LIGHTWEIGHT LOAVES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 207, 17 September 1937, Page 4

LIGHTWEIGHT LOAVES

-Preas ABSOciation.)

Is Weighing a Fair Test?.

(By Telegraph-

CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. ' ' The mere weigking of loaves 0 bread as a means of preventing fraudu lent light-weight is crude, is often unfair to the baker, and has so many disadvantages that some better means to that end should be adopted," rau au extract from the report of the director, Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf, which was submitted to the quarterly meeting of tho Wheat Researclx Institute. It was stated by Dr. Hilgendorf that, when bread was uuderweight, it was usually bccalise it had lost more water tlutu was expected during baking. It was very rarely if ever because it contained too little fiour or other soiid ugfcdieuts. To see if a more satisfaetory method .hau tho weighing of loaves could be Jovised, a trial was made at the instiaite with 21b. loaves. Equal weigkts of tho same fiour wero mlxed with dilferem quantities of water and wero bhked for .iilTci-ent lengths of time. Tho loaves ijaked wore found to vary greatly in weight, although they all contained the same weight of tiseful constituents — fiour, yeast, salt and sugar. The loaves were then sliced, dried and ground into coarse meal. The meal was then sampled and the nioisture determined, so that the weight of the dry matter in the loaf could be calculated. It was found that the dry matter weiglxed the same, no matter what the loaf weighe.d.