t in making bread is getting the
dough too stiff; it should be as soft as possible, without being at all
sticky or wet. Now knead it with both hands from all sides into the
center; keep this motion, occasionally dipping your hands into the flour
if the dough sticks, but do not add more flour unless the paste sticks
very much; if you have the right consistency it will be a smooth mass,
very soft to the touch, _yet not sticky_, but this may not be attained
at a first mixing without adding flour by degrees. When you have kneaded
the dough until it leaves the bowl all round, set it in a warm place to
rise. When it is well risen, feels very soft and warm to the touch, and
is twice its bulk, knead it once more thoroughly, then put it in tins
either floured, and the flour not adhering shaken out, or buttered,
putting in each a piece of dough half the size you intend your loaf to
be. Now everything depends on your oven. Many people bake their bread
slowly, leaving it in the oven a long time, and this causes a thick,
hard crust. When baked in the modern iron oven, quick baking is
necessary. Let the oven be quite hot, then put a little ball of paste
in, and if it browns palely in seven to ten minutes it is about right;
if it burns, it is too hot; open the damper ten minutes. Your bread,
after it is in the tins, will rise much more quickly than the first
time. Let it get light, but not too light--_twice its bulk_ is a good
rule; but if it is light before your oven is ready, and thus in danger
of getting too porous, work it down with your hand, it will not harm it,
although it is better so to manage that the oven waits for the bread
rather than the bread for the oven. A small loaf--and by all means make
them small until you have gained experience--will not take more than
three quarters of an hour to bake; when a nice yellow brown, take it
out, turn it out of the tin into a cloth, and tap the bottom; if it is
crisp and smells cooked, the loaf is done. Once the bottom is brown it
need remain no longer. Should that, however, from fault of your oven, be
not brown, but soft and white, you must put it back in the oven, the
bottom upwards. An oven that does not bake at the bottom will, however,
be likely to spoil your bread. It is sometimes caused by a careless
servant leaving a collection of ashes underneath it; satisfy yourself
that all the flues are perfectly clean and clear before beginning to
bake, and if it still refuses to do its dut