Here is another cooking/baking Pastime to share over the coming holidays.
There are some mighty well known bakers of bread in Warren – the town with the Red Brick Streets. In a recent mention of Thanksgiving foods, I have had several requests for me to contact Cliff Morgan for his Salt Rising Bread.
Now the retired Memphis Librarian and hometown man has been very generous to supply me with the recipes – from others – that he uses to make what now seems to be his famous Salt Rising Bread.
Among the recipes that Cliff uses when baking bread includes: Ms. Jeannette Mosley (Mrs. Hugh Mosley, Jr.) Ms. Frances Hedrick, Ms. Allleen McKimmey and her mother, Ms. Georgia Tarleton.
He also calls upon his grandmother, Ruth Morgan, recipe and of course his mother’s – Wickie Word Morgan’s special bread formula.
During this Pandemic many have started baking bread. I don’t have, for sure, any of the exacting recipes from the Binns’ family of Warren, who for decades baked breads, rolls – especially those delightful “Finger Rolls,” that so many of Warren kids gobbled down over the years. Anyone with one of their recipes, contact me please.
But back to Pastime of this tasty bread.
SALT RISING BREAD
In three step process
Yeast preparation
1 cup of Sweet Milk
1 Cup of Stone Ground Cornmeal
At noon on the day before the bread is to be made, scald (just smoking, do not boil) 1 cup of Sweet Milk. Pour this into 1 cup of stone ground meal, stirring until well mixed. Put this mixture into a pint jar that has been rinsed with warm water, put the top on loosely. Place the jar in a pan of warm water and put this into a warm place overnight.
Hint: The oven is a good place if you have a pilot light or you can turn on the oven light.
The next morning the yeast should have risen to the top of the jar in layers of puffs. It should smell sour.
Making the Sponge
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of milk
2 cups of boiling water
In a large bowl or pan pour 2 cups of boiling water over 1 cup of sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Then add 2 cups of milk. When this mixture is lukewarm, beat in 4 or 5 cups of flour and ½ teaspoon of baking powder, mixing very well.
Add ½ teaspoon of soda to the yeast, stir until it foams then add to the flour mixture. Stir well. Set the bowl in a large pan of warm water, covered with a tea towel. Put this back in the oven. Let it rise 1 and ½ hours, sometimes it takes a little longer. The batter should be bubbly.
Making the bread
7 or 8 cups of flour
1 cup of shortening
1 tablespoon of salt
Sift the 7 cups of flour and 1 tablespoon of salt into a large bowl. Add 1 cup of shortening and mix as you would for a pie crust.
Add the sponge mixture and stir until the dough is stiff enough to separate into 3 parts or if baking pans are large or 4 parts if using smaller baking pans.
You may accomplish this by adding more flour… I use my hands to work the dough.
Place the dough in the greased pans that are warm to the touch, brush the tops of the dough with melted butter.
Put the pans back in the oven to rise and cover with a tea towel.
Bread should rise to the top of the pans. This will take about 2 and ½ hours. When the bread rises, turn on the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.
Now reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour more.
Hint: Keep bread and mixtures in a warm place during the whole process. The yeast and sponge will smell very sour when each stage of this process has risen.
Hint: The best sized pans are 9 5/8ths by 5 ½ x 2 ¾ deep. This size makes three loaves.
–Frances Hedrick
Now I’ll give you the Jeannette Mosley recipe
Salt Rising Bread
Ingredients:
¾ cup of home ground meal
1 ¼ cup of boiling milk
¼ or ½ tsp of baking soda
2 cups of boiling water
½ cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
5 cups of flour
5 lbs. of flour
¾ cup of shortening
½ cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of salt
Stir the meal into boiling milk. Let sit until doubled in a warm place, from ½ to 1 ¼ days) Add soda.
Make a sponge of 2 cups of boiling water poured over ½ cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk in a crock. Thicken with about 5 cups of flour. Add the meal yeast.
Place the pitcher in hot water and let the batter double (about 2 hours).
Sift 5 pounds of flour into a dishpan. Set aside 2 cups of this flour. Cut the flour into the shortening, ½ cup of sugar and salt. Put a nest of flour in the pan.
Pour the sponge in the next and rise pitcher with 6 cups of warm water in the pan. Mix well, put in well-greased loaf pans and set in a very warm place to rise to double.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and 300 degrees for 1 hour.
Turn out on brown paper and butter. Total flour needed is 7 ½ pounds.
–Mrs. Hugh Moseley Jr.,
This covers it well. I’ll hold Ms. Alleen McKinney and Ms. Georgia Tarleton’s recipe for another day.
Now if you bake these, your kitchen will have a Pastime smell of fresh baked bread everyone will enjoy.