Making Bread

Making bread involves many ingredients and advance preparation steps. Flour is received by bulk rail or truck and stored in 100,000 pound bins. All other raw materials are received by truck. Two hours before production begins, a liquid sponge or broth is prepared and allowed to ferment to ensure that the finished loaf will rise properly. The broth is a blend of flour, water, sugar, salt, yeast and yeast foods.

To combine the ingredients necessary for bread making, a scaler measures out the smaller increments of the mix, some as little as one ounce. A dough mixer operated by a control panel takes the ingredients from the scaler and adds the larger increments to the mix to create the proper dough consistency.

This mixture can weigh anywhere from 400 to 2,000 pounds. The dough is then 'kicked' out of the mixer into a trough and allowed to 'relax' and ferment. This is called floortime. Then it goes to a hopper and is divided into loaf-sized pieces, then to the rounder for shaping.

Once again the dough is set aside in an overhead proofer to relax and continue fermenting for approximately 10 minutes. The dough is then sent to the head rollers for flattening and removal of excess air. This is a key step in bread making. Removing excess fermenting gas helps ensure good inner structure and grain in the finished loaf.

The next stop is the moulder, where the bread is shaped for the final baking process. The moulder is also helpful in removing air from the dough. Once molded, the bread is dropped into a large pan divided into five separate loaf pans. These pans travel along a conveyor to another proof box. Here they will stay for 55 minutes. The temperature in the proof box is monitored closely to maintain 90% humidity level and 105° temperature level at all times.

Now the bread is sent to the ovens for baking. The oven temperatures and baking times will vary as to size and density of the loaf. The loaves bake for 22 minutes at approximately 400°. The baked bread is conveyed to a depanner. This is just what it sounds like; suction cups and vacuum pressure remove the baked loaf from the pan. The pan is sent back to storage to be used again, and the loaf is sent to cool.

The bread cools for about an hour and is then sent to be sliced. Once sliced, the bread is wrapped by an automatic bagging machine. Now that the loaf is in the bag, it is sent to be tied and fastened. The finished product is conveyed to where it is sorted and stacked for store distribution. Total production time for a loaf of bread is about three hours. The total lapsed time from the beginning of production to when the bread is on the shelf in the store is 24 hours.

Beer

Britain is one of the great brewing nations of the world. Over 1,200 different beers are brewed in Britain and each is unique. The United States is not only Britain’s largest beer export market, but also one of the oldest. In 1697 it is recorded that 7,308 barrels were exported to 'America' and by 1800 this had grown to 21,522 barrels. Today over 1 million barrels of beer make the journey across the Atlantic from Britain to the United States every year.

Bitter, Best Bitter, Strong Bitter, Mild, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Scotch Ale, Old Ale, Light Ale, Lager and Speciality Beers are all brewed in Britain. Porter, once the dominant beer style in Britain, all but disappeared, but in recent years has made a significant revival. While lager has been brewed for over a hundred years, it is ale, which is the distinctive traditional style of beer in Britain. Ale differs from lager in that it is top-fermenting, that is the yeast used to ferment the beer does so at the top of the beer as opposed to the bottom-fermenting yeast used to make lager. Top fermenting yeasts usually impart a distinctive fruitiness to the beer.

Beer is made using water, malted barley, hops and yeast. All types follow similar processes in the early stages of brewing, until the 'primary fermentation' has finished. It is at this stage that draught beer in Britain becomes one of two types, depending on whether the yeast is kept alive in the beer or not. In “keg” beers the fermentation is stopped by filtering and pasteurizing which results in a clear, sterile and more predictable brew that is delivered to the pub in pressurized kegs.

At the pub the beer is chilled and forced out of the keg by carbon dioxide which makes the beer fizzier. Keg beer is cheaper to produce and a more consistent reliable product. Real ale, however, leaves the brewery still alive with nothing removed continuing to ferment and mature in its cask. When it reaches the pub the cask must be kept at a constant temperature and allowed to settle in the cellar. Cask-conditioned ale is drawn by hand, electric pump or simply poured from a tap on the cask.

There is a huge variety of real ale, each with its own character, body and taste. Real ale is not fizzy but, has a natural sparkle. This kind of beer is served at a cool cellar temperature rather than icy cold so that you can appreciate the full flavour.