Bread-Bakers v100.n060.11

This takes me back,  way back!! I grew up on a farm in the 1940s and we 
made just about everything ourselves. Instead of waxed paper  for wrapping 
things  to retain moisture, we "made" waxed muslin.

Unbleached muslin was boiled and stretched on curtain stretchers to 
dry.  Then my cousins and I were handed a chunk of beeswax and told to rub 
it into the muslin which was then cut into squares and lightly ironed to 
melt the beeswax into the cloth.

On bread-baking days the dough was first proofed in a big dough trough and 
then separated into portions which were rolled loosely into one of these 
"oiled" cloths which was then dropped into one of a row of baskets which 
hung on the brick wall near the stoves (and fireplace - this was a very, 
very old house).  Naturally the ones nearest the heat rose faster and were 
rolled out onto an oven board (peel) and slid into the oven, usually 2 at a 
time.  Sometimes cook would take a small chunk of dough and just stick it 
to the wall of the oven near the top where it would puff up and bake a lot 
faster than the loaves on the floor of the oven. (These were treats for 
those of us who were always underfoot in the kitchen)  When the loaves came 
out of the oven they were cooled on an iron rack and then wrapped in a 
fresh piece of the waxed muslin and tied with twine.

Nowadays it is easier to just use a piece of plastic wrap, but you would be 
surprised at how well that "old-fashioned" material worked to keep bread 
fresh. It was also used to wrap cheese, both soft and cured. moisture did 
not condense inside these wraps as it does with plastic.

We also made our own waxed canvas for  rain coverings for the farm wagons, 
however this was made with paraffin and was spread onto the canvas with a 
trowel.

--
Andie Paysinger & the PENDRAGON Basenjis,Teafer,Cheesy,Singer & Player
asenji@earthlink.net    So. Calif. USA   "In the face of adversity, be
patient, in the face of a basenji, be prudent, be canny, be on your
guard!"
http://home.earthlink.net/~asenji/