an impoverished soil. ”

“ The people of South Britain generally prefer bread made of the finest wheat flour, while those of the Northern countries eat a mixture of flour and oatmeal, or rye bread. The common people of Scotland also eat a mixed bread, but more frequently bread made of oatmeal only.
In Germany the common bread is made of rye. The flour of millet is made in France, Spain, and Italy, into wholesome and nourishing pastry and puddings. The American and West Indian labourer thinks no bread so strengthening as that which is made of Indian corn. ”

“ With us, wheat is chiefly employed for the fabrication of bread. It is, in fact, the only grain of which light porous bread can be made; but rye and barley are also used as bread-corn. The farina of the other cerealia afford also a nutritive and wholesome bread; though their flour is not so susceptible of the panary fermentation, it cannot be made into the white texture of the wheaten loaf. The bread formed from them is consequently much inferior to that prepared from wheat. ”

“ By means of skilful cultivation, mankind have transformed the original forms of these growths, poor and ill-flavoured as they perhaps were, into various fruitful and agreeable species, which yield an abundant and pleasant supply. Classified according to their respective richness in alimentary elements, the Cereals stand thus:—Wheat, and its varieties, Rye, Barley, Oats, Rice, Indian Corn. Everybody knows it is wheat flour which yields the best bread. Rye-bread is viscous, hard, less easily soluble by the gastric juice, and not so rich in nutritive power. ”

“ GRAINS USED FOR FLOUR.--As has been pointed out elsewhere, numerous grains are raised by man, but only two of them, namely, wheat and rye, are used alone for the making of yeast, or leavened, bread. The other grains, such as corn, rice, and oats, produce a flat, unleavened cake, so they are seldom used for bread making unless they are mixed with white flour. Wheat and rye have been used for bread making for a very long time, and their universal use today is due to the fact that they contain considerable protein in the form of gluten. ”

“ The bread used in this metropolis and in most other large towns in England, is made of wheaten flour, water, yeast, and salt. The average proportion are two pints by weight, of water, to three of flour, but the proportions vary considerably with 90the diversity of climate, years, season, age, and grinding of the wheat. There are some kinds of wheat flour that require precisely three-fourths of their weight of water. That flour is always the best which combines with the greatest possible quantity of water. Bakers and pastry-cooks judge of the quality of flour from the characters of the dough. ”

“ Mould quickly attacks the flour in this mountain-air, and the year's baking is accordingly done in the autumn as soon as the rye comes back from the mill. The coarse black loaves grow perfectly hard in a few weeks, and have to be chopped into pieces and soaked in hot water before they can be eaten. ”

“ The batter must be so thick at the last that you can scarcely stir it. Then thin it with a little more water, and see that it is quite smooth. Rye, and also wheat flour, have a disposition to be more lumpy than corn meal, when made into mush. When thoroughly mixed and stirred, put it into a pot, place it over the fire and boil it well, stirring it with a mush-stick till it comes to a hard boil; then place it in a diminished heat, and simmer it slowly till you want to dish it up. Eat it warm, with butter and molasses, or with sweet milk, or fresh buttermilk. ”

“ Without proper cooking they are unpalatable and unwholesome, and they are not so easy to cook as wheat. They take a longer time and we cannot get the same culinary effects, since with the exception of rye they will not make a light loaf. Fortunately we are not asked to deny ourselves wheat entirely, only to substitute other cereals for part of it. Let each housewife resolve when next she buys flour to buy at the same time one-fourth as much of some other grain, finely ground, rye, corn, barley, according to preference, and mix the two thoroughly at once. ”

“ All the cereal grains, as millet, rice, maize, rye, barley and oats are utilized more or less by the inhabitants of the countries where these are cultivated, but wheat is the most suited for the purpose of making the best qualities of bread. Wheaten flour contains in slightly varying proportions, according to the kind of wheat from which it is manufactured, starch, gluten—a grey, viscid, elastic, nitrogenous substance, consisting chiefly of vegetable fibrine—sugar, gum, mineral matter and water. ”

“ One of the simplest ways is to take a loaf of ordinary rye bread, which is at least two days old, cut off the crust, and trim the crust also from around the edge, place on the floor sheets of newspaper or cloths to catch the crumbs, and then go over the whole surface of the paper, rubbing it with the loaf from top to bottom in regular strokes. When the end of the loaf becomes dirty cut off a very thin slice with a sharp knife, trim back the edge again, and proceed as before. Even better than the loaf is baker's dough, or flour and water mixed to a stiff dough answers equally well. ”

“ Regarding the blending of flour, gentlemen, everybody knows the blend of flour to make the loaf that his trade demands. Some places they demand a big loaf and the baker uses more spring; some places they do not trouble about size, and the baker used less spring and more rye.
I think I have said sufficient, so in conclusion let me remind you: Keep your sponge cool, use plenty of good yeast, do not let your sour get too old, keep your dough cool, use plenty of salt, and do not have it wait when you know it is ready and you will have no trouble in making Genuine Rye Bread. ”

“ Flour or meal produced from barley, maize, or rice, cannot be employed satisfactorily for the manufacture of bread unless a considerable portion of wheat flour is added, and in countries where these grains are the staple food of the people they are as often eaten as porridge or mash as in the form of bread.
On examining a grain of corn from any of the numerous cereals used in the preparation of flour, such as wheat, rye, barley, etc., it will be found to consist of the husk, or exterior covering, which is generally of a dark colour, and the inner part, which is more or less white. ”

“ On an average, £3,000,000 to £4,000,000 worth of wheat, about £1,000,000 worth of rye, and over £1,500,000 worth of barley are exported annually, besides oats, flax, linseed, rape seed, oilcake, bran, flour, vegetable oils, raw wool and caviare. ”

“ Third Bread.—This is made with equal parts of rye, corn-meal, and unbolted flour. To one quart of warm water add one tea-spoonful of salt, half a cup of distillery or twice as much home-brewed yeast, and half a cup of molasses, and thicken with equal parts of these three kinds of flour. It is very good for a variety. ”

“ Take four bushels of wheat ground to form one sort of flour, extracting only a very small quantity of the coarser bran. [6] Add to it three bushels and a half of barley flour, mix up the flour into a dough in the usual manner, with salt, yeast, and warm water, (See page 97) , let it be divided into loaves, and put them into the oven made 112hotter than it would be for baking wheaten bread. Let them remain in the oven three hours and a half. In Yorkshire, bread made from a mixture of these grains is esteemed more wholesome to those who are used to it, than bread made from wheat alone. ”

“ It is usually sown at the same time as winter wheat, or earlier, one and a half to two bushels of seed per acre, and its habits and treatment are essentially the same. Its yield per acre is from twenty to fifty bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds. It is noted for its ability to thrive and yield fairly on soils too poor for the more important cereals. Rye is used for breadmaking, live stock food, and in the manufacture of malt and alcoholic beverages. It is the chief breadstuff in parts of Russia, Scandinavia and Germany. ”

“ Rye is a grain whose cultivation is not much encouraged in this kingdom, but in the northern parts of Europe it is in very extensive use as a nourishing food for mankind. When made into bread alone, it is of a dark brown colour, and sweetish taste, and if eat by people unaccustomed to its use, it is found to have a laxative effect. In some parts of this kingdom, a mixture of rye and wheat is reckoned an 113excellent bread. ”