Part 5

The figures on the plate facing the titlepage[See Note] exhibit an oven to be heated with pit-coal for baking bread, now generally employed in this metropolis.

The oven from which this design has been made, is eight feet wide, and seven deep. The fire-place, called by the bakers, the furnace, for heating the oven, is placed at the side, and enters the oven diagonally; it is furnished with a grate, ash holes, and iron door, similar to a common fire-place for heating a boiler, but having a partition to separate it from the oven, and to allow the fire to enter into the oven; it, therefore, forms a canal, by which the flame is directed into the oven. Over the fire-place or furnace is erected, and lets into the brick-work, a boiler furnished with a pipe, to supply warm water as occasion may require.

When the oven is required to be heated, the boiler is filled with water, and the fire being kindled in the furnace, the flame passes into the oven, and the smoke escapes into the chimney.

The sides of the oven are nearly straight, and turned as sharp as possible at the shoulder, for this form has been found better calculated to retain the heat than any other.

The flues to carry off the smoke is over the entrance door, as shown by the dotted line _a_ of the figure here exhibited, exhibiting the plan of the oven.

A piece of cast iron covers the space before the door of the oven, exactly level with its floor; the opening underneath is applied to no particular use, but is generally made a receptacle for coal.

_Fig. 1_, is an _elevation_ of the oven. The mouth is closed with a cast iron door, in which is a small sight-hole with a slide valve. To heat the oven, the door is thrown back, and a _blower_ is applied to the mouth, so contrived, as not only to cover the mouth of the oven completely, but to enclose also the throat of the chimney; by this contrivance the draft is quickly so much increased, that the oven becomes speedily heated, and if at anytime it is too hot, it is only necessary to throw open the door of the fire place, and to put up the _blower_ for a few minutes; the current of cool air which is thus made to pass through it, soon lowers the heat to the temperature required. In the _blower_ is also an opening of the same kind as that in the oven door, which may be opened and shut at pleasure; the course of the flue is described by the dotted lines at (_b_).

_Fig. 2_, is the _blower_ before mentioned for regulating the heat of the oven.

_Fig. 3_, is a transverse section from _A_ to _B_ on the plan, looking towards the opening, the fire-place entering the oven at _c_, the crown of the oven is turned with the bricks on end, and in building the oven instead of centering the arch, the whole space is filled with sand, which is well trod down and shaped to the shape which it is intended the crown of the oven shall be of. When the upper work is finished, the sand is dug out at the mouth of the oven.

_Fig. 4_, is a longitudinal section of the oven from _C_ to _D_. In this sketch the situation of the flue is evident, and the sectional line of the _blower_, fig. 2, when in its place, is shown by the dotted line _d_, the open space _a_, under the oven, has been before spoken of.

Popular Errors concerning the Quality of Bread.

The great advantage of eating pure and genuine bread must be obvious. Every part of the wheat, which may be called flour, was not only intended to be eaten by man, but it really makes the best bread. The delusion, however, by which so many persons are misled to think that even the whole flour is not good enough, obliges them to pay much dearer for their bread than they need, to gratify a perverted and fanciful appetite. Had it not been for the custom of eating whiter bread than the whole of the _flour_ can make, the miller and baker would not have employed their art to render the bread as white as possible, and to make the consumer pay for the artificial whiteness. The average quantity of flour, from an unvaried series of experiments, made from age to age, through the course of many hundred years, appears to be three-fourth parts in weight of the whole grain of wheat, taking all wheats together, being more in the finer sorts, and less in the coarser; and the bread made from this flour has always been deemed the standard of the food of bread corn. But, by insensible degrees, the manufacture of bread became separated into two distinct employments.

In consequence of this alteration, the baker, having no further connexion with the market for corn, became dependant solely on the mealman for supplying him with flour, who, not considering himself amenable to the then existing assize laws, made different kinds of flour, some extremely fine and white, while others were very coarse and unpalatable. These artificial whites, when made into bread, were so pleasing to the eye and taste, that, in the course of a few years, they got into such general use that the people refused any longer to purchase the bread made of the whole of the grain.

“Our forefathers[8] never _refined_ so much: they never preyed so much on each other; nor, I presume, made so many laws necessary for their restraint, as we do.”

Footnote 8:

The great advantage of eating pure and genuine bread, comprehending the heart of the wheat with all its flour. Shewing how this may be a means of promoting health and plenty, preserving infants from the grave, by destroying the temptation to the use of alum and other ingredients in our present wheaten bread. By an advocate for the trade. London, 1773. See also Important considerations upon the act of the thirty-first of George II. relative to the assize of bread. London: T. Becket, Strand, 1768.

