Heres one for the knowledgeable

[FlemSmythe]

Whenever possible ovens were constructed and fresh bread was baked for the men. Can any one tell me if there was a spec on this bread? did it conform to any size or weight regulation? I was wondering just what size a loaf of bread might be when it was baked by the army bakers. Would it be the same as today? would it be smaller like the size of a sub roll?? Was the crust soft or hard like some of todays italian breads?


Peter,

This is your second warning. Sign your post with your name, not your screen name.

John Stillwagon
Forum Moderator

[1stMaine]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

Comrade,

The images that I have seen of soft bread shows them stacked in giant piles ready to issue. Each loaf looked exactly like the ones you might find in your super-market bakery, unsliced, with a rounded top. These were made in multiple-pan racks, just as a resturaunt or large-scale bakery would, and looked to my eyes to be about 1lb in weight. I buy bread from a local bakery on a regular basis, and to my eye, these CW loafs would be no different from what I obtain.
Respects,

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

Petersburg, Va. Group of the quartermaster department, 1st Division, 9th Corps, at leisure].

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1864 November.

SUMMARY
Photograph from the main eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865.

NOTES
Reference: Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0410

[Matt Caldwell]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

A closer view of the bread.

[FlemSmythe]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

Thankyou gentlemen for your replies, I want to make sure our company mess does it correctly.

Smythe

[Jimmayo]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

General Scott defined the proper feel and appearance of a properly baked loaf in 1825. ''The quality of Bread will be judged by color, smell and still more by taste. It should not be burnt, but baked to an equal brown color. The crust ought not to be detached from the crumb. On opening it when fresh, one ought to smell a sweet and balsamic odor."
Source - A TASTE FOR WAR by William C. Davis.

This book has lots of good information on what the soldiers ate and how it was prepared.

[henionjd]

Re: Heres one for the knowledgeable

Say Pete,

Judging from the photo enlarged by Matt those loaves were baked in a single pan. The individual loaves would have been shaped, placed next to each other in a large square pan, then allowed to rise. The finished loaves would be broken off from their neighbors. The net effect is a bit like the dinner rolls one finds packaged in the grocery store. Each loaf would have at least two sides where the (presumably white) interior is exposed at the joint with the other loaves.

While we're on the subject, I suppose an unbleached flour was used. However, I have no idea when the bleaching process came into use. I've been so continually amazed by the sophistication of mid-19th century industrial technology that I would not be at all suprized to find myself wrong yet again.

-Jeff " Did a bit o' baking in my day" Henion