Baking in a Field
Lately, much of my research time has been on World War One. I volunteer at Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott, and the museum is putting together a WWI exhibit, to open March 23rd. You will see more here about WWI in the coming weeks, as there is so much being done to prepare for the opening. To start, here is something interesting - Field Bread!
Throughout military history one thing is clear - soldiers have to eat. Today's military feasts on MRE's ( Meals Ready To Eat), the replacement for what used to be called C Rations. These all came into being after WWI.
From 1914 to 1918 the military provided what was called a "trench ration" to soldiers on the front lines. This was mostly canned foods like fish, corned beef. The food was heavy for the soldiers to carry, and certainly not tasty. In 1917 a new ration was issued called the "reserve ration". This consisted of 12 ounces of fresh bacon, one pound of canned meat, two 8-oz cans of hard bread, one packet of ground coffee, a packet of sugar and one of salt. (Of course, tobacco was also included.)
And then, there was Field Bread. Field bread was bread that was baked on the front lines, in field kitchens. For the upcoming WWI exhibit, just such a loaf was needed. As a baker, I was asked to make a loaf!
It turns out that field bread is mostly flour and water. I started with TEN cups of flour!
Kneading... kneading...
The first rising time is quite long - five hours!
At last, time to form the loaf. Just before you bake it, you are to make a hole in the center with your finger and thumb.
Time to bake! It takes a long time. To be sure it is done, I check the internal temperature of my breads, especially when I am baking something for the first time. Bread that is done inside should ready 185 degrees F. inside.
Here it is, after baking. See the hole in the middle?
It is rather large!
After it was baked and cooled, I dried it in the oven, by baking it again at 180 degrees F, for about 3 hours. Then I sealed it with a spray shellac so it will last in the exhibit.
Here it is ready to deliver to the museum. Notice my tag that says "Do Not Eat"!!!
And displayed with some WWI artifacts.
Here is the recipe I used. I do not think you ever would want to bake this, but I am posting the recipe for your interest!
