Add the water by degrees to the flour, mix them with
your hand, till the whole mass is incorporated ; it must
then be worked most thoroughly, moulded over and over
and kneaded with your clenched hands, till it becomes so
perfectly smooth and light as well as stiff*, that not a parti-
cle will adhere to your hands. Remember that you can-
not have good bread, light and white, unless you give the
dough a thorough kneading. — ^Then make the dough into
a lump in the middle of the trough or pan, and dust it over
with flour to prevent its adhering to the vessel. Cover it
with a warm cloth, and in the winter the vessel should be
placed near the fire. It now . undergoes a further fer-
mentation, which is shown by its swelling and rising ; this,
if the ferment was well formed, will be at its height in an



16 THE GOOD HOUSEKEEPER.
hour — ^somewhat less in very warm weather. It ought to
be taken at its height, before it begins to fall.*

Diride the dough into seven equal portions ; mould on
your paste-board, and form them into loaves ; put these on
well floured tin or earthen plates, and place immediately
in the oven.
