ightly larger size containing water at a temperature of 90 degrees.
The water of course should never be hot. Hot water kills the yeast
plant. Cold water checks its growth. Cover the bowl and set it in the
gas oven or fireless cooker or on the shelf of the coal range. As the
water in the large bowl cools off, remove a cupful and add a cupful of
hot water. At the end of one and one-half hours the dough should have
doubled in bulk. Take it out of the pan and knead until the large gas
bubbles are broken (about ten minutes). Then place in greased bread
pans and allow to rise for another half hour. At the end of this time
it will not only fill the pan, but will project out of it. Do not
allow the dough to rise too high, for then the bread will have large
holes in it. A good proportion as a general rule to follow, is:

3-1/2 cupfuls of flour (this includes added cereals)
1 cupful of water or milk
1/2 tablespoon shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cake of compressed yeast

In this recipe sugar has been omitted because of the serious
shortage, but after the war a teaspoon of sugar should be
added. The shortening, although small in quantity, may also be
omitted.

These materials make a loaf of about one pound, which should be
baked in forty to fifty minutes at a temperature of 450 degrees
(Fahrenheit). Allow a little longer time for bread containing oatmeal
or other grains. Such breads require a little longer baking and
a little lower temperature than wheat breads. If you do not use a
thermometer in testing your oven, place a piece of paper on the center
shelf, and if it browns in two minutes your oven is right. If a longer
period for raising is allowed than is suggested in the above recipe,
the yeast proportion should be decreased. For overnight bread use
one-quarter yeast cake per loaf; for six-hour bread, use one-half
yeast cake per loaf; for three-hour bread, use one yeast cake per
loaf. In baking, the time allowed should depend on the size of the
loaf. When baked at a temperature of 450 degrees, large loaves take
from forty-five to sixty minutes, small loaves from thirty to forty
minutes, rolls from ten to twenty minutes.

It is well to divide the oven time into four parts. During the first
quarter, the rising continues; second quarter, browning begins; the
third quarter, browning is finished; the fourth quarter, bread shrinks
from the side of the pan. These are always safe tests to follow in
y