“In looking back, for some hundred years, it appears that they adopted a certain plan, supposing that nature had given nothing in vain, and that every part of the wheat which may be called flour, was not only intended to be eaten by _men_, but that it really made the best bread, as that might be called the _best_, which is best adapted to general use, and in itself so fine, as to contain no parts of the coat, or husks of grain.”

“The inference which I mean to draw from what is premised, is to remind my fellow citizens of the unfortunate delusion of thinking that even the _whole flour_ of the wheat is not good enough for _them_; that part of it must be taken away, and given to _birds_ or _beasts_.”

“By this delusion, supposing a certain quantity of wheat appropriated to their use, (and this is the view they should see it in,) they lose one third part of the flour, and consequently have so much the less bread to supply their wants.”

“Is it not then monstrous to hear them complain? Is it not absurd to talk of poverty, and yet pay a _seventh_ or _eighth part_ more than they need, to gratify a fantastic appetite? Had it not been from the custom of eating whiter bread than the whole flour of the wheat will make, should we have thus imposed on ourselves? Would the miller or baker employ all his art to make the bread as _white_ as possible, and oblige us to pay for this _artificial_ whiteness? They tell the consumer, the _whiter it is_, the _finer_; and the finer, the more nutritive. Thus we become _dupes_ so far as to overlook the essential good properties of genuine bread, made of all the flour of the wheat, and likewise the difference in the price.”

“We are taught to favour a gross delusion at the suggestion of interested persons, against our own substantial welfare. It is the interest of every one to be _honest_, and say nothing contrary to his real sentiments, as it is the duty of those who have knowledge, to inform such as are ignorant. Those who have never eaten bread of all the flour in a pure state, with the native taste of wheat, and the moisture which it preserves, can know nothing of the comparative excellence of it with respect to the whitened city bread which they have been accustomed to eat all their lives.”

“The dictates of the understanding will ever yield to the pleasures of the imagination: and the provident will be attentive to take the advantage of the extravagant. Thus it happens that the poor have been bewildered, and deprived of the object they sought.”

“The event depends on the good sense of masters and mistresses of families, and their right understanding of what they mean to eat, _that is_, of what parts of the wheat the bread they consume is made. If they are satisfied that the bread is more pure than what they used to eat, and _sufficiently fine_, we may presume, if they are in their right minds, they will prefer it for domestic use. Every family of fourteen or fifteen persons, consuming at the rate of one pound each, in a day, pays near 16_s._ a week: if they can save 2_s._ 6_d._ or 1_s._ 6_d._ it is an object: to a poor man who spends 5_s._ in bread, if he can save eight or ten pence, it may purchase two or three pounds of animal substance towards making one feast in a week.”

“In regard to the patriotic miller, he does not pretend to consult our good in preference to his own; on the contrary, he reasons very deeply, as if it were best for us to live on the essence of a leg of mutton, brought within the compass of a pint, than feed on such porterly food as the mutton prepared in the ordinary way of roasting or boiling. He maintains, that the finer the bread, though the quantity be smaller, the more nutritive.”

The wheaten bread, of the London baker, is acknowledged to be whitened by a mixture of alum, which serves to keep the loaf in better shape, renders it the whiter, and causes it to imbibe the more water to increase the quantity of the bread. Thus he consults his interest, without regard to the consumer: the whiter it is, the more adulterated; and, as constant experience proves, such bread, after it is two days old, becomes dry and husky.”

“If bread, made in a private family, of the same flour as the baker uses, will not be so white, we must suppose that there is an art of whitening; and that this would be no secret, if it were not pernicious.”

“The bread recommended, made of all the flour of the wheat, retains all the good properties of bread; it is eatable at the distance of eight or ten days: is it not on this account the most eligible?”

“Take a loaf of the wheaten London bread, made by the baker in his usual way; let the same baker make another with all the flour of the wheat, without any attempt to whiten or otherwise adulterate it. Let him keep both in the same temperature of air, and produce a specimen of each at any reasonable distance of time, and it will be easily seen what the difference is. This arises not only from _mixtures_, but the _peculiar manner of raising the sponge_.”

“In regard to the difference of consuming new bread of the first day, and that which has been made for three, four, or five days, it is computed to be at least a fourth part. If our present wheaten bread cannot be eaten with pleasure beyond the second day, it is not wonderful to discover at last that we are lighting our candle at both ends.”

“That the vitiated bread agrees with some people, whether by the force of habit, or the mixtures it contains, is not disputed; but in general it is very hurtful.”

“Great numbers of our fellow-subjects eat their bread much coarser than the Londoners: are they weaker? they are generally stronger. Some part of the advantage must be carried to this account.”

“Let us have time to subdue our prejudices, and we shall find that bread of all the flour of the wheat, for the general use, is better both in quality and price than the present wheaten bread.”

“In regard to the _London baker_, ask him of what parts of the wheat his bread is made, and he frankly acknowledges he cannot tell; and how should he? He can buy only what is to be sold; and the quality is not ascertained with any such precision as to enable him to answer the question. He, _poor man_ does the best he can, not to give a sweet wholesome aliment, but something which is _white_. He knows that bread made of a proper proportion of the wheat, not only differs in colour, but is moister at the end of eight days than _his_ the third day; he likewise knows that it is sweeter, and has the native grateful flavour of the wheat, as the God of Nature hath given it, and not as it hath been adulterated.”

“If the parliament had required us to eat plum-cake, seed-cake, or sugar-cake, we should have known that plums, seed, and sugar, constituted the difference; but from the moment the law made distinctions in the division of the flour for three different kinds of bread for common use, we were exposed to the mercy of the miller to give the baker what he pleased, and call it by what name he pleased; we could only judge whether the bread pleased us or not. The miller and the baker divide and subdivide; and instead of flour for bread, and the bran that remained, according to ancient practice, whereby the beggar as well as the prince was pleased, _bread_ became a mystery, and we no longer knew what we were eating.”

“Our misfortune, in regard to bread, is, that we eat it too fine; we decline the use of barley in bread, having hardly enough for beer. Oats and pease are rejected: at length we reject even _wheaten flour_,—unless we are supplied with the finest parts only!—What will befall us in the end?”

“_Custom_ often makes a law more forcible than _Law-givers_, and we have now to contend with _custom_.—The first consideration should be, that the _flour_ which represents _three-fourths of the wheat_, shall be really such, and brought to market in sacks, marked _Standard_: the value of it may be more easily ascertained, than that of which is made the wheaten bread we now eat.”

“The baker may be a little the more reluctant to come into this salutary proposal, as knowing that if he is to decline the use of alum, flour that is in any degree musty, or made of wheat that has grown or vegetated before gathered in, as sometimes happens, he cannot work it up so advantageously in the bread now proposed to be made, as in the wheaten bread.—Be this as it may, as soon as the baker finds this _standard_ flour is vendable in bread, he will buy it; and knowing what part of the wheat it ought to be, he will work it into bread with so much the more satisfaction; and being sensible that we mean to eat _genuine_ bread, he will cease to _whiten_ it by any hurtful art. We shall all understand what we eat, and the trade will be familiar to us; we shall be so much happier as we become so much the more honest, and more healthy than we were before. Such is the serious light in which I see the subject before me.”

“Every occupation hath its mystery; and the professors are gratified in thinking themselves wiser than the rest of the world in their own way. Every professed _cook_ of the first rate can melt down a large ham into the contents of half a pint. The confectioner uses bitter almonds, which are poisonous; the oilman colours his pickles with _copper_, to render them green; and the baker uses alum to _whiten_ his bread, and make his flour imbibe the more water, by which he makes the more bread out of the same quantity of flour. This, and other _occasional_ mixtures of the flour of different grains, renders his bread husky, dry, and disagreeable the third day.—Are we the _better_ for any such mysteries?”

“Whether the wheat be all of one kind, or _married_, which is the phrase for mixing of wheats of different kinds, it will be easy for people of condition, by experiment, or by the comparison with genuine bread made in their families, to know whether justice be done; though we may easily discover that the baker for the _public_, is generally a better master of his trade than most housewives are. The _mystery_ may be thus developed; our health and pleasure promoted; and our bread be as much cheaper than it is now, as the gain on the _flour_ will make it, by using _all_ that the wheat produces.”

“Every one may try by grinding and bolting his own grain, and baking his own bread, and the manufacturers of bread may find nearly as good account in bread of all _the flour_, which can be so easily ascertained; as they do in the wheaten, which is involved in difficulties.”

“The public have administered to their own delusion, their eyes are shut to their own advantage. If the wealthy will adopt the use of the bread in question, the labouring part of our fellow-subjects will certainly follow the example; and as to _paupers_, they will gladly comply.”

“Common sense, in all ages, has achieved wonders.”

Laws prohibiting the Adulteration of Bread and Bread Flour.

The adulteration of bread and bread flour is forbidden by law, as is obvious from the following acts of parliament:

“No person shall put into any corn,[9] meal, or flour, which shall be ground, dressed, bolted, or manufactured for sale, any ingredient or mixture whatsoever, whereby the same may be adulterated, or shall sell any flour of one sort of grain as for the flour of another, but shall only sell the real genuine meal or flour of the grain the same shall import to be, under the penalty of five pounds for every such offence.”

Footnote 9:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 883.

“If any person have cause to suspect that any miller[10] who grinds, dresses, or bolts any grain for toll or reward, or manufactures any flour for sale, or that any baker mixes up with his flour any mixture or ingredient, not the genuine produce of the grain, so that the purity of the meal in any wise be adulterated, and reports the same on oath to a magistrate, then, in that case, such magistrate, or a peace-officer duly authorized by him, shall enter the premises of such suspected person, and search or examine whether such mixture or ingredient, not the genuine produce of the grain, is in the possession of such miller, mealman, or baker; and such meal and flour as shall be deemed to have been adulterated may be seized, together with the base mixtures; and if seized by a peace-officer, it is to be carried before a magistrate, but if seized by the magistrate, he may immediately dispose of it as he shall think fit. And the person on whose premises such mixture or ingredient shall be found, and adjudged to be intended to be used in adulterating the flour, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding ten pounds, and have his name, offence, and place of abode published in some newspaper that is printed or circulated near his place of abode, unless he shall make it appear, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that the same was not lodged there with the intention of adulterating the flour, but for some other lawful purpose.”

Footnote 10:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 888.

“That if any person shall wilfully obstruct[11] or hinder any search being made for such mixtures as are designed to adulterate the meal or flour, or shall oppose their being carried away, such person shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five pounds, nor less than forty shillings.”

Footnote 11:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 889.

“And that the good design of these regulations may be more effectually accomplished, it shall be lawful for the several wardmote[12] inquests of the city of London, or any magistrate[13] or peace-officer authorized by a warrant from such magistrate, without the jurisdiction of the city of London, to enter into any bake-house or shop, at all seasonable times, to search for and weigh all the bread therein; and if any of the loaves are found wanting in the goodness of the stuff of which they should be made, or deficient in the due baking or working thereof, or shall be wanting in the weight, or shall not be truly marked, such persons may seize such bread; and, if a magistrate is not present, it shall be taken before one, who may dispose of it as he shall think fit.”

Footnote 12:

37 Geo. 3. c. 98. sec. 22.

Footnote 13:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 890.

“That if any person shall wilfully[14] obstruct or hinder any such search, or prevent the carrying the same away, he shall, on conviction before a magistrate, be fined a sum not exceeding five pounds, nor less than twenty shillings.”

Footnote 14:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 890.

“That it shall be lawful for any magistrate[15], or peace-officer, authorised by a warrant, and accompanied by one or more master bakers, to enter, at seasonable times, any shop or bake-house within the city of London, or within ten miles of the Royal Exchange, to search and examine whether any alum, or other ingredients, shall have been mixed up with, or put into, any meal, flour, dough, or bread, in the possession of any such baker, and also to search for alum, or any other ingredients, which may be intended to be used for the purpose of adulterating the bread; and if, on enquiry, they find any alum, or other unlawful ingredients, or that any flour, meal, dough, or bread, contains any preparation of alum, such shall be immediately seized, and carried before some magistrate within whose jurisdiction the baker lives, and who shall dispose of it as he shall think fit. And if the magistrate is satisfied that such pernicious ingredients were put into the bread with the consent or privity of the baker, or if he acknowledges it himself, or one or two credible witnesses certify, on oath, that they know he uses alum, such baker shall forfeit any sum of money not exceeding twenty pounds, or be committed to, and kept at hard labour in, the house of correction, or some other prison, for six calendar months, unless he can prove, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that the alum, or other ingredients, were designed for some lawful purpose. And further, the magistrate is expressly required to cause the offender’s name, place of abode, and offence, to be published in some newspaper which shall be printed or published in or near the city of London, or the liberties thereof.”

Footnote 15:

38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 14 and 15.

“That if any person or persons shall wilfully obstruct[16] or hinder such search or seizure, as above described, he or they shall, for every offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding ten pounds, nor less than five, at the discretion of the magistrate before whom the offender or the offenders shall be convicted.”

Footnote 16:

38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 16.

“That where any baker[17] shall make a complaint before a magistrate, and make it appear that any offence he was charged with, and paid the penalty of, was occasioned by the wilful neglect or default of his journeyman, or other servant, the magistrate shall issue his warrant for apprehending the party, and if, on examining into the matter, it appears that such was the case, such journeyman, or other servant, shall be directed immediately to pay to his master a reasonable recompence in money, and, on non-payment thereof, he shall be committed to the house of correction, or some other prison, and kept to hard labour, for any time not exceeding one calendar month, unless payment be sooner made.”

Footnote 17:

31 Geo. 2. c. 29. p. 891. and 38 Geo. 3. c. 55. sec. 17.