Bread and Sugar Myths Busted

Sugar can be as addictive as heroin myth says some brain imaging studies have found that sugar activates similar parts of the brain as seriously addictive drugs, like heroin. However, an eating behavioral specialist explains, “In neuroimaging, there is no clear-cut sign of addiction.” Just because that part of the brain is activated, does not mean that the person experiencing it is actually addicted to the substance.

Brown bread is healthy myth equates color with whole wheat bread. Just because a loaf is brown does not make it better than a loaf that is white. “Contrary to popular belief, brown bread does not automatically translate to mean 100 percent whole wheat bread. To ensure you are buying the most nutritious bread option, read labels and check to see that the first ingredient listed is either whole wheat or ‘whole meal’ flour.”

Sliced Bread

Bread is an ancient food that has been eaten for tens of thousands of years. However, pre-sliced bread, which would make a bacon butty a convenient task, did not happen until the early 1900s, when a man named Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa invented a device to automate this process. He solved part of the staleness problem by wrapping the thinly sliced loaves in wax paper immediately after slicing was complete. Pre-sliced bread was a hit and within a decade people who had access to it were eating more bread per person than before. Then they began experimenting with various new ingredients and spreads to put on the thin bread slices.

More Salt Facts

Salt is a terrific flavor enhancer, helping to reduce bitterness and acidity, and bringing out other flavors in the food.
Adding salt to bread dough controls the action of the yeast and improves the flavor. Bread made without salt will have a coarser texture and a blander flavor than bread made with salt.
Try sprinkling salt on citrus fruit, melons, tomatoes, and even in wine to enhance flavor.
Adding a little salt balances the flavor of sweets like cakes, cookies, and candies.
Boiling eggs in salted water makes them easier to peel.
Adding a pinch of salt (preferably non-iodized) to cream or egg whites before they are whipped increases their volume and serves as a stabilizer.
Salt is a mineral, so it can be stored indefinitely without going stale. It won't taste any fresher if you grind it with a salt mill.
Salt has been used for millennia as a preservative for meats, fish, cheese, and other foods. It works by absorbing moisture from the cells of bacteria and mold through osmosis, which kills them or leaves them unable to reproduce.
Salting slices of eggplants helps draw out the bitter juices.

Wordology Crumb

Bread crust surrounds the inner part of bread, which is called the crumb. As pieces of the crumb break off they are called crumbs.

Automatic Bread Slicer

As long as we are talking of bread slicing, The world’s first automatic bread slicer was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder in Davenport, Iowa. He first built a prototype of his bread slicer in 1912. Unfortunately, his blueprints and machine were destroyed in a fire in 1917. It took him until 1927 to re-build the machine and produce a model ready to use in an actual bakery.

The first pre-sliced loaf of bread using his machine, was sold on July 7, 1928. A friend of Rohwedders installed a bread slicing machine  at the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. Sliced bread sales skyrocketed.

Pre-sliced bread became a national hit thanks to Wonder Bread, then owned by Continental Baking, who began commercially producing the pre-sliced bread in 1930 using a modified version of Rohwedder’s machine. Crumb is a term bakers use to define the part of bread inside the crust. Unrelated, Jackie Gleason called his drinking buddies crumb bums.

Nine Things You Never Thought of Freezing

Here are a few things we usually do not think about freezing, but might be worth a try.

Fruits: Cut up and freeze season fruits such as peaches, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, pineapple, grapes, or apples. Add a spritz of lemon juice to your frozen fruits to prevent browning.

Nuts: Bag up and freeze almonds, pine nuts, honey toasted pecans and others.

Berries: Freeze blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.

Fresh Bread: Store specialty breads in the freezer. The cold temperature will preserve the crumb and texture while prolonging staleness. A quick oven re-bake will bring back the aroma, crispness, and moisture.

Semi-Soft Cheese: Freezing cheese slows down mold in super-melts like mozzarella, Colby, pepper jack or Gouda.

Whole Grains: Whole grains like flax, millet or oats can stay fresh by freezing them in insulated bags.

Herbs: Fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, mint, dill, cilantro and chives can benefit from a deep-freeze treatment. To retain their vibrant color, let herbs air-dry before freezing.

Juices: Freshly squeezed citrus like lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit. Store in ice-cube trays for future use.

Fresh Vegetables: Freeze asparagus, beets, broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots and greens.
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What's in a Name, Pumpernickel

Pumpernickel is one of those words that rolls off the tongue and sounds almost playful. It is a a dark coarse sourdough bread made of rye flour and rye berries. The name comes from the German pumpern, meaning to break wind and Nickel meaning goblin or satan. The name stems from its reputed indigestibility and is crudely referred to as 'the devil's fart' by some dictionaries. The long cooking time is what gives it its dark color.

There are stories about the name coming from the French and Napoleon, but they have been debunked.

Pumpernickel is great and commonly found on hors d'oeuvres trays, topped with caviar, smoked Salmon, or other goodies. It is referred to as an 'upscale bread' and you can find it is upscale shops. In the US some add molasses to get the dark color without the long cooking time. It is great eaten in small doses and is also wonderful with strong cold cuts and cheeses.

Bread Shoes

True - Not to be outdone by the above. Here are a pair of bread shoes. They can be made to size and can be shipped to the US at a cost of 17 Euros. Looks like they are soft. No, not going to waste your time with this link either.

Top 11 Bread Facts

Here are some scary facts about bread that you might not know and an interesting measuring cup.

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.
2. Half of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.
3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; diseases such as typhoid, and yellow fever ravaged whole nations.
4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.
5. Bread is made from a substance called 'dough'. It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average person eats more bread than that in one month.
6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis.
7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two days.
8. Bread is often a 'gateway' food item, leading the user to 'harder' items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cold cuts or bacon.
9. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.
10. Newborn babies can choke on bread.
11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit. That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.

Most bread eaters are unable to distinguish between real scientific facts and useless statistical babbling. Maybe I should have saved this for April 1